By Taq Kaur Bhandal
Bhog is one word for Hygge According to Sikhism
My close friends & family can attest to how obsessed I got with the danish concept of #hygge as written in English by @meikwiking & crew at the Happiness Research Institute this winter. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues my love for and understanding of hygge continues.
Moreover, as more of our collective trauma emerges to be healed (as exampled by outbreaks of hate & violence globally), the importance of radical rest and rejuvenation becomes more and more vital for decolonial, anti-racist, socially just, gender-equal, and sustainable futures. HOW TO SUPPORT OUR WORK: If you find this blog post helpful, feel free to buy our team a chai! or purchase a copy of our book Self-Care Down There. Partial proceeds go to eco-period charities worldwide!
As a Punjabi, Sikh woman living in Metro Vancouver on Coast Salish Territories (the grey-est, wettest parts of Canada, which is actually a magical rainforest), I used to exclaim “my people were meant to live in hot places!”
I guess I should mention that you could also find me in India and Pakistan explaining how I have acclimated to Canada and it’s now too hot for me to sit on the beach in Chennai.
Two winters ago, I found #hygge. On this hygge journey, I have become so interested in how hygge has evolved and is understood in my homelands across the borders of India, Pakistan, and Canada.
In Sikhi, hygge is like the “bhog”, which according to Dr. Guninder Kaur Singh is, “a joyous culmination of every Sikh event...the bhog involves reading the concluding pages of the Guru Granth, and ends in the distribution of Karahprashad...a sweet sacrament made of equal parts butter, sugar, flour, water that is vigorously stirred together on the stove” (Kaur Singh, 2011, p. 86). HOW TO SUPPORT OUR WORK: If you find this blog post helpful, feel free to buy our team a chai! or purchase a copy of our book Self-Care Down There. Partial proceeds go to eco-period charities in Canada, India, and Pakistan!
Bhog is pronounced kind of like ‘bow-g’ and spelt ਭੋਗ in Gurmukhi. Fun fact from @jvalaaa, bhog also means sex.
We can turn all 4 seasons of our Mahwari (Menstrual) Cycles.
🌻 A hygge nook in your place preferably where you can have a bit of alone time
🕯 Candles
☕️ Chai
🍡 Mithai or prashad (sweets)
🧦 Cozy socks
📚 Books (a good time to brush up on your Guru Granth poetry reading)
🔥🧊Hot pack or cold pack
Let me know how you incorporate hygge or bhog into your Mahwari Cycles and pelvic health cycle #selfcare routines!
With love,
Taq
Hi & Sat Sri Akal, I’m ਤਕਦੀਰ ਕੌਰ Dr. Taq Kaur Bhandal, the CEO of I’m With Periods. To learn from me, enroll in my online courses for women and our boyfriends or get a copy of my book Self-Care Down There. I am physically based in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Mi’kmaq Treaty Territories. I was born and raised on the west coast of Canada close to Vancouver, British Columbia. My ancestors and family are from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. I’m passionate about long walks in the forest with my fiancé and dog, and reading rom-coms in the bath.