As you know, I rarely share or promote companies unless I truly love them and since I am not much of a shopper, it’s rare that I discover amazing stuff before anyone else. That being said, I might have a few special trinkets up my sleeve that you may not be familiar with or have yet to discover how awesome they are. This is my Ultimate Healthy Living Gift Guide!
When I shop for myself or presents for others, I always want to feel great about my purchases. I love supporting local or small businesses (I am an Etsy junkie!) and companies with ethical give-back programs. Also, if there’s a crystal on it, I will love it.
Of course, I am also a huge advocate for skipping the holiday shopping altogether and giving other things.
My Favourite Kind Of Gift Giving: Experiences
🥘 Eat In Together: Prepare a beautiful meal to share with the special people in your life.
🧡 Make It Yummy: Prepare a delicious edible gift.
🦄 Get Creative: Use your own unique talent to create something – maybe a poem, a song, a love letter, some natural beauty care products, a painting, or a self-choreographed dance.
💃 Do Something: Give an activity you can do together – a trip to a museum or gallery, a dance class, a dinner at a restaurant you’ve been wanting to try, a movie, a couples massage, a holiday!
🤩 Do Unto Others As They Won’t Likely Do For Themselves: Give something they need but would never buy themselves – a high speed blender (here’s the US link to the one I love), a massage, or an extra cozy pair of new slippers (why do we always wear our slippers until they’re barely holding together?!).
⏰ Your Time: In this epidemically busy world we now live in, time could be the very best gift of all. Give yourself over to someone you love, someone you haven’t seen in ages, someone you want to get to know more, and be together. Go for a long walk, make dinner together, or for those with children, offer to babysit!! That is the best gift of all.
The Gifts That Give
Gifts that give back are at the top of my Healthy Living Gift Guide and for good reason! I have seven nieces and nephews and I found it challenging watching kids who have everything unwrap a ton of plastic garbage toys that were undoubtedly stashed away in a closet or broken within a month. So I voted to give each child one gift card to get something special, and to make a family donation to a cause that the kids could all choose together.
Given that we live in a very abundant culture, I am a big fan of the gifts that serve a greater purpose and can honour the ones you love by helping those who have less:
- Adopt a family and provide gifts for a family in need in your local community.
- Purchase From Scratch Cooking, Academy of Culinary Nutrition’s annual digital cookbook where 100% of the proceeds are donated to charities like Thrive.
- Create a lending team with Kiva and give in honour of your family. (Or you can join my team!)
- Help provide families in your community with a holiday meal with Community Food Centres of Canada.
All of these organizations are set up to allow you to donate as a gift in honour of someone you love.
Of course, sometimes, we just want to give something tangible and thoughtfully chosen for the people we love. There is joy to giving presents and it’s good for our health too.
Below is a list of gift ideas that I’d love. Maybe you’ll find some inspiration here for yourself or for a loved one!
Ultimate Healthy Living Gift Guide
The Gift Of Chemical-Free Sleep
Why our bed tends to be the lowest on the rung of things we make investments on is beyond me. We spend 1/3 of our life in bed. Most beds are loaded with chemicals and most of us aren’t sleeping well. Could the bed make all the difference?
What if instead of buying each other a bunch of little things, you instead invest in the gift of a new bed? Something you will enjoy for optimally eight hours a night for the next 20 years.
I have long been a fan of Sunshine Mattress Co. They sell organic latex mattresses, foundations and accessories and they’ve done the work for you. There is no mattress company with the standards and knowledge that they have.
Use coupon code MEGHAN10 for 10% off mattresses and accessories at Sunshine Mattress Co. If you’re in the GTA and want to head to the Dufferin/Castlefield Avenue store to try a bed in person, drop my name for 5% off.
Living Libations
Did you know that I am a huge fan of essential oils for travel, beauty care products and home cleaning? I have a 4-Perfume Pack from Living Libations and it is the best thing ever. I now keep it in my purse and carry it with me. It’s a sweet way to try out a few different scents, and since natural oils don’t have the toxic pervasiveness of chemical-based perfumes, and because the natural aromas work in harmony, you could even wear one scent during the day and switch it to a different scent in the evening. This company is based in Haliburton, Ontario and carefully sources the purest oils from around the globe.
The perfume pack is just one option to choose from. If we’re talking gifting, the Happy Hair Luxury Kit, or any of the amazing beauty kits they have put together would also be great.
Use this link for 15% off your Living Libations order (discount applied at checkout).
Online Fitness: Obé
After the birth of my son, I found it hard to get back into a fitness routine that I could realistically maintain. That is, until I found Obé Fitness. There are very few things I’ve experienced in my life that I would call life-changing, but this habit that is new in my life absolutely has been. These workouts are on-demand, short, full of variety and are utterly FUN. Most important for me, however, is the mental and emotional shift I am feeling. I feel stronger, and more resilient mentally.
This is one of those gifts you may have to be mindful of – you don’t want someone to take it the wrong way ;) But I recommend making it a group thing and gift it to yourself and a friend and make it happen together!
