8 Ways to Embrace Hygge in Your Life, Even if it's Hot Out! (aka how I hygge in 115 degree Arizona heat)

A couple Christmases ago I was one of the many people swept up in the sudden world wide popularity of hygge. I bought the popular books, watched some YouTube videos, and pinned a million things on Pinterest. It was easy to adopt it in my life because I was already doing it. Well, if you can do hygge, to me it’s more a state of mind than an action. But I was already embracing many of the principles and ideas associated with hygge. 

What does hygge mean to me? Most people oversimplify and define/translate hygge as “cozy”. That’s only one part of it. For me, it’s more a feeling of being content, which can be similar to cozy. In the winter, when you’re sitting in a comfy chair, with a throw blanket across your lap, fire crackling, candles burning, and cradling a mug of tea or mulled cider you feel very cozy, but you also probably feel very content and happy. 

Hygge is about finding joy in the simple pleasures of life. 

So what does hygge look like in the summer? What I loved about Marie Tourell Søderberg’s book Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness is that she interviews so many Danish people and has each of them describe hygge, so you get dozens of varying definitions, and she covers all the seasons, so it doesn’t have such a winter focus. I also highly recommend The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, I did a video review of both of them on my YouTube channel. These books were a great starting point for figuring out how to embrace hygge all year round.

When hygge had it’s sudden increase in popularity and everyone on social media was talking about it, it was easy to see why so many of the people I follow were into it. They live in colder climates with long winters and hygge seems like a great way of changing your mindset about a season you sometimes struggle to get through. I have the opposite problem. Where I live (Phoenix, AZ) winter never gets that cold and it lasts only a couple months (at most). So how to I embrace hygge when it’s 115 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 45 Celsius) and burning a log fire or wrapping myself in cozy blankets is literally the last thing I feel like doing? 

Here are 8 ways I embrace hygge and find pleasure in the simple things and enjoy nature even when the temperatures keep rising.

1. Bring nature indoors

When it’s 115 (or hotter) outside, I don’t usually like going outdoors, but I miss seeing plants and flowers. So I’ve started adding greenery (real or faux) into my apartment’s decor. I have a beautiful floral wreath on the inside of my front door, garlands over my fireplace mantle and office window. And I have small bouquets of faux flowers scattered throughout my apartment, on my kitchen counters, my desk, my side tables and mantle in my living room, and in my bedroom. Wherever I look I’m going to see flowers. 

I used to buy fresh every week but that got expensive, so I started taking advantage of sales at my local craft store and buying up bunches of faux flowers. I’ll be able to mix and match them with new bunches throughout the seasons and change it up. And arranging them in the vase or container is very meditative. I had a few vases already but “long term loaned” some from my mom and repurposed some cute beverage bottles I would have otherwise had to recycle. The Belvoir elderflower pressè bottles are great for small arrangements and the Bloom gin bottles are stunning and work great with a couple large stems.

2. Forget fires but light candles

It’s way too hot to light a fire, but candles don’t put off too much heat so I can burn them in the evening when I’m relaxing in the living room or bedroom. I like finding candles with pretty, summery floral scents or something really fresh. My current faves are a peony candle I got from Marshall’s and the “Tea and Lemon London” candle from Bath & Body Works.  I have candles in my living room, bedroom, and a small one on my desk that I burn while I’m working.

If you really miss having a fire in your fireplace, a good summer alternative is candles in the fireplace. I do this all year long because even in the winter my apartment is never really cold enough to need a fire. You could burn real candles or do what I do and go battery operated. I have five battery operated pillar candles that I got from Costco last year. I’m hoping to get more this coming fall if they restock them. I also have some little string lights that are along my mantle that I run down into the fireplace for an added glow. Which leads me to tip 3.

3. Add some sparkle and cozy lighting

Lighting is a huge part of hygge for me. But lighting a million candles probably isn’t the best thing. So I kept my Christmas lights up after putting away my Christmas decorations. I have a string that goes along my mantle and in my fireplace, another that goes across the top of my wall of bookshelves. It adds such a lovely glow to my apartment. I have a couple other strings I’ll be adding to my office/desk area and my bedroom.

Also, I rarely use overhead lighting except for in my kitchen and bathroom (because you need to see when you’re chopping something or when you’re applying eyeliner). In my office, living room, and bedroom, I rarely turn on the large overhead lights, instead I use lamps that are at eye level or lower. It creates a better environment, is more flattering on the face when friends are over, and is less harsh on your eyes. I can be sensitive to light sometimes so after a day of being out in the blazing hot and blinding sun in Phoenix, I want low light that’s gentle on the eyes and creates a cozy atmosphere.

