We covet their TV shows, design, work/life balance and social structures. So how can we inject a bit of Nordic magic into our terribly British lives?

Words: Caroline Corcoran

Imagine that it’s Friday afternoon and you’re leaving work at 2pm. Your friends have all logged off too, and a group of you are heading to a log cabin for a cosy weekend where you’ll forage for mushrooms, sweat it out in a sauna and wander in a forest. And rather than it being a one-off, this is how your week regularly ends.

When you paint this kind of picture of the Nordic lifestyle, it’s no surprise that in the 2016 World Happiness Report, four out of the top-five countries to live in are from this region, with Denmark at number one, Iceland at three, Norway at four and Finland at five (Sweden sits at number 10). It’s little wonder then, that the rest of the world is obsessed with emulating the lives of our Nordic compatriots, with US president Barack Obama last month calling the Nordic nations “extraordinary countries”, and recently suggesting we put them “in charge for a while and they could clean things up”.

So is it possible to bring the best bits of the Nordic lifestyle into our everyday lives without upping sticks? Louisa Thomsen Brits, author of The Book Of Hygge: The Danish Art Of Living Well, believes it is – we just have to get back to basics. “We Nords pare things down to the essentials, like the people we love and the quality of our daily lives,” she says. “Then we find what our natural rhythm is and ahere to that with absolute integrity.”

Thomsen Brits isn’t surprised that post-financial crisis, we are looking to mirror a society that is less preoccupied with wealth and more focused on things like contentment, individual freedom, natural food and fresh air. “A key part of emulating Nordic health, happiness and wellbeing is realising that, on the whole, we are not materialistic,” she says. “That’s to do with being engaged with the natural world and incorporating it into your day-to-day.”

Anu Partanen, author of The Nordic Theory Of Everything: In Search Of A Better Life, says that this originated in the Seventies as Nordic societies tried to become more egalitarian. “It started with equality in education, health care, parental leave, gender equality and creating a society that everyone is proud to be part of – and now the results are starting to show,” she says, citing the pan-Scandinavian policy of paying higher taxes for better public services. “Everyone has access to the same facilities – your future is not determined by where you live, connections or if your parents are rich.”

Granted, we don’t live in a country where happiness is legislated, but there are things you can do, eat, drink and think about which can bring a bit of simplicity and contentment into your every day. Here are six ways to Nordify your life…

How to live Nordicly: achieving health and happiness with tips from the frozen north