Register over at Obé and use coupon code MEGHAN50 to get 50% off your first month, plus a 7-day free trial.
Tropho
It takes a lot for me to try new products. I love what I love, and am also extremely mindful of ingredients, smells, and packaging.
Tropho was created by Allanah Canal one of the first students in the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program, back when I taught it here in my kitchen in person. Allanah is a herbalist and nutritionist, and all of her products are organic, safe, affordable and come in glass bottles.
These are one of those gifts that are practical, enjoyable (hello, home spa treat) and unique.
Highland of Skye Tallow Balm
This tallow-based moisturizer is basically a miracle worker. I use it on any dry patches on my knees, elbows and feet. It’s anti-inflammatory and the tallow is made from organic, grass-fed, pasture and humanely raised animals. It won’t clog your pores, either.
I am obsessed with this cream: How it feels, how it smells and the founder is just delightful!
So Young
This sustainable, female-owned lifestyle company offers the most adorable linen lunch bags, backpacks and pencil cases for kids and adults. My son and all his pals carry these backpacks to school (I love the toddler size for my five year old as it’s proportionate for his little body).
The adult lunch bags are also great to have if you’re a pack-and-go lunch eater or snacker (hi, it’s me!)
What I love most (aside from the fabric) is that the company has an extensive give-back program that donates to a variety of worthy charities.
Blue Blocking Glasses: Swanwick
As an owner of an online business, it’s nearly impossible for me to avoid being in front of a screen and the exposure to blue light that comes with that.
There is some debate as to the effectiveness of blue light blocking glasses or goggles. Some small studies conclude that wearing blue light blocking glasses helps to filter out blue light, improve sleep quality and quantity, improve mood, prevent melatonin suppression, and reduce symptoms like headaches, dry eyes, and eyestrain. Other research reports that there isn’t sufficient evidence that blue light blocking glasses are effective at preventing insomnia or improving eye health.
I have a pair of blue light filtering glasses from Swanwick, but there are a lot of non-prescription and prescription options out there, so in my opinion they would be a good gift for those in your life who spend a lot of time in front of devices.
The UnDiet Cookbook
But of course I am going to blatantly plug my own book as a most awesome gift in my Healthy Living Gift Guide. The UnDiet Cookbook is where playtime comes in with 130 beautiful gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, gorgeous photos, entertaining and travel tips, a whole chapter of beauty care recipes and of course, practices to help you live a healthy and awesome life. It’s available online from all major book sellers and in most major book stores.
Tiny Ritual Candles and Incense
This small business specializes in beeswax candles and incense, though it also offers a few extra goodies like crystals and necklaces.
What I adore about Carlyn’s products is her focus on using the candles for ritual and intention-setting. I invited Carlyn to present a candle-making and intention-setting for a ‘Crafternoon’ session with my team, and she was chock-full of brilliant ideas for how to use candles mindfully to manifest your dreams and goals.
Elixir by Josh Gitalis
I am a huge fan of elixirs – I make them almost daily in my high-speed blender. Yes, I am a little biased because Josh is my husband. But also, I’m certain I would love this product no matter who made it!
This blend is incredibly tasty, sugar-free, packed with adaptogens and superfoods, and so easy to blend and use. This works in hot and cold elixirs, smoothies, homemade chocolates, nut/seed butters, and is a fantastic alternative to coffee too.
Bettina Westwood Ceramics
If you’re looking for a unique gift, this handcrafted ceramic company makes one-of-a-kind items including mugs, vases, incense holders and more.
All items are food safe, lead-free and dishwasher-safe. And they’re incredibly beautiful!
Joyous Health Tea Blends
Tea hasn’t always been my go-to beverage (elixirs have my heart), but in recent years I’ve been making a conscious effort to add more teas to my life. I use tea as an elixir base, and also explore adding them to soups and using them as the liquid for cooking grains.
The Joyous Health tea blends are the ones I reach for when I’m looking for a cup of tea on its own. They are absolutely delicious, thoughtfully crafted with intention, and completely organic.
Jaspr Pro Air Purifier
It’s not just an air purifier that helps keep your indoor air quality safe. It’s a medical-grade air purifier that delivers the highest level of performance for the most affordable price. I have this one and love it.
Jaspr is offering $200 off with code MTBREATHE.
360 Cookware
To complete this Healthy Living Gift Guide, this stainless steel cookware is absolutely beautiful, long-lasting and has a lifetime warranty. Using toxin-free cookware is important, as what we cook in (especially at high heat) comes in direct contact with our food. I am obsessed with the 360 slow cooker. No more fears about what’s coating those ceramic slow cookers leaching into the food!
* This post contains affiliate links.
One response to “Meghan’s Healthy Living Gift Guide”
These are awesome gift ideas that keep giving. Thanks for the list. Seeing the unicorn squatty potty commercial reminds me to tell you that your unicorn that says “Flirt with famers” makes me smile every time! Why shouldn’t you have a unicorn dance across your website?! Happy Holidays and congratulations on another amazing year Meghan!