Live Better With Less

Boost your wellbeing with lagom – Sweden’s answer to mindfulness.

- Eve Boggenpoel

There’s no stopping our love affair with all things Scandinavian. From flat-packed furniture to Nordic crime novels, we can’t seem to get enough of the continent’s ideas, exports and culture. No surprise then that hot on the heels of last year’s hygge phenomenon (aka all things comforting and cosy) comes lagom, a word that roughly translates as ‘just right’. Or, as Anna Brones, author of Live Lagom: Balanced Living, the Swedish Way (Ebury Press, £9.99) puts it, ‘not too much, not too little… just something in the middle, the moderate choice between two extremes’.

Of course, the concept of balanced living isn’t exclusively Swedish – Buddhists have understood the importance of ‘the middle way’ for centuries, and even we Brits have the saying, ‘all things in moderation’. But for the Swedes, the concept goes much deeper; in fact, lagom is firmly rooted in the national psyche, influencing everything from food to fashion, behaviour, design and even community ethos. And, when you consider the country is listed as one of the 10 happiest nations in the world*, it could be time to check out how living with lagom can help you be healthier and happier, too.