NOVEMBER 20, 2018 / CATALINAWELLNESS

Black Friday is upon us. Suddenly, the drive to buy ALL THE THINGS consumes us. I get it. My email is a blackhole of tempting ads this time of year and I have a truly unfortunate addiction to Amazon, particularly as a mom. If you’re ready for it, I have some great ideas for you. But, if you want an alternative to the consumer culture and impulse buying, I’ve got you, too.

Here are some great gift ideas to compliment health and wellness goals for the new year:

1. A workout app subscription. There are so many of these out there and for the cost of less than a gym membership a month, they make a great gift. I use barre3‘s online subscription all the time! But I’ve sampled a bit of Aaptiv and Fit Star Yoga, and the new Kait app looks beautiful.
2. A meditation app subscription. We have a theme here. This would be great for the person who has expressed a desire to begin meditating, but struggles to know how. I use Meditation Studio (the free platform is excellent), but I also like Headspace. Calm looks great, too.
3. Essential oils can be great tools to compliment our health when we know how to use them correctly. For a quality brand that won’t break the bank, check out Eden’s Garden. They have wonderful, natural products that would also make great gifts. Tip: give them a user guide to go along a set of basic oils. I like this one.
4. Taking Cara Babies subscription, for all the new parents out there who are struggling to get some sleep. While my baby is only 5 weeks old, I can tell you that this class is the real deal.
5. A cookbook. A few of my more recent favorites include: The Whole Smiths Good Food Cookbook and Made Whole. Whole30 has a new Slow Cooker and Instant Pot cookbook out- and no, surprisingly, I have not snatched it up yet! These are great tools for new and seasoned home chefs alike and contain tons of fast, simple recipes.
6. An acupressure mat. I have the Nayoya set and it’s lovely and a little weird. While I haven’t used it lately, because it’s iffy during pregnancy, it really helped my neck and shoulder tension and helped me to relax. Full disclosure, you have to lie there for 20 minutes or more for the benefits, but it’s a great place to put in your meditation practice!

And here are my favorite Black Friday alternatives!

1. Get out of the house. Play some football, take a hike, meet a friend (or yourself if you need some introvert time) for a walking coffee date. Yeah, the traffic will probably be nuts, but you likely spent the majority of yesterday cooped up inside, eating a ton of food, and possibly drinking a bit too much. Let the fresh air do its job.
2. Sleep in. This always sounds like more fun to me.
3. Shop locally or for gifts with a bigger purpose. Vote with your wallet! I recently fell in love with The Flourish Market. They are a small business based out of Raleigh that partners with ethical brands that provide jobs and fair wages to their workers. It’s an amazing company with beautiful products- perfect for gift giving for a friend…or yourself.
4. Go through your stuff and donate! It’s a win-win! You can declutter your closet and help someone in need. Yes, you can bring it to Goodwill, but check out your local shelters.
5. Volunteer. For me, time is worth much more than money. Get out there and spread some good into the world! Maybe it’ll become a habit.

Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

-Lindsay