Words are kind of like people — in the sense that the most beautiful ones are beautiful both on the inside and the outside. Some words possess beautiful sounds, as well as beautiful meanings to match. And some of the most beautiful words are also soothing words — words that fall gently on the ear and evoke peaceful moments of repose and intimacy. In other words, we’re about to travel to a tranquil meadow miles away from the grind, strife and tragedy of daily life.
Here are a few soothing words in other languages with equally soothing meanings to match. These won’t replace your therapist, but they might serve as a nice complement.
Soothing Words To Heal Your Soul
Cafuné
Brazilian Portuguese
The act of tenderly running your fingers through the hair of a person you love. This word actually derives from Yoruba, an African tongue spoken by slaves in Brazil. Though its connotation is sweet, cafuné was an important coping mechanism for slaves, who harnessed the power of love and affection to help each other endure brutal conditions.
Gluggaveður
Icelandic
Lit. “window weather.” You know, like weather that’s nice to look at from the comfort of your own home — perhaps a sunny but hellishly cold winter’s day, or a punishing thunderstorm that you don’t have to be outside in.
Грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd’)
Russian
Lit. “mushroom-y rain.” There’s a certain kind of rain that’s conducive to the growth of mushrooms. It’s often misty and gentle, and it occurs while the sun is shining (a.k.a. a sunshower). Russians love to pick mushrooms in the forest, so this word not only evokes peaceful rains, but also a sense of nostalgia and familiarity.
Mångata
Swedish
This is a not-quite-translatable word that refers to the shape the moonlight makes when it’s reflected on the water: a long, undulating, wavy stream. The word mångata literally translates to “moon road.”
Meriggiare
Italian
To rest at noon, preferably in a shady spot. This is one of those words that could have only arisen in a country where the afternoons are often too hot for anything productive to take place.
शवासन (shavasana)
Sanskrit
This word, which literally translates to “corpse pose,” most often refers to the resting pose you assume at the end of your yoga practice. If you’ve ever been to a particularly challenging yoga class, you can probably attest to how soothing it is to hear this word.
森林浴 (shinrin-yoku)
Japanese
Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” is the act of spending time in the woods to soak up its natural medicine. A substantial body of research confirms what a lot of people have intuitively known all along, which is that time spent in nature reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, boosts the immune system, and improves mental health and focus.
Waldeinsamkeit
German
A feeling of peaceful solitude and connection to nature that arises when one is alone in the woods. One might wonder if Thoreau’s Walden Pond could have merely been renamed to Waldeinsamkeit Pond.