The holidays are around the corner and clients, readers, family, and friends are asking us for health-giving and soul-nurturing gift ideas.
As usual, we have hand-picked our favorites from this year’s online offerings, from products for personal use and education to objects for the home to promote a healthy lifestyle.
Behold, our annual gift guide.!
Just a heads up, we love all these items, and some of these links contain affiliate codes that give us a small commission if you purchase through us. It doesn’t cost you any more, but we want to be on the up and up.
The 2016 Holiday Healthy Gift Guide
In no particular order, we proudly present to you the gifts we deem worthy of gifting this year! May they bring joy and health to giver and receiver! For ease, we have created separate categories!
Gifts for personal care, self-care, health, and well-being
The Withings activity tracker for counting steps and fitness
This stylish, light and wearable activity tracker can help you get the steps you need, the distance that gives you wings, and the sleep that powers it all. Unlike many other trackers, like our favorites from FitBit, this one is especially wearable at work. We love the many colors and styles and how simple it is. We still love our other favorites, like the UP from Jawbone and the One from FitBit, but this year, Withings, you win!
Wireless headphones for quiet time
We are always on the lookout for a set of good affordable headphones that stays on while hiking, sprinting or doing floor movement at the gym. Let’s face it – cords get in the way. These look amazing and come half price around the holidays. It’s a win-win. These will synchronize with all of your mobile devices and provide great quality sound for your music, podcasts and audiobooks. As you know from our book, we are big lovers of walking meetings and these make talking easy and clear by canceling the background noise.
Carry your food to work or school in style
A beautiful bento box is a great motivation to pack a nourishing lunch and show it off at the office. This particular one comes with two compartments, is BPA free and large enough for a couple of reasonable adult meals. While I love my stainless steel bento, this one can be microwaved, too and that’s something to consider if speed is of the essence for your lunch experience. This bento comes in several colors and we are in love with the beige and the green!
Alpha Balls for self-care and self-massage
We love all Tune Up Fitness balls, but these particular ones work really well on traps, sore upper backs and glutes. They are also, um, as you can tell from the name, amazing for anyone who has more muscle or doesn’t enjoy the smaller surface contact of the classic size balls. These are definitely an incredible gift, and one you may consider adding to your own Santa list. For best results, pair with the Roll Model book.
A beautiful, unique, personalized handmade wallet
I truly believe a good wallet is like a good watch – you love it so much you keep it for years. When it was time to get a wallet I would truly love, I wanted one that was made with care, craftsmanship and a price tag that was fair. When I received my monogrammed brown wallet, I about jumped from joy. It was even more beautiful than the pictures and I wanted to get one of these for my whole family. I promise whoever gets this, will love it! Look at the whole store for phone cases, handbags and various other personal leather items you will love!
A weighted blanket to help with sleep and stress
With so many kids and adults having a hard time settling into restful sleep, you would think weighted blankets would be on every baby and wedding registry, but alas, we have to wait for Christmas to gift one. This is an excellent gift for anyone fighting stress and lack of sleep in your friend and family circle! When you check out, remember to choose the appropriate weight for kids or adults. I love a blanket that’s around 20 lb. myself!
When looking for an organic, essential oil infused, non-toxic, natural product to give to your spa-loving buddies, this may be the one to get! We love these fragrant bath bombs from California – and we highly recommend the Common Sense store and all their lovely products!
You probably take probiotics to help your gut, but do you take care of the healthy bacteria protecting your skin?
When choosing products for yourself and gifts this season, consider Mother Dirt – just like you choose the best fermented foods for your belly, you can now provide your skin with the micro biome which will protect and nourish it. Hats off for the creators of these incredible skin-care products!
Gifts for Coffee Lovers and Home Barristas
Blind tasting kit from Angels’ cup
Know someone who knows coffee so well, it’s really hard to please them by bringing them a bag of beans for fear of it being “too acidic”, “not roasted enough”, or just “not fruity enough”…enter The Black Box – a blind coffee tasting experience from Angels’ Cup. Faced with Roland at home – who is always adventurous, yet will be honest about an expensive bag of beans being a “no go”, I got creative and found Angel’s cup to be a fantastic way to introduce new flavors to him. Try it – it comes ina gorgeous box suitable for gifting and easy to wrap.
Stagg – the most beautiful kettle for fabulous coffee
Our minimalist household has a rule – if it can’t be both a piece of usable kitchenware and a piece of art, we aren’t buying it. Honestly, this kettle can be proudly displayed on your stove, shown off to coffee-snob friends, and also used by generations after you – because it’s just gorgeous. Enjoy gifting it to your pour-over obsessed family and friends.
