If you’re trying to make your life as cozy as possible, then a hygge morning routine might be just what you need.
Hygge is a Danish concept focused on creating coziness, comfort, and a feeling of contentment through simple things and slow living.
Bringing hygge into our lives can improve our mental health, help us be more present, and teach us to enjoy the little things, among so many other benefits. Plus, it creates the coziest life!
One way to bring more of the hygge lifestyle into your life is by creating a hygge morning routine.
Starting off your day the right way- cozy, slow, intentional- can influence the entire day ahead of you in a positive way. It can help you feel more centered and confident. It can decrease stress levels and improve mood.
Sounds pretty great, right? It’s all yours by creating a cozy morning routine of your own. So if you’re ready to start your day in the coziest way possible, here’s your guide.
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Step 1: Set your intentions for the morning.
How do you want your morning to go? What are your goals? What do you want to focus on? How do you want to feel?
Everyone has different goals they’re trying to achieve, and a morning routine is often a place where habits to reach those goals are placed.
A hygge morning routine is no different, it’s just a different approach to reaching those goals.
So before you create your routine, figure out what your intentions are.
If you aren’t sure, ask yourself what could be improved about your life.
For me, I want my mornings to become a part of my day that is slow and calm and gentle. I want to get rid of the busy, quick, overwhelming, and overstimulating mornings that I was having and try starting my day in a gentler way.
For you, it might be that you want to be more mindful. Or you want to feel more control over your mornings. Or you want to set yourself or your family up for a successful and less stressful day.
There are so many intentions you can set, and you can even have multiple intentions.
Step 2: Reflect on your reality
Here’s what this means: figure out your realistic situation when it comes to a morning routine.
Ask yourself questions like:
- How much time do I have each morning?
- How are my energy levels in the morning?
- How is my mood in the morning?
- What are the stressors I normally deal with when I wake up?
- What obligations do I have that need to play into my morning routine? (example: do you have kids to get ready for school or certain other duties that you are on the clock for right away?)
The reason many people fail to keep their morning routines is because they set up an unrealistic morning routine that couldn’t possibly work for their real lives.
And that’s natural- we want to become the best version of ourselves so we sometimes convince ourselves that these ‘healthy habits’ that we see everyone online doing can somehow be done by us too.
But even the influencers online aren’t reeeaalllly doing all of those things each day. So let’s normalize real lives. Let’s be honest about what our needs are, our limitations, our speed bumps. And let’s figure out a way to work with those and not against them.
Once you’ve figured out what the reality of your mornings looks like, you can start to finally craft your hygge morning routine.
Step 3: Build your hygge morning routine with cozy habits
Okay- so you’ve set your intentions and you’ve identified what a realistic morning looks like for you.
Now it’s time to hygge-ify it. (okay, I know that’s not a word, but let’s pretend, for coziness sake)
No matter if your morning looks like an hour to yourself in silence, or 30 minutes spent trying to get yourself and 3 screaming toddlers ready, there is a way to create a hygge morning routine that works for you.
Here are a few hygge habits & tricks that you can add to your mornings to embrace the cozy:
Keep the lights low
Big lights = anti-cozy
When we wake up and immediately flick on all the lights in the house, our brains are like this:
Keeping the lights low as we go throughout our hygge morning routine helps us feel calmer and more relaxed, and helps our brains wake up gently rather than harshly.
Avoid screens for as long as you can
Pretty much the first thing most of us do when we wake up is look at our phones. I’m super guilty of this.
But having IMMEDIATE stimulation like that is so bad for our brains.
Just like with the big lights, screens are doing the opposite of creating the ‘calm, gentle, slow’ vibes we’re going for.
So try putting off your screen time for as long as you can in the mornings. Maybe commit to going the first 15 minutes without it, or even ignoring your phone until it’s time to leave for work if you can!
One thing that’s helped me MAJORLY with this is getting an alarm clock that isn’t on my phone and also helps me wake up gently.
I use the Hatch and LOVE IT. It wakes me up with a gentle sound and gradual light meant to imitate a sunrise, which is much more natural for our bodies than a blaringly loud alarm clock.
