What better gift can you give than the gift of health and happiness? Going broke buying expensive presents isn’t the best way to spend the holidays. Worrying about what to give can easily take all the joy out of something that’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.

You can feel a whole lot better about the holidays and your role in it by thinking simple – and, thinking gifts that can actually enhance your recipient’s health and well-being. If you are still looking for the perfect gift for that special someone, try one of these simple holiday gifts that are good for health and happiness

 

 

Plants

Plants are natural air purifiers and microbe filterers that have been shown to enhance both health and happiness. A 1989 study, Foliage Plants for Removing Indoor Air Pollutants from Energy-efficient Homes, conducted by NASA in association with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), revealed that plants can remove up to 87 of toxins in the air every 24 hours, including formaldehyde, which is present in vinyl, cigarette smoke and grocery bags, as well as benzene and trichloroethylene, both found in solvents and paints as well as inks and man-made fibers. All of those volatile organic compounds can make residents sick if they’re allowed to remain, gradually wearing away at their immune systems with their toxicity.

Plus, also according to scientific research, plants naturally help to lift one’s mood as they create a living space that’s more calming and soothing.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy isn’t just some new age marketing scheme, essential oils have been used for centuries for a wide variety of purposes, with many providing some seriously therapeutic powers, including the ability to improve health and happiness. When you smell something, the scent molecules are actually linking directly to brain tissue in your nose. That means when you smell something calming, like lavender, your brain will halt production of the chemicals that cause negative or stressed emotions, helping you to relieve stress, which brings a host of health benefits while making you feel happier.

Some of the best oils to give for this purpose, not only include lavender, but frankincense, ylang-ylang, bergamot, jasmine, and vetiver. If your recipient doesn’t have a diffuser, you might want to consider that too, as options like this Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser are relatively inexpensive and help to disperse the scent and the benefits throughout a room.

Tea and a Beautiful Teapot

This beautiful Shelby Rose Teapot and Infuser makes a great gift for any tea lover, creating an elegant look in the kitchen while adding style to their loose leaf tea experience. It’s sure to make them happy when they walk into the room, and drinking tea, especially organic green tea, is a great way to boost their health too.

Green tea helps boost weight loss efforts, according to multiple studies, thanks to its catechins, theanine and caffeine compounds that work together to block enzymes that are responsible for fat storage in the body. It provides a number of other benefits too, like increasing brain power and reducing the risk of diabetes, plus, it’s anti-aging too.

A Heated Massage Pillow

Getting a professional massage is the best way to relieve aching back, shoulder and neck muscles, and even reducing headaches, stress, and tension, but frequent visits are costly. To help your gift recipient save money while enjoying many of the same benefits, get them this heated massage pillow. Anytime they need to relieve that pain, they’ll be able to use it, instantly improving both their health and happiness. The ZMA-13 Shiatsu Pillow Massager with Heat will bring instant relief right at home with the simple push of a button.

Music/Headphones

Music makes everything better. It can bring back pleasant memories, unify people, inspire, and breathe new energy into every fiber of your being. A study from the University of Missouri suggested that listening to music when angry or sad provides an instant boost to one’s mood. It’s also a great way to get motivated to workout or keep a workout going. The Sennheiser CX 685 Adidas Sports In-Ear Headphones can help make all of that happen as a good quality pair of workout headphones that include sweatproof earbuds and an outstanding sound for the price. The earbuds also stay in place better than more traditional types, as they have ear tips and fins that hook into the earlobes.

A Class or Workshop

Have a friend or family member who loves to learn how to do things and/or DIY projects? Sign them up for a local class or workshop where they can try their hand at a new, creative venture. Thinking everything from photography and calligraphy to something more unusual that they probably would never have thought about for themselves like a macrame workshop or a kokedama class.

Tickets To a Concert or Play

Many of us overlook these kinds of gifts because they can’t be wrapped up in a large, prettily wrapped box. But think again, you can actually have a little fun with this and improve happiness for the recipient in the moment and for some time to come. If you want a big reveal, just wrap tickets to that concert or play you know they’d love inside of a tiny box or in an envelope. Then just place that inside your big, shiny box with a giant bow.

But how does that improve their health? Doing something fun that they normally don’t get to do offers great stress relief! And, with it, all of the benefits that come with reducing stress, like lowering the risk of heart disease, better weight control, properly managed blood sugar levels, better digestion and more.

A ‘Joyful’ Apron

One of the healthiest changes a person can make is to start eating more meals cooked at home, and avoid the processed stuff. But it’s often hard to find the time or the motivation to do so. This fun, stylish apron sold on Amazon might just inspire the most recalcitrant, takeout-loving guy or girl to get into the kitchen and whip up a healthy meal. Plus, it’s a great reminder to smile and laugh more often.

A Therapeutic Dry Brush

Regular skin brushing can help improve the texture of the skin and stimulate oil glands to keep it healthy. By stimulating the nerve endings in the skin, it also helps to give the skin a tighter, more toned appearance. It’s even known to give the immune system a boost and reduce the duration of an infection or illness by helping to eliminate toxins quicker and stimulating the lymph system. Adding skin brushing to an already healthy lifestyle is a great way for your recipient to feel more revitalized, rejuvenated and improve overall wellness.

The Fuzz Brush Earth Therapeutics 1 Brush, available on Amazon, is highly rated and an ideal, affordable gift of health and happiness.

Friends and family are sure to appreciate any of these simple holiday gifts that are good for health and happiness… there is still time to shop on Amazon!

-Susan Patterson