A More Mindful & Meaningful Holiday Gift Guide
Gift giving over the holidays can be a loving and generous experience. It can also become overwhelming with the stress and obligation and guilt of traditional gifting.
Growing up, I remember our emergency gift cabinet full of generic things like socks and candles and Bath & Body Works lotions (some even pre-wrapped). We had “just in case” gifts so if someone unexpectedly gave us something at a holiday gathering, we’d have something ready to give in return. Who else can relate to this SNL Christmas Candle skit/song? 😂
And you don’t even want me to start ranting about Black Friday and general overconsumption. Every year, the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of "trash" or roughly 4.6 pounds per person per day. But I digress.
Personally, I’d rather not receive a gift from someone rather than receive something generic that I don’t really want and am not going to use. It seems to me the intention of giving is to somehow help improve someone else’s life. Not because tradition or advertising tells you to. Here are a few suggestions for giving more mindful and meaningful gifts during the holidays (or any other time, too!).
Time & Attention
The most precious gift you can give someone is your time and presence. You can always earn more money and buy more things but you can’t create more minutes or hours in the day. Turning off your devices and giving someone your full attention and indulging in a conversation over a warm meal or beverage or while going for a walk/hike is the ultimate luxury these days. Human interaction is infinitely more fulfilling than a purse or shoes or the latest goods and gadgets.
Google Calendar is totally free (with a gmail account) and has been critical in helping me organize both my personal and professional life and ensures I have enough time to make it to all the holiday parties and make dates to catch up with friends and family. I love being able to invite other people to my calendar entries so they get reminders as well. Basically, if it’s not on my calendar, it’s not happening. As awesome as it is to spend time with someone, it’s the absolute worst when you or the other person flakes because they forgot or are overbooked.
Some of my favorite places to get together in Asheville:
Gift Cards or Gift Certificates
Giving a gift card or certificate empowers the receiver to enjoy what they want, when they want it. There are tons of gift cards out there to buy you stuff (which are particularly useful if you just had a major life change like having a baby or moving to a new place or are going to college.)
But in the end all that stuff if still just… stuff. A new international survey by an ad agency Momentum Worldwide determined that 76% of people would rather spend money on experiences instead of products. Entrepreneur wrote about 7 Reasons Why Spending Money on Experiences Makes us Happier than Buying Stuff, especially when it comes to millenials.
We’ve made it easy to buy gift certificates for our uniquely Asheville yoga hikes that combine yoga, hiking and meditation with the best mountains and waterfalls in Western North Carolina. This is a mindful, healthy and sustainable gift that you can enjoy yourself, as a couple or as a group.
You can enjoy and learn from activities of any length but longer and more-in-depth experiences like retreats have a bigger impact on your life. There is also just a little more time left to join our Women’s Reflect & ReNew Year Yoga Retreat at Lake Logan just 45 minutes west of Asheville. We only have a couple spots left and registration ends December 20.
Or check out our How to DIY Asheville Wellness Retreat blog post.
Here are a few other local Asheville health & wellness experiences that I recommend gifting to friends and family:
Asheville Salt Cave | massage, salt cave sessions,
Wake Foot Santuary | foot soaks, massage, spa packages
Plant | Fancy vegan food & drinks
Asheville Yoga Center | Yoga classes, training and workshops
Massage Envy | Massage or massage membership (Ideal if you travel and move around a lot like I do. I also recommend finding a local therapist if you tend to stay in one place.)
Shoji Spa & Lodge | Japanese Spa, Soaks & Massage
Sauna House | Nordic Spa, Sauna, Massage, Lounge
Still Point Wellness | Sensory Deprivation, Esalen Massage, Somatic Psychology
Homemade/Handmade Gifts
This never gets old and the gifts are always one of a kind! I regularly made my parents hand drawn coupon books for extra chores when I was growing up. Think about 5-10 acts of service that would really make a difference to your friends, parents, partners, kids, the possibilities are endless!
You can also make holiday meals and snacks for friends and family. If you’re a master chef or baker, awesome! For the rest of us like me who need recipes to follow, a few food blogs I really like and use are Budget Bytes and Nourish (curated, created and cooked by my friend Sarah).
Image from Sarah’s Nourish plant based recipe blog
If you really, really want to buy some thing, consider supporting local artists and craftsmen. Not only are the items often more unique and higher quality, but it’s good karma too! Check out our Favorite Female, Nature-Inspired Artists in Asheville blog post for some beautiful creations.
Audible Audiobook Subscription
I listen to so many audio books, especially when I’m driving to work or running errands or driving out to a trailhead in the mountains. I think of it as mindful multi-tasking. Plus I don’t have a bunch of physical books that I may or may not read again accumulating on my shelves.
Winter is a great time to reflect on yourself and your lifestyle so a few titles I recommend to get you or your loved one started are:
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman,
The 4 Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin,
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle,
Big Magic by Liz Gilbert,
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo,
The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz,
You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero and
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.
Gift memberships start at $15 for one month. [This post is not sponsored. I just genuinely like learning and listening to audiobooks!] If you prefer still having something in your hands and reading, an Amazon Kindle is a good option. (Just not my jam).
Donations & Volunteering
Talk about some serious good karma! You could forgo giving any gifts to your friends and family altogether and just donate your time, money and energy or donate on behalf of others to worthy causes. Another simple way I like to give back is by walking around and picking up trash around my neighborhood, on a trail or in a park.
Thanks to our guests, Namaste in Nature has donated 860 trees via onetreeplanted.org since it was established in 2017. HOLIDAY TRAVEL TIP: I also donate some trees each time I travel long distances by car or plane to offset those emissions as well. ✈️
Since I’m most passionate about the environment and yoga, some other local organizations I recommend supporting include:
Dogwood Alliance | Protecting Southern Forests
Friends of Dupont Forest | Forest Conservation
Light A Path | Brings yoga, meditation, strength training and running
to youth, the incarcerated, the unhoused, low-income community residents, and those in recovery
Appalachian Wildlife Refuge | Wildlife rescue & rehabilitation
River Link | Protects the French Broad River & Watershed
Conserving Carolina | Land Conservation
AVL Greenworks | Community Conservation & Education
Thanks for reading and I hope this article inspires a little more creativity and consciousness during the holidays for yourself, your friends and family. I would love to know if you have any other mindful gift ideas or traditions in the comments!
Happy, Merry Everything!
-Miranda
