The Hyggelig Journey

Pain arrives without ceremony. It does not send letters, nor does it announce itself. It simply happens. One moment, life is as it was; the next, pain is there, seated in the room, occupying space we never granted it. First, the shock. Then, a silence heavy with echoes. And finally, the inevitable question: what now? They say something can emerge from this — a transformation, a quiet and imperceptible growth. Calhoun and Tedeschi (2006) call it post-traumatic growth. A fine name, full of science. But the truth is, it is not a matter of choice. Growth does not come because we wish it to; it comes because, unnoticed, something begins to shift. One day, in the midst of an ordinary routine, the taste of coffee feels fuller, the wind brushes against the skin in a way it never did before. The pain is still there, but it has taken a different shape. Perhaps this is what they call wisdom. Some emerge from the fire with a newfound reverence for life — a quiet astonishment at having ...

The brilliance of children has always intrigued me. Quick, perceptive — they move through the clinic with an ease that even my own shadow cannot match. They take in every detail, every corner, as if the space were an extension of themselves. And yet, for all their boundless energy, they surrender to treatment with an openness that never ceases to amaze me. They feel the shift in their very skin, in the deep, unspoken language of the body. They arrive unsettled, their small frames weighed down by a world too vast, too demanding. Some are anxious, others irritable, their nervous systems frayed by stimuli too great to bear. But as the treatment unfolds, something changes. Their tension eases, their breath deepens. By the time they rise from the table, they are transformed — lighter, brighter, as if an invisible burden has been lifted. They leave with a spring in their step, their feet barely touching the ground, as if walking on air. Their parents — ah, the parents — watch i...

Machado de Assis once wrote, “There is no joy that does not pay alimony to sadness.” The saying lingers — a quiet murmur of inevitability — as though every moment of happiness were merely an advance on some future sorrow, a loan taken out against the certainty of loss. But what if it were the other way around? What if sadness, inexorable as it may seem, were not a price to be paid, but rather the fleeting shadow cast by a joy that always, in time, finds its way back? Life does not unfold in debts and punishments. There is no great celestial ledger where laughter is weighed against tears, no unseen hand ensuring that every happiness must be counterbalanced with sorrow. What there is, instead, is movement — a rhythm, a cycle, a perpetual ebb and flow. Warmth and cold, presence and absence, elation and stillness. Sadness does not arrive as a debt collector; it arrives as a tide, shifting the landscape, reshaping the contours of who we are. It strips away the old, makes sp...

Life is a journey of learning and growth – not a race for perfection. Each of us, at some point, will stumble. Whether through mistakes, failures, or unforeseen hardships, we all experience moments where we fall short of our own expectations or those of others. Yet, it is in these very moments that we gain the deepest understanding of what it means to be human. Those who have fallen know the pain of disappointment, but they also discover something greater – the power of compassion, both for themselves and for those around them. Every setback carries within it an opportunity for growth. When we falter, we come face to face with our vulnerabilities, our flaws, and the limitations of our current understanding. However, rather than seeing these as signs of weakness, we can choose to view them as invitations to learn. The experience of struggling – of standing back up after a fall – teaches us patience, humility, and, most importantly, empathy. Once we recognise how difficult t...

Unresolved trauma can manifest in many different ways — anxiety, insomnia, chronic tension, or even unexplained physical pain. These symptoms often develop gradually, without an obvious connection to past experiences, making them difficult to recognise as part of a deeper emotional wound. Instead of surfacing as clear memories, trauma frequently lingers in the nervous system, shaping how we react to stress, process emotions, and experience the world. In Tradicional Chinese Medicine, trauma is not seen as a purely psychological issue but as an energetic imbalance that affects the entire body. The mind and body are deeply interconnected, meaning that emotional distress can influence physical health just as much as physical imbalances can impact emotional well-being. Healing from trauma requires an approach that goes beyond intellectual understanding — it must also address the body’s response to past experiences. Acupuncture plays a vital role in this process by helping regula...

Curiosity naturally leads to renewal. Each new discovery refreshes our thinking, reshaping our understanding of the world. Since much of life is spent relearning how to live after each challenge, there is little room for stagnation. Growth is not a choice but a necessity — an ongoing process that thrives on curiosity and adaptation. Yet, when it comes to breaking ingrained behaviours, the truth can be surprising. I have come to realise that fighting bad habits is often a losing battle — an exhausting cycle that drains both time and energy. One could spend a lifetime trying to eliminate undesirable patterns, only to see them resurface in different forms. Instead, I have learnt — along with many others who share this insight — that replacing bad habits with good ones is far more effective. Shifting focus from resistance to redirection transforms the process into one of effortless transition. Rather than struggling against what no longer serves us, we cultivate habits that nat...