Either it's your friend or yourself who loves to combine the two passions yoga and traveling. As Christmas is just around the corner, I picked a few gifts for your loved ones or for yourself. Here you go:
Yoga Basics