Mindful holiday gifting

Gifting mindfully, from a place of care for the recipient and the planet.

We don’t need more “stuff”. We need more connection with the natural world. We need more connection with each other and more experiences that we will cherish, rather than items given out of cultural habits formed long ago. After a couple of years full of restrictions and constant change, isolating periods of time and lengthy times spent at home, perhaps the idea of elaborate and all-consuming commercial gifting, seems somewhat out of place and even out of touch with where we are at and where we want to go collectively.

Some of the beauty of the challenges faced in the last couple of years, is in recognising the many positives in the small, yet wholesome, more meaningful gifting options available to us. The often-chaotic month of December spent racing around, stressed and spending excessively, doesn’t have to be the way forward. A new approach could be to simplify and mindfully curate a selection of small yet wholesome gifts, with more focus on learning about the makers behind the products, where they are created, and what impact they have on the earth.

By purchasing from local, small businesses you are able to contribute to your local community, who need support now more than ever. I often think about the flow-on effect of gifting a wholesome, handmade, or mindful gift. I think about how the recipient not only enjoys the gift, but how they too may then look to gift onwards, in a similar way. Perhaps if we start mindfully gifting with a great deal of care, not only for the recipient, but also for the planet, the ripple effect could extend further than we think.

With health and happiness,
Emma

Suggestions for a mindful approach to the gifting season

– A wholesome, unique, challenging or beautiful experience of some kind, whether that’s a trip away, an event or day spent trying something new in the outdoors

– A personalised hamper with fresh healthy and local produce or a gift card to an organic food box delivery company

– A voucher to meditation, reiki, massage, pilates or yoga experience

– An inspiring book or a subscription to great magazine

– A donation to a charity close to the recipients’ heart

– A beautiful soap (preferably not in a bottle), essential oils, or incense

– An Airbnb experience or a Riparide voucher

– Tickets to a show, gallery or a museum. So many artists have been doing it tough recently so it’s a great way to support them too

– A plant or tree, a veggie garden starter kit or even a voucher to a nursery