For the truly devoted – this light and portable hand grinder can be adjusted to different grinds to meet even the most precise coffee making method you use on the go. It has become an inseparable part of our travels and has made each new city feel like home. The best part is that pairs nicely with the Aeropress, the way you pour it out into the container prevents spills and makes a morning routine go as smooth as the coffee you make.
A Chemex coffee maker for serving and making wonderul coffee at home
You can’t go wrong with gifting a Chemex, but make sure the receiver also has a kettle with a spout, such as the Stagg above or a Hario, otherwise it’s a pain to pour. It’s a great gift for someone who likes to make more than a cup and hosts guests regularly. If your office assistant is a hipster coffee extraordinaire maybe it would make a nice office gift, too!
Healthy Gifts for Entertaining or Hostess Gifts
Heading to someone’s home for a holiday dinner or party? People coming to your home? Be sure to look at our list of coffee related gifts, above, but also consider these great ideas!
Dairy Free, Nutmilk Cheeses from Punk Rawk Labs
We have so many friends who are dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, primal that we LOVE to stumble across a party or guest food that meets so many requirements. Punk Rawk Lab’s does just that, with amazing nutmilk cheeses that taste just like dairy cheese!
Frankly, I was shocked. I didn’t believe it, so they sent us some samples to try, and I was amazed. So were our guests, who had no idea until we told them!
Try it at your holiday party or when you need something for a hostess gift or house warming this season. Seriously good.
Gifts for the healthy home
Fight off the winter blues with blue light
The Philips Go-Lite is our favorite suggestion for any home with circadian rhythms (ha!). I recently read a study which talked about family arguments and how partners who were operating on different circadian rhythms were much more likely to have disagreements – so choose a home that needs more peace and blue it away! All joking aside – the blue light is the fastest way to wake up in the morning – and keep you in a good mood all day long!
Instant Pot is a timesaver in the kitchen and a sure way to eat well
You know how much we believe in home cooking and how we talk your ear off about batch cooking as a way to ensure the health of the whole family and keeping your optimal weight. This newest most exciting cooking gadget makes meals in no time. Think stews, soups, casseroles even after a busy day at work. Want to make faster bone broth? This is your guaranteed shortcut. Denzel approved and much endorsed by our favorite chefs.
This gorgeous home water filter was made in the US from BPA free plastic. Its design is a pleasure to the eye and its simplicity is inspiring. When you purchase it you also support water projects all over the world to help people who don’t have access to clean water. Win-win, the Tom’s shoes of the water pitcher world!
Give the gift of clothing with health, happiness, wellness, and ecology in mind
If you love giving clothing (I surely do!) then consider these natural fiber, organic, sustainable, eco-friendly clothes. I have been drooling over their feed on Instagram for months and only my amazing willpower is keeping me from owning every dress they make. They are made with care for our beautiful planet and the colors, too, help you feel like a part of nature.
Arya Sense – natural materials, designer care, Bulgarian-made
I probably get more comments about the several pairs of Arya Sense pants I have more than any other item I’ve ever worn. I love everything I’ve ever purchased from Arya, who keep innovating, bringing new models and allowing our movement practice and leisure time to happen in gorgeous wear. I was fortunate to visit their designer studio this summer and loved meeting the smily women who make these garments. It brought me one thread closer to my favorite brand.
The same company also produces a fantastic game for children, which you can play around the holiday fire. Find the yoga memory game here. Perfect gift for kids and yoga enthusiasts!
Jewelry and games from Nervous System Designs
Love nature? Love the brain? Then seeing them and giving them woven into jewelry is probably a treat to your eyes and your mind. “Here honey, I got you this lovely necklace that explores the cycles of growth and bifurcation seen in plants.” Drool. I’ve been following the art of these two amazing artists for years and wondering how does a scientist turn artist. Here’s how.
A gift from this store also pairs nicely with a jigsaw puzzle made using an incredible technology which pairs shapes much like nature pairs snowflakes. Here you see “a veritable petri dish, teeming with special pieces resembling algae, diatoms, radiolarians and other minuscule creatures.”. Double drool.
Gifts of Learning – Books, DVDs, and Online Courses
Nutritious Movement Books and Courses – with a card from Katy Bowman if you buy by Dec 16!