4. Have fun with summer drinks

Hot coffee and tea isn’t really what I turn to when it’s hot out. But I have a few favorite cool drinks for the summer. 

First, I love the Belvoir Farms sparkling drinks, my favorite is the Elderflower Pressè. I first tried it a few summers ago while living in Oxford and fell in love with it, Elderflower isn't as popular in the US but thankfully when I returned home I found the same Belvoir Farms drinks I fell in love with were stocked at Whole Foods and at World Market. It's been a mainstay in my fridge ever since.

It’s great on it’s own or with some frozen berries and ice. As an “adult” version, it’s also great with a bit of gin (my fave is Bloom gin). I'll drink it in some stemware or in a mug (as pictured here). With or without gin, it's cooling, refreshing, lightly sweet, and immediately takes my mind away somewhere much cooler than Phoenix.

A new favorite “Arizona” themed drink is prickly pear lemonade. In a tall glass I put in some ice, fill with lemonade, and add about a half a teaspoon of prickly pear syrup, then stir. 

It’s super refreshing, not overly sweet, and it’s pink. What’s not to love?! It's also great as a cocktail with gin (or vodka if you prefer) mixed in. Make it extra pretty with some frozen berries or slices of lemon in it.

Prickly pear is unique to the Southwest, but chances are there’s a summer ingredient where you live that you can incorporate into a summer drink and/or summer cocktail. I love using frozen berries, fresh berries, mint leaves, or other fresh herbs to infuse tea, lemonade, or cocktails. It creates something refreshing and delicious and makes for a nice change from the gallons of water I usually consume during the hot months.

5. Don’t abandon your cozy mugs, just add ice

I still drink coffee in the summer, but it’s iced. Most people would use a regular drinking glass for iced coffee but I have a nice little collection of coffee mugs that I want to use for more than just 4 months out of the year. So I still use them with iced coffee. Works great and keeps my coffee colder for longer than a regular glass. And I still get to use my cute mugs for Instagram posts. Win win! All year long I get to enjoy a cozy coffee in bed on a Saturday (or on a cheeky weekday). Looking at this pic you'd never know it was iced coffee in there. 

6. Play with textiles

I have a ton of throw blankets that are soft and cuddly for when I’m watching tv at night or lounging in bed. It’s usually too hot for a full duvet on the bed (mine stays folded at the end of the bed from April through October) but I have a couple throw blankets that I sleep with that keep me feeling cozy but not overheated. I also love having soft cushions and pillows on my chairs in the living room and at my desk as well as on my bed that just make the spaces in my home feel softer and more relaxing. I swap out some of the decorative pillows for each season, this picture has one of my "winter" pillows, but the blankets stay put and work well with my sprint/summer floral prints. And I love that I can swap things out throughout the year to keep from getting bored.

7. Get outdoors when you can

Ok, I hate going out when it’s this hot, but the one exception is going to the gym and pool. I plan on sweating when I go to the gym, so the heat doesn’t bother me too much in that case. And there’s a pool right outside the fitness center at my apartment complex so as soon as I finish a workout I jump in the pool. I also will go to the pool just to cool off after a day of running errands. 

I also love day or weekend trips to cooler parts of the state. When Tamzin was visiting recently we went up to Sedona and down to Sierra Vista, Bisbee, and Tombstone while we were down there. Bisbee especially was gorgeous in terms of the weather. Warm but not hot, and we were able to walk around and explore the town without feeling like dying. We even managed an impromptu "photoshoot" at an abandoned gas station! I can’t head to the higher elevations every week but doing so a few times a summer helps break up the unrelenting heat of the Phoenix Valley and gets me through the hottest months.

8. Spend time doing what you love

Summer is usually a time when I have a bit of downtime, especially now that I’m done with my PhD and haven’t started my new job yet. I have plenty of work to keep me busy but I still have a lot of free time that I’m not used to having. So taking time to read (for fun, I know, what a shocking concept), work on some creative writing projects that I’ve been neglecting, taking up a new hobby (been thinking of giving painting a try), and whatever else I feel like doing, has been amazing. 

Even something simple like indulging in a "blogger" admin day at Starbucks like I did recently when Tamzin was visiting, was so much fun and not part of my usual "hide at home and pretend it's not hot as hell outside" routine. Taking time to reconnect with myself and feel more centered and less frazzled definitely helps me embrace the simple things in life and the little pleasures it has to offer, which to me is the very essence of hygge.

So there you have it, 8 ways to embrace hygge and feel a little happier and calmer even when the temperatures start to rise.

Have you given hygge a try? How do you embrace it in your life during the summer? Would love to hear in the comments. And if you know others living in hot climates that might enjoy this post I would love it if you would share it.

Until next time,

Andrea