A walk in the wind: uitwaaien
The Dutch Word for Walking in the Wind
If there’s a lot going on in your head this week, I hope you can find time for a walk in a strong wind to blow your worries away.
Have you ever found something rather wonderful about a walk in a strong wind? You might appreciate the Dutch concept of Uitwaaien.
Uitwaaien is a Dutch word that means going out into the wind to clear your head.
Uitwaaien combines two words: uit, meaning out, and waaien, meaning “to blow”, as wind blows. Pronounced roughly as o-ut-vye-en.
Together, it means going out into the wind, often for a walk or bike ride, to clear your head and refresh your mind. Like getting an airing out, I picture it blowing your worries away. A breath of fresh air.
We like to go to the southwest of England in autumn and winter. A walk on the coast or up a tor in Dartmoor, getting battered around with a strong wind in your face pulls you into the roar and immerses you in it. It’s bracing and never fails to give a satisfying, relaxed calm when you finally get back inside and exhale.
And there are plenty of windy spots across the Netherlands, where this word comes from, to enjoy a regular uitwaaien and clear your head.
A walk in nature always has the power to soothe, calm, and clear your head, be it the three-day effect, forest bathing, or solvitur ambulando. But nature, combined with a strong wind, seems to have an extra power.
(Very grateful for my Dutch friend for patience in explaining, pronouncing and correcting)
Related Ideas to Uitwaaien
Also see:
Some other super, non-English words:
Wow, and I was just lying here in bed thinking "man, I need to get outside and walk a bit". Wind or no wind, my tangled brain needs some pointless wandering.
This is something we've always enjoyed in my family too - known as 'blowing the cobwebs away', which is another concept I like :)