Embracing coziness isn't always as easy as just thinking happy thoughts or choosing the positive. Often it requires you to actively choose ... to add more coziness to your lifestyle. Feeling the charm of coziness can fill you with transformative energy. The simple act of becoming more sensitive to the cozy possibilities can turn your life from one filled with stress to one where you're more relaxed and happy. -The Simplicity of Cozy: Hygge, Lagom & the Energy of Everyday Pleasures

Melissa Alvarez, who writes the book quoted above, makes a pretty important point in the very beginning of the book. It's the one that the book is based on, in my opinion, and is its message. She says that coziness can become a way of life.

Once you are open to coziness, it can become a way of life. What that means to me, as we talk about our quiet times, is that it can become the way of life for our quiet times. It can become the way we connect with God each day.

We can make our quiet time experience cozy, so that each time we hang out with God, we can feel the cozy warmth of our connection with Him.

Hygge is one way to bring this coziness to life in our experience. Hygge is a deep sense of satisfied contentment and an infusion of comfort and warmth felt in the everyday moments of those who seek it.

It can happens in moments alone, as you sip a cup of tea and read a book with your favorite scented candle nearby. Or it can be the moments you spend with family and friends that are so wonderful you look forward to them before they happen and remember them fondly after they end.

So let's take a look at how to hygge your quiet time...

(1) Create a Cozy Space

The place where you have your quiet time may become as important as what you do. Making it hygge will make it easier to begin to associate it with the cozy experience you want to have. So what would make it feel more warm and cozy to you?

If you can dedicate a room to your quiet time, you might choose soft, warm lighting.

Sheer curtains that let in light but keep you from being seen. Or you may want to let in the view of the trees by opening the curtains wide.

A blanket or throw to curl up with may add extra comfort, along with fluffy, fat pillows you can lean up against as you pray or read your Bible.

Your furniture, the chair or sofa you plan to use, should be easy to sink into but not a trap you can't get out of it. Also, don't chose the one you always use for afternoon naps or staying awake may become a challenge.

Can you dedicate a side table for your Bible and anything else you read or use during your quiet time? Put everything you'll need there, in advance, and arrange it in a way that is pleasing to you, so that it helps to draw you into the space.

If that isn't possible, you might want to place a basket nearby, or another container, that has everything in it that you'll need.

What are other things that might make your space feel warmer and more cozy?

(2) Wear Your Most Soothing Comfy Clothes

Although many people dress up a bit for church, your quiet time moments should be the ultimate in comfort - no higher heels required. Wrap yourself up in your most comfortable clothes.

Wear your slippers or fuzzy socks. Add your favorite  robe or sweater.

Make an effort to delight yourself with whatever makes you feel most at home, warm and safe and cozy. It will add to the overall feeling of your quiet time.

(3) Light a Candle

Some people use candles in pursuit of hygge to soften their lighting. They avoid the harsher lights overhead, use softer light bulbs in any lamps in the room and light a candle or two to create a soft glow.

But they also can be used in other ways to create a more hygge quiet time. You can begin your quiet time by staring at the candle's flame and let focusing on that help you let go of tension or stress, breathe more deeply and get quieter and more calm in anticipation of connecting and spending time with God.

Candles also can add another sense to the mix, your sense of smell. If you use a candle in your favorite scent, it will become part of the coziness & pleasure of your quiet time.

Lighting a candle also signals that something special is happening, and physically can become part of the ritual lead-up of steps that tell your mind it's time to be with God in a deeper, more focused way.

(4) Make a Cup of Tea

What if you make a pot of tea before you begin your quiet time? Then, the whole experience can be soothed by your sips and enhanced by the comfort tea can bring.

On a chilly morning, a hot cup of tea can be one more thing that warms you, but also helps you begin to wake up - especially if your tea is caffeinated. If you do your quiet time at night, a cup of herbal tea may be part of your evening routine repertoire and it may help to begin to soothe you to sleep.

You also can combine your tea moment with other parts of the quiet time, like creating a meditation moment or writing in your journal.

(5) Brief Meditation

Meditation helps you relax and deepen your breathing. It strengthens the mind-body connection and can help you deepen spiritual awareness and connection, as well.

Meditation helps you know yourself more intimately, becoming more aware of who you are at a deep level. It also can help you identify what needs healing or change in your life.

More than that, it can help you focus on the feeling or energy of coziness and deepen that experience.

(6) Grab Your Journal/Bible Journaling

Put your feet up, and have your journal nearby, so you can grab it easily to write down any guidance, encouragement or inspiration you want to be sure to capture that day.

You also can hygge the journaling process by choosing one you know you will love, or adding to it, with tabs or other illustrations you know will make it more enjoyable to use.

One thing I have done in the past that I loved, was to add sections to my journal. That way, if I wanted to go back and find my thoughts on a particular topic I wrote about all the time, I could find them all in one place.

I am always trying to look out for your budget, so I encourage you to not break the bank with what can become an expensive pursuit. But if you can swing it, Bibles that already have space created for journaling inside can be wonderful. And hygge.

While each one of these suggestions can add hygge impact and coziness to your quiet time, I suggest starting small, to experience the benefit of each one individually, and to avoid the overwhelm of making a lot of changes at once. Pick the one that calls toy you most to start with, and then add one more after you have given yourself time to absorb the first cozy change.

Eventually, you may find that there are several you use regularly and some you never use at all. Either way, your quiet time will have been crafted to perfection so that it serves you even better than before.

Love to you!

Jeanine

P.S. Try a Meditation Moment

After thinking through which one or two of these suggestions you want to try first, take a moment to imagine how they might transform your quiet time experience. What would a cozier quiet time feel like? Imagine it adding warmth or delight to your moments of connection with God. What would that be like for you?