Nutritious Movement is the source for your health through whole body movement! Whether you are getting the new radical “Movement matters” book, an organic t-shirt, a set of movement DVDs, the virtual class membership, this year, Katy will sign a gift card and send along with your order, personalized to your recipient! If you order a digital purchase, the card will be shipped to your recipient alone. During checkout, use the “notes” field to give us the details for the card: who it’s for, and if you want it to say anything else! Katy will also sign books instead—again, just put the details in the “notes” field at checkout.
Eat Well Move Well Live Well – 52 ways to live better in a week
By far, our most favorite book we ever co-authored, our baby, our pride. It’s a book you can give anyone in your family and they will love the many simple, actionable lessons inside! We are thrilled to have a book we are proud to place under, on, around, below, above our holiday tree this year! Every member of our family is getting one this year! Have a cousin who only reads Kindle? Amazon lets you gift Kindle books, too. You just need their email! Check it out!
Want to take this a step further and gift an autographed copy of our book with a 30 minute bonus phone call consultation? We are gifting 10 of these free calls to the first 10 who order an autographed copy HERE. Get your book in the mail, a greeting card from the Denzels with a personalized message and a 30 minute phone consultation for your friend or family member (or for yourself, ha!!!)! Click here to get the sweet deal!
Dynamic aging – simple exercises for whole body mobility
Joan, Shelah, Lora and Joyce were the first students of Katy Bowman that I met when I went up to the former brick and mortar Restorative Exercise Institute (now the Nutritious Movement Center NW in WA). I fell in love with those ladies immediately – and who would not? They had vigor, drive, joy of movement, they had movement dreams in their 70s – climbing mountains, working side by side with us 30-year olds and practically kicking ass. As a passionate mover this is who I want to be when I grow up. They teamed up with Katy Bowman to write this incredible book for the golden years of life – and if you have a close person in your life who can benefit from reading this, it could be a life-changing gift. On pre-sale since December 1st it’s the perfect gift!
Other books we have loved this season and want to share with you:
Strong – never go to the gym without a great workout planned, and this book has all a woman needs
100-million years of food – an evolutionary trip that teaches us how to eat best to sustain health
True Refuge – for those whose hearts want more, my favorite meditation teacher
Heritage – a cookbook to inspire you and possibly make you want to move to the South
A thousand mornings – because life without poetry is like a meal without spices
That One Weird Thing…
or
The Luxurious Bamboo Squatty Potty
Not a prank – if you are dedicated to helping others have phenomenal bowel movements, this is the gift to give this year. Once upon a time, we were a part of a weird bunch who considered squatting in the bathroom to be the only “natural” (he heeee!) way to go, but thanks to a commercial gone viral, featuring a pooping unicorn, you too have now seen and heard all about position mattering the most in how you choose to bathroom. Even JP Sears is on board with the movement (get it?) and we are rightfully including the bamboo squatty here. Give it to someone with a sense of humor. They will appreciate it in more ways than one. Remember to include unicorn video as inspiration.
Maybe two weird things…
Pair with the squatty potty or use as a stocking stuffer:
Our friend Alison Chen combined rhyme, science and fun into a book that will help you know yourself better inside and out! Poop is one of the favorite subjects for kids too, and they will have the best laughs with this illustrated gem! Knowing your poo and pee is key – see, I’m already rhyming myself!
Donations make a wonderful gift to those you help, and do wonders for you, too!
Consider donating funds, clothes, food, a warm meal, volunteering or any other way to warm Christmas for a family or community this year. Research some of the local opportunities in your area or contact friends who work in non-government organizations.
Here is what we are doing this season: Roland and I are participating in feeding 50 families in Kampala, Uganda. Each year, my studio donates 10% of private sessions to people in need in our community. Think deeply about how you can relieve someone’s suffering this season, whether it’s by making them a bowl of soup, donating your services, or gifting them a holiday gift – each of us can do something meaningful and memorable. Make the holiday season warm!
Our friend and teacher Michael Curran (follow him on Instagram @mikepcurran) is at Standing Rock in North Dakota to support the water protectors. If you are moved by the protests and want to join our Earth protectors, head over to the donation page, or simply share the link on Facebook. It doesn’t cost anything to share a link. It’s that simple.
Ok, now it’s your turn!
Tell us what gifts – physical, online, or otherwise – you find useful, inspiring, helpful, meaningful – and we will keep updating this list with your suggestions.
Have a healthy and happy holiday season!
Galina and Roland
PS – If this stuff wasn’t enough, take a look at our 2015 holiday gift guide. We still love all this stuff, too! Just click here for 2015!
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