20 Mindful Gifts to give Yourself on Valentine's Day

Treat yourself to a Mindful Valentine’s Day

Whether you’re part of a couple or flying solo, there’s no more important love than self love. If we don’t love ourselves how are we, therefore, capable of loving others, of letting others love us? At a time where are lives are full, most likely overflowing, with responsibility as we care for children, aging parents, our homes, our careers, and all the other things that life tosses our way, we are likely to overlook caring for ourselves. If you eat well and exercise regularly you’re ahead of the game, but how often do we do something special for ourselves? How often do we treat ourselves to something special? Indulge in something indulgent, forbidden?

Let’s take a lesson from those who practice the art of Mindfulness. If you want to give yourself something tangible, whether a pair of shoes, a new sweater, or a piece of jewelry, then do so. But the gifts that I’m all about are those that make us feel better, happier, and at risk of sounding cliché and using an overused expression, spark joy. By all means, if those items make you truly happy, then go ahead. But the gifts that I have in mind are more soul satisfying.

Treat yourself to a gorgeous bouquet of flowers

Splurge on a really nice bottle of wine or champagne

Indulge in a luxurious bubble bath/shower gel

Give yourself permission to do nothing

Peruse your favorite bookstore and pick up a book or two (as opposed to shopping online.)

Buy a small box (about 4 pieces) of chocolate that you can savor and enjoy

Join the gym or exercise studio you’ve been wanting to. Even if you think the price is a bit steep. Your health is your greatest investment.

Get yourself an aromatherapy oil diffuser (love this one!)

Or a fragrant candle

Treat yourself to a new journal and a few good pens

Buy yourself some new paints, paper or canvas

Book an afternoon in a Salt Cave

Write a love letter - to yourself, a parent, partner, child, best friend….

Take yourself away for the weekend, try a spa or a yoga retreat

Sign up for a painting, photography, writing, floral arranging class…

Like Kombucha? Try making it yourself with this kit.

Start your own year-round, indoor herb garden

Buy good… do good!

1. Treat yourself to these amazing workout socks.

Bombas socks are seriously da bomb! They are so incredibly comfortable.
With every pair purchased a pair is DONATED. As of writing this 15,493,404 PAIRS have been DONATED to the homeless. Bombas was built from the ground up around the idea of sock donations. The more socks they sell, the more they donate. Their specially engineered socks were designed specifically to meet the needs of people who don't have the luxury of putting on a clean pair of socks every day. An anti-microbial treatment ensures they don't need to be washed as often, and reinforced seams and darker colors give them greater durability with less visible wear.

2. And pick up a pair of gorgeous frames.

While I am ALL FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL there are a few companies that really do such good that they deserve our business. Another such company is Warby Parker. Since day one, over 4 million pairs of glasses have been distributed through our Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Alleviating the problem of impaired vision is at the heart of what they do, and with your help, their impact continues to expand. You can purchase glasses online, or shop at one of their retail locations. I am so excited to learn that they are coming to Westport, CT

Anyhow, this is how their program works:
2.5 billion people around the world need glasses but don’t have access to them; of these, 624 million cannot effectively learn or work due to the severity of their visual impairment. To help address this problem, Warby Parker works with a handful of partners worldwide to ensure that for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need. There are two models the company employs:

1) Empowering adult men and women with training opportunities to administer basic eye exams and sell glasses for ultra-affordable prices. (This accounts for the majority of our distribution.)

2) Directly giving vision care and glasses to school-age children in their classrooms, where teachers are often the first to spot issues.

3. Get clean and eradicate plastic!

Ethique is on a mission to eradicate the world of plastic waste and they want you to be a part of it.

In 2012 when founder, Brianne West, began making natural beauty bars, in her science degree lab, as an alternative to the 80 billion plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles thrown out globally each year. Since then, Ethique (which is French for ethical) has grown out of a Kiwi kitchen into a fully-fledged, award-winning international beauty brand (even coveted by the likes of Britney Spears & Ashton Kutcher). Over 40 products have been export to the USA, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan and ship around the world. We’re conquering the beauty world one bar at a time. As of today the company has stopped over 400,000 plastic bottles ending up in landfills – and that’s just the start of it...

All of their products can be found on Amazon. Let’s help them with their mission to stop this plastic madness!