While opening presents is fun for all ages, giving a well-received gift can be especially gratifying. Whether gifts are handmade or store-bought, the most meaningful ones acknowledge each recipient’s specific needs and interests.
Alternative gift fairs that support local or international charities are a good place to start. Homemade gifts add a personal touch and can be as simple as a framed photograph or special potpourri. Also consider the eco-friendliness of a potential gift item—what it’s made of, where it’s made and how it’s packaged.
While we’re in the mood, why not spread holiday cheer beyond friends and family to everyone? pay for the next car at a toll booth, leave a potted plant on a coworker’s desk or run an errand for an elderly neighbor.
It’s possible to maintain values of simple living and conscious consumerism throughout the holiday season with a bit of thoughtfulness and inspired creativity. To help givers move through the holiday shopping season with grace and joy, Natural Awakenings has compiled a list of locally available gifts of wellness and sustainability.
Accessories with a Conscience
If jewelry is on a loved one’s wish list, look for pieces that are made of sustainable or recycled materials or that raise funds for a worthy cause.
Both A Time for Karma, in Rockville Centre, and Momona Gallery, in Long Beach, are the ultimate sources for hand-crafted, unique art, jewelry, fair trade products and faith items. Visit ATimeForKarma.com and find Momona Gallery on Facebook.
Presents that Pamper
With busy calendars and long to-do lists, everyone can use a little pampering this time of year.
Sleep is a pampering experience of its own. Nontoxic, organic bedding for adults and babies are the perfect way to spread Christmas cheer. Visit BlissSleepCenter.com.
Health and Beauty
This winter promises to be a tough one on our skin, so a gift card to a local boutique that focuses on nontoxic skin products should be first on everyone’s list. one such place is Karma’s Angel, located online at KarmasAngel.com. New Year’s resolutions of healthier living make gift certificates for colon cleansing, ionic detox foot baths and more from Cleansing Concepts—with three locations—another wonderful idea. Visit CleansingConceptsWorld.com.
Help at Home
For homemakers and others swamped by houseguests, having help around the house can ease the stress of the holidays or any other time of the year.
Help at home can come in the form of cleaning before or after guests. all Clean Long Island offers a nontoxic home-cleaning experience you can trust all year long. Call 516- 987-8388. Sometimes help at home means the care of a loved one. If that’s in your plans for 2015, call Joy Wright, a certified nurse’s aide, elder-care professional and babysitter, at 516-592-3067.
Charitable Gifts that Keep On Giving
Good things can come in little packages—or no packages at all. Consider charitable donations in honor of those on our gift list.
The following are wonderful local charities that make a difference. Consider a gift in someone’s name to Make A Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for children facing life-threatening illness (Wish.org), or try a donation to Angela’s House, an organization here on Long Island that cares for medically fragile children (AngelasHouse.org).
Flexible Fitness
Yoga-related gifts are healthy and meaningful to either introduce or increase the knowledge of recipients with any of the many styles and modalities offered in our area.
Yoga class gift certificates are the perfect healthy treat for loved ones. On Long Island’s North Shore, two yoga studios that offer wonderful classes include Absolute Yoga, in Woodbury (AbsoluteYogaStudio.com), and Om Sweet Om Yoga, in Port Washington (OmSweetOmYoga.com). On the South Shore, class cards or a monthly pass for yoga and meditation can
be obtained at Breathe N Flow Yoga, in Freeport (BreatheNFlowYoga.com). want to offer a new yoga experience gift? Stop by emerge Yoga & wellness (EmergeYogaWellness.com), Long Island’s premier antigravity studio in Bellmore, and purchase the gift of antigravity yoga classes for your loved ones.
