Just the right gift!

I love the challenge of buying gifts for people and trying to find just the right thing! I thought I might share a few of my ideas with you, which are obviously biased towards what I might like, but nonetheless, it might help you find just the right thing for a friend or colleague or family member!

·     Any of Athene Sholl’s beautiful earrings.  As many of you know, I am a fan of earrings and a fan of crystals and a fan of Athene’s designs, so for me there is nothing more special than receiving a pair of these!

·     Beautiful essential oil scented candles both Armour Natural and Natural Candle sold by Hansa here in Guernsey. I love to burn these candles when I’m on my mat or in the bath, or even when I’m doing admin and these make fantastic gifts for others. 

·     Honour your flow natural pads from www.honouryourflow.co.uk. Oh my goodness, these are just amazing and are a fab gift for any menstruating woman.  I’m a firm believer that where possible menstruating women should honour the apana vayu energy of menstruation, which is downward and outward flowing, and wear natural pads where they can, and these are amazing.  Not only are they really soft, but they don’t leak! I appreciate that there are times when women need to use a tampon (please use a natural cotton if you can), but as a rule I try to use these as much as I can.  I’ve got a couple of starter packs and the night-time pads and they arrived the day after ordering them with a lovely note from the owner of the business, and a few other goodies too (I shan’t ruin the surprise!).

·     A copy of my book Namaste.  OK, I’m biased, but there’s something rather lovely about giving someone a book to read, and mine is a rather lovely book as I put a huge amount of love and energy into it and am really keen that others may learn a little more about Nepal from reading it. Nepal is one of my most favourite places on this Earth!

·     One of my cousin, Yolande’s, gemstone bracelets, as they have been made with love and infused with Reiki, and unlike other bracelets that break easily, these keep going for years and years!

 ·     Special bath oils and essences - I’m partial to Dr. Hauschka’s stuff Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence and Weleda’s lavender bath oil.  I’m also quite excited about the new Westlab Relaxing Dead Sea Salt Bath Fizzer as it turns the bath water purple! All are available from Hansa. 

·     A Moleskine lined notebook.  I’ve written a daily journal in pencil for almost 13 years now, and I love nothing more than journaling in a Moleskine.  They’re amazing notebooks and would make a truly wonderful gift for absolutely anyone.

 ·     Socks. You can’t beat a good pair of socks. I’m rather partial to warm and cosy socks, Herm Island sell a good selection, and Fat Face too, and of course you can always buy some cool bamboo socks from Hansa.

·     Grace Galliott makes some rather lovely roller-ball essential oil blends, which is about all I’ll wear.  She also sells some crystals and I do LOVE a crystal. All available from the Natural Health Clinic in St Martin’s, www.naturalhealthclinicguernsey.com

·     Talking of St Martin’s if you haven’t happened upon Goodies, then you absolutely must. This is where you will find all things angels and I LOVE angels too.  Angels make wonderful gifts and there is a wide selection here.  You’ll also find a plethora of candles, Oracle Cards (of my goodness, I LOVE these too), Tibetan Singing Bowls and Buddhas galore. I’m going to have to go and take another visit.

See this is the problem with buying gifts for others, is that I always want to buy a gift for myself too!

·     Thinking about it, Dhanu Le Noury makes some pretty cool essential oil blends too, which you can buy from www.sacredenergymethod.com

·     Moving away from scent, how about a Fat Face scarf! I’m rather partial to Fat Face full stop (their clothes are so comfortable, especially their leggings) but I do especially love their scarves. Got to love a scarf!

·     Dark chocolate. You can never have enough dark chocolate.  You know the quality stuff.  Hansa have a whole tempting heap of it in right now!

·     Anything that’s made locally, and here my list could go on, because we are spoilt in Guernsey with locally made products.  Cadeaux opposite the Town Church has a good selection of local stuff, so too does Iris and Dora. I’m especially fond of Dawn Cashin’s Creations.

·      I don’t think you can go wrong with trying to make something yourself, even if it’s as simple (or not so simple) as trying to put together a bunch of flowers tied with a ribbon.  You might even find a cool stone at the beach, or a beautiful feather, or something special for a friend’s altar, or to show you care. Gifts don’t have to be expensive after all.

·     Some yoga tokens.  It doesn’t even have to be yoga tokens for my classes.  Tokens for any yoga class would make a wonderful gift.  Yoga is a gift and to gift that to someone else is very special.

·     Treatments. A voucher for a treatment also makes a wonderful gift.  My friend Christine Shepherd gives the most amazing hot stone reflexology sessions, and then there’s Grace Galliott (Reflexology, EFT, Health coaching) and any of the ladies who facilitate on my Herm retreat including Kelly Harvey (massage and Reiki), Jo Pedersen (reflexology, Bowen and Reiki), Emily Trebert (Reiki) and Jo Henton (SHEN). We’re spoilt over here because there are wonderful beauty therapists too (I’m especially fond of Stacie at the Willow Tree). Let me know if you need the contact details for any of these ladies.

·     A plant! I’ve got some wonderful plants that were gifts and they always remind me of my friends. We love to give plants, more so than flowers, as they can l keep going for years.  I’m especially partial to an orchid because there is a skill to growing these, they need just the right amount of attention, and just the right amount of light…I like to rescue plants where I can, you know the ones that are on sale and no one has given them much love…the same with trees…see tons of ideas…

·     How about some seeds. These make fabulous gifts, grow your own!

·     Oh and if all else fails, a bottle of bubbles can bring a smile to someone’s face (provided they like bubbles of course!).

·     Oh and obviously donating to charity can be a “raise the vibration of the world” gift.  This year Beinspired had donated to 3 Angels, a wonderful charity set up to try to stop the trafficking of children in Nepal. I love Nepal and I absolutely loathe human trafficking and am always keen to do what I can to support Nepal and eradicate human trafficking.  Look here for more details www.3angelsnepal.com. We also support the charity of the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals UK (with whom I’m studying), which sponsors children and families in Sri Lanka (www.ayurvedainstitute.co.uk)

I hope that’s helped. That’s certainly inspired me to get on with the rest of my shopping, and to go and enjoy a candlelit lavender bath!