Melody Jacob

Pixabay - CC0 Licence

Everybody is feeling the need to have a metaphorical hug right now. It's hardly a surprise that the Danish concept of hygge is becoming more popular. Danish people have been using hygge, which is about embracing the little pleasures of life and cosines, to improve their overall happiness. But what do we have to remember about the concept of comfort? It's a good idea to know some of the benefits but also how to start practicing comfort in ways that are practical and beneficial for you.

The Benefits of Cosiness

There are a wide variety of comfort benefits in the world. From a health perspective, we are going to recover better from anything. When we feel stressed, this increases our levels of cortisol. The stress hormone is going to prolong any sense of illness because the stress is going to affect our nervous system and immune system. This is why the simple notions of comfort in our lives can do a lot for us. Whether it's ensuring that your chest and back remain supported by having deep plunge bras or wrapping yourself up in a blanket and having extra thick socks, comfort is going to reduce our stress response, which means that we're not going to feel those spikes of anxiety and depression.

Additionally, it helps you be more content. When we feel more content in our lives, we become more present, and we increase our notion of self-care, but it also ensures that we don't use ineffective coping strategies. A lot of people focus on watching too much television, spending more time on social media, or quelling stress with alcohol or drugs. When we feel more content, we start to realize that the strategies we have been using were not so affected.

How Do We Practice Comfort?

Comfort is about understanding that, like anything in life that is beneficial, it requires practice.
Create the Right Environment

The best place to begin is in the home. You need to start surrounding yourself with things that will relax you. You might not have the money to completely alter the look and feel of your home, but you can reduce stress in your life by decluttering. When we remove unnecessary clutter, we start to feel less stress pulling on us because there are fewer things to deal with. The simple act of tidying regularly will give you the ability to deal with stress more effectively because you're not experiencing that decision fatigue.

Priorities Self-Care

If you want to feel comfortable, you've got to understand that you are worth the effort. Many people feel that they are constantly giving to others, whether it's through social media or a lack of faith in themselves. It's about realizing that you can, and should, dedicate time to yourself and it is a gift to offer yourself comfort. It's something that we tend to lose touch with as we get older. As children, our parents tucked us in at night and as we became adults, we started to believe that we've got to be strong and attentive grown-ups. Having those opportunities to wrap yourself in a blanket is going to make you feel more in touch with yourself, comfortable, and therefore, cozy.

Slow Down

One of the hardest things to come to terms with is that we need to take it easy. Adrenal fatigue is a very real problem in the modern world that stems from doing too much too quickly. When we start to slow down, we become more present and exhibit more traits of mindfulness. We need to learn how to slow down, even if we have a busy life. It's about ensuring that we can compartmentalize where we need to start calming down and realising that there are aspects of our lives that don't require us to go a mile a minute. When you begin to take the pressure off yourself to go fast, you soon begin to understand that when you let things be and operate at the speed they were originally intended, you begin to do away with all of your preconceptions and fakery around what you're giving out to the world. This means that you may be more relaxed in who you are and can have significant carryover into other aspects of your life. For example, you may feel more attractive in yourself which comes from a sense of calm, sense of care, and a sense of self.

For many people, we are enduring an incredibly tough time. Now has never been a better opportunity to practice comfort.

The Internet is filled with cancer-causing substance warnings. Shady websites and sensational social media posts warn against antiperspirants, scented candles, and bras. Avoid disposable chopsticks, microwaves, radon gas, and other hazards. There are so many frightening or misleading claims that it is difficult to know which ones to take seriously. According to Timothy Rebbeck, a cancer researcher and the Vincent L. Gregory, Jr., Professor of Cancer Prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, "many people have unnecessary fears about things that might cause cancer, or they're overly cautious about things that aren't supported by science."

Rebbeck and his coworkers have developed a free tool to cut through the confusion.

How does the Cancer FactFinder work?

Experts from the Zhu Family Center for Global Cancer Prevention at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Center for Cancer Equity and Engagement at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center collaborated to develop the Cancer FactFinder. It provides reliable information regarding the veracity of certain cancer claims. "It's a place to go when you hear something and don't know how to interpret it," says Rebbeck.

When you access Cancer FactFinder, you can search