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With the Twixmas season upon us, Niksen is the Dutch lifestyle trend we need to embrace right now.
How would you describe your 2022? While Covid-19 finally decided to take its foot off our necks (barely) there have been many events both in the world and in our personal lives that have made this year eventful, to say the least.
And as we approach Christmas and New Year, finding time to truly wind down is key – and there is one Dutch lifestyle trend that is all abouttackling the increasing levels of stress and burnout felt by modern generations and taking time to chill out.
Picked up by Time Magazine, Niksen is a word used by the Dutch to encapsulate the combined feeling and activity of doing absolutely nothing, with zero levels of purpose. Now, it doesn’t have to mean sitting still exactly but is used for those times when your mind wanders, you may be pottering about at home, taking your time and without the burden of feeling like you need to achieve anything.
Although the Netherlands has obviously been using the word for hundreds of years, it seems like the perfect time for it to migrate over to the UK, as burnout becomes a growing problem.
Not to be confused with anxiety or depression, burnout is a state of extreme stress when the body goes into auto-pilot, leaving you feeling like a robot. It can creep up on us slowly, masked by a sense of ‘we’re all busy though, aren’t we?’ and seems to be a particularly millennial problem, caused essentially by taking on too much and a need to high performing at everything.
Niksen, by contrast, celebrates the joy of doing nothing and letting the world glide on past. Like a form of self-care, by practising niksen it is thought that we give our minds and bodies the chance to really, truly unwind.
How you ‘niks’ is up to you, and the joy of being idle is a very personal thing, so it’s unlikely that you’ll relish doing nothing in the same way as a friend. Below, though, we’ve picked out four ways you can start practicing some niksen time if you’re not sure how to get started.
Sit by a window and just stare
No, seriously. The act of just curling up in a chair and sitting for a minute, with nowhere to be and nothing to do is exactly what niksen is all about. This is even better done when there’s a window to look out of, so that you can literally sit and watch the world go by.
Lie on your bed and listen to music
Niksen should be nothing if not comfortable, and is there a more comfortable place than bed? We’d be hard pushed to find one if there is. Lying back and just letting your mind wander, with some of your favourite tunes on in the background is a great way to unfurl from the stress of your day. Don’t feel guilty about doing nothing, just enjoy doing nothing.
Go for a walk
Now when we say go for a walk, we don’t mean anywhere in particular, the point of niksen is to achieve absolutely nothing. So if you have some spare time, or better yet, you’ve set aside some time to niksen, then why not take a stroll to nowhere, in particular, to clear your mind and just be.
Do something with your hands like knitting or a jigsaw
Again, we’re not asking you to work hard on a knitting pattern to whip up a new scarf for your great-aunt. This act of just doing something with your hands should feel almost therapeutic like you’re just doing it for the sake of it without a wider agenda.
If you’re loving learning about lifestyle trends from Scandinavia and the Netherlands, check out all the ways you can use hygge to improve your life at home and at work here.
Images: Getty
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