I’ve had my Hatch for years and they don’t make the one I have anymore, but here is the new improved one which has even more features than mine (including Gilmore Girls alarm sounds, are you kidding me?!): Hatch Restore Alarm Clock/Noise Machine
Practice Mindfulness
Being mindful is so hygge.
And learning to be mindful of the little things throughout your day is an amazing way to improve your mental wellbeing.
Being mindful in the morning might look like taking a few minutes to stretch and really paying attention to how it feels.
Or noticing how your breakfast really tastes instead of scarfing it down.
Or it could be taking a few minutes once you wake up to really take note of how you’re feeling- physically and mentally.
Adding mindfulness to your day as a whole is beneficial, but adding it to a morning routine specifically will help you start each day on the right foot and in a better headspace.
Stay comfortable
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Stay cozy.
Keep your PJs on or throw on a cozy robe. Or if you must get dressed, pick an outfit that at least doesn’t give you instant ‘I can’t wait to take this off’ feels.
When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is throw on a cozy pair of pants or a sweatshirt to really feel like I’m being swallowed up by comfort. I highly recommend.
Embrace simple pleasures
The hygge lifestyle is all about embracing simple pleasures. But in our busy lives, it can become a rarity to actually enjoy the little things.
So adding this to your hygge morning routine will help you slow down and be present, and also find joy amongst things you might not normally notice.
Here are some ways to embrace simple pleasures:
- Lighting a candle & admiring the smell
- Using your favorite perfume
- Having an extra long hug with a loved one
- Enjoying a delicious beverage
- Doing a hobby you love, like reading
- Feeding the birds or tending to your garden
- Acknowledging how good fresh air feels
- Watching the sunrise
Make it a point to find joy in the little moments of your daily life. That’s so hygge!
How to set yourself up for a hygge morning routine
Because hygge is all about coziness, simplicity, and contentment, it’s probably a good idea to avoid having a stressful and chaos-filled morning.
Life happens, and we can’t always control our circumstances or how things go. But we can do a few things to decrease the chances of stressful things happening. Here’s how.
Keep your space tidy
If you wake up each morning to a cluttered and dirty space, you’re going to immediately feel stressed, even if you don’t realize it. In the words of Gretchen Rubin, outer order = inner calm.
Keeping your space at least somewhat tidy can prevent you a looootttt of stress in the mornings.
Get plenty of rest
It’s hard to start the day in a cozy way when you’re running on E.
The more rest we get, the better we feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. So prioritize your sleep. Aim for about 7-8 hours/night of good quality sleep.
That way when you wake up in the morning, you can focus on your cozy routine rather than being stuck unable to get out of bed.
Make some room for alone time if possible
If alone time isn’t currently a part of your morning routine, I encourage you to figure out a way to squeeze it in.
Having time to be present, reflect, and really tune into ourselves is a big part of hygge.
So if that means waking up 10 minutes earlier so you can sit and reflect at the kitchen table for everyone wakes up, find a way to make that work! Or ask your spouse to take care of the kids’ tasks for a few minutes each morning so you can have some uninterrupted time to yourself.
Even if you don’t have kids or other responsibilities, it can sometimes be tricky to find alone time. But taking a few intentional minutes (emphasis on intentional) each morning can make a huge impact in your wellbeing.
Let’s wrap it up
So here’s your quick rundown of creating a hygge morning routine for cozy mornings:
Step 1: Set your intentions for the morning. What do you want to achieve/feel?
Step 2: Figure out your mornings- realistically. How much time & energy do you normally have in the mornings?
Step 3: Pick some cozy hobbies to add to your routine, and learn to make your existing habits more hygge-aligned.
Bonus: Set yourself up now for a successful hygge morning routine. aka reduce the roadblocks now to prevent stress later.
Your mornings have a huge impact on your entire day.
Making it a point to be intentional, calm, and gentle with your morning routine can keep those vibes going throughout the whole day.
What’s your favorite morning hygge hobby?
P.S. Looking for more hygge-related content? Here are few posts you’ll love!
8 Cozy Hobbies to Embrace the Hygge Lifestyle
7 Cozy Fall Hobbies to Help You Embrace Hygge This Season
6 Grandma Hobbies to Create the Coziest Life
How to Create a Slow Living Morning Routine
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