Do Hot Tubs Explain Our Happiness?

Swimming is an essential part of many Icelanders' daily routine.

Swimming is an essential part of many Icelanders' daily routine. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

Vala Hafstað

A newly released BBC video on geothermal swimming pools in Iceland brings attention to the fact that again and again, Icelanders have been rated among the happiest nations in the world. The video suggest the secret to this happiness may lie in the country’s many geothermal pools and hot tubs.

Swimming lessons have long been mandatory in Icelandic schools, and swimming is an essential part of many Icelanders’ daily routine.

This is the place where we, Icelanders, gather - not only for our physical wellbeing, but just as much for our psychological health. We come to enjoy the hot water, regardless of the season, and to chat with acquaintances, whose professions we are more likely to know than their names, to compare notes, discuss the latest news, and seek solutions to everyday problems.

In the video, several pools and hot tubs – some of them on the shore - are visited and its guests interviewed. See for yourself here.

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