Remember when they said technology will make jobs easier, so people will work shorter hours and live more relaxed lives? Yeah, they were wrong. Turns out, technology just makes the world move at a faster pace and everyone has to keep up. With the faster pace comes a whole lot of stress that can put a dent on our mental health and overall wellness.
Fortunately, mental health is no longer the taboo subject it once was. Society has evolved a long way on that end. These days, there’s an ever-increasing awareness of the struggles people go through mentally and emotionally, along with a greater understanding of the importance of taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. This shift in mindset means people have become more mindful of practices and activities that promote self-care and wellness.
As such, wellness gifts have become a welcome addition to many people’s holiday lists. From relaxing soak kits and calming meditation programs to pain-relieving recovery tools and more, presents that can help improve people’s overall well-being can make for some of the most appreciated gifts during these stressful times.
These are the best wellness gifts to help promote a healthy body and mind this holiday season.
Cleverfy Shower Steamers
Set one of these tablets down at the floor of your shower and get treated to relaxing scents made with essential oils, flowers, and herbs. They dissolve slowly as they get wet and release a steam that carries the fragrance upwards, essentially accompanying your relaxing shower with even more relaxing fragrances. We especially love the fruity scents, but your own preferences may vary, although every one we’ve tried have made for a pleasant experience, so there’s little that can go wrong giving this self-care present to someone in your holiday list.
Kitsch Ice Roller
Yes, it’s one of those things you’ve probably seen on TikTok. Its popularity is well-deserved, though, because ice rollers make for an economical way to enjoy a soothing face massage that helps get rid of puffiness, stimulate blood flow, and reduce muscle tension. The roller is made from stainless steel and retains temperature very well, so you simply keep the whole thing in the freezer and take it out when it’s time to use it. During use, you simply roll it across your entire face, allowing the low temperatures to construct the blood vessels to help minimize irritation, inflammation, and puffiness. You can also focus on specific areas that need a little more care, such as under the eyes when they get a little too puffy for your liking.
Squishmallows
Sometimes, a huggable pillow is all you need to help relieve some of the day’s stresses. But why settle for a pillow when you can do the same thing on a Squishmallow, those egg-shaped cuddly stuffed dolls that are super-soft, stretchy, and downright adorable. Available in over 2,000 different characters, they feel like a pet you can hug, sit on, sleep on, and squish to your heart’s content. Originally developed to help kids with medical conditions deal with stress, they’ve gone on to become one of the most popular toys today. They’ve also been equally beneficial to adults who are looking for a fun and playful way to relieve some stress.
ProSourceFit Acupressure Mat and Pillow Set
Laying on a bed of plastic spikes doesn’t sound like a practice that aids in optimizing your well-being. However, that’s exactly what this acupressure mat does, with its 7,992 spikes helping promote improved blood flow, relieve pain, and alleviate muscle tension, making it one of the best wellness gifts you can give this holiday season. You can think of it as acupuncture lite – something that produces similar results without having to come in for an actual appointment. Also, with no need to actually have to deal with the terrifying thought of needles sticking out all over your body like a human voodoo doll. They recommend using it for 10 to 30 minutes daily if you want to see results.
Pure Enrichment PureRelief Heating Pad
Similar to the acupressure mat above, this heating pad is meant to relieve pain and ease muscle tension on any part of the body you lay down on it. Instead of spikes, though, it uses targeted heat therapy to soothe your muscle tissues. It comes with a control panel on the power cable where you can set the heat level to any of six temperatures between 105 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, with the device able to reach your desired temperatures within seconds. You can use it on its own for dry heat therapy or spritz some water onto the pad for moist therapy, which, the outfit claims, can spur deeper heat penetration as you relax. We also love the microplush fabric with its velvety texture and absolutely comforting feel.
Esker Towel & Linen Spray
Spas have a certain smell to them that feels instantly relaxing as soon as you walk into the room. This fragrance is meant to replicate that scent, allowing you to give your home that spa or five-star hotel smell by simply spraying it on your bedding, pillows, robes, and towels. Granted, you won’t have people attending to your needs like you would at a luxury spa, but it’s a nice way to bring that calming ambience right in the comfort of your home. Do note, this particular product is designed with a clean and subtle scent, which we actually prefer for home fragrances, so you may want to look elsewhere if you want something with a more overpowering strength.
HeatHealer Gua Sha Lymphatic Drainage Tool
This oddly-shaped paddle is handcrafted from Sibin Bian stone, long considered a sacred healing stone in traditional Eastern medicine. What makes this excellent self-care gift special is its ability to retain temperatures, which it can acquire by simply running it under hot or cold water. It can be used on the calves, hamstrings, thighs, torso, forearms, biceps, triceps, and neck to activate the lymph system, which will help reduce fluid retention, tone and tighten the skin, remove toxins, relieve muscle pain, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the body’s immune system. You will want to watch the tutorial video on the product page to make sure you know how to properly apply it.
Vitruvi Stone Diffuser
This diffuser covers your home in relaxing and rejuvenating scents, all while imparting a decorative flair that should complement any room, making it an excellent wellness gift. A single one can spread its fragrance across a 500-square foot area, allowing you to fill the air in any room with the scent of your favorite essential oils. Seriously, it will make your entire bedroom smell like a luxury spa as soon as you enter. It runs whisper-quiet, too, so you can keep it running while you sleep, with automatic safety shutoff, so it doesn’t keep running once the water inside dries out. The device holds enough liquid to run for up to four hours straight, with the option to do 30-second intermittent runs to stretch the run time to eight hours with a single tank.
Bearaby Hand-Knit Weighted Blanket
There are plenty of options in weighted blankets, many of them made up of quilted designs with various kinds of fillings to give the blanket weight. Instead of going that route, Bearaby instead makes hand-knit blankets that use a tightly-knitted construction to give it both thickness and weight, resulting in weighted blankets that feel more luxurious while being able to fold neatly without a hitch. It’s made from a soft, breathable organic cotton fabric that allows for a cooling effect, making it possible to enjoy the comforting pressure applied by weighted blankets without sweating it up under the sheets. The blanket is available in 10-, 15-, and 20-pound sizes.
Therabody SmartGoggles
It looks like a pair of VR goggles, which, let’s be honest, many people find more stressful than relaxing. Fortunately, that’s not what this is. Instead, it’s actually a high-tech sleep mask that comes with heat, vibration, and massage that you can use to improve not just your nightly sleep. In the Sleep Mode setting, it can deliver slow-wave vibrations to the temples, which creates a gentle massaging effect that, the outfit claims, has been clinically-proven to promote sleepiness, making it a potentially good sleep aid. There’s also a SmartRelax mode that can help reduce anxiety and stress by analyzing your pulse and customizing unique vibration patterns that will lower your heart rate to bring you to a more relaxed state. Lastly, there’s a Focus mode that activates a vibration pattern to release tension between the eyebrows while providing restorative heat to relieve eye strain, making it incredibly useful for those times you need to clear your mind and reset to zero in on the job at hand. Granted, we don’t know you’ll explain to the boss how wearing a sleep mask at work is actually beneficial to your job, but we’ll leave that up to you.
Renpho Foot Massager
If you spend a good chunk of the day on your feet, chances are, they can do with a bit of pampering at the end of the day. This machine uses a rotating ball, a rolling stick, air compression, and heating elements to give your feet a deep kneading shiatsu foot massage. It uses air compression to apply squeezing pressure across the length of your feet, while the ball and the stick provides kneading, pressing, and rolling action that simulates the feel of having actual hands massaging your lower extremities. The device offers three settings for the air compression and three settings for the kneading intensity, although it only offers one temperature setting, with the option to turn off if you’d rather do without the heat. It fits feet up to men’s size 12 and comes with detachable foot pockets, so you can easily take them out for cleaning.
HigherDose Infrared Sauna Blanket
Billed as a personal sauna, this wellness gift is, basically, a blanket that emits infrared heat, allowing it to mimic the conditions you experience inside a traditional sauna. That means, it will raise your body temperature and get you sweating up a pool, hopefully leading to promote healing and repair for your aching tissues. Plus, there’s something incredibly relaxing when soaking in a sauna that really soothes the mind. This sauna blanket, in particular, uses far infrared heat that warms muscle fibers directly, which can result in rapid reduction of any swelling, inflammation, and pain, all while being third-party tested to ensure it produces low levels of EMF and ELF currents for a safe and healthy sauna experience, It comes with eight temperature settings, which you can adjust from a handheld control panel.
Edge Theory Labs Edge Tub Elite
Soaking in a bath is one of the most relaxing and soothing activities you can do at home. This portable tub comes with a machine that can heat and cool the water inside, allowing it to maintain the water at a toasty 105 degrees or a chill 37 degrees, so you can use it for both warm water therapy and cold water immersion. Want a warm water bath for washing off the stresses of the day? This will do the trick. How about some cold therapy to help your aching and tired body recover? Works for that, as well. Of course, you’ll have to like your recipient a lot because this wellness gift costs a heck of a lot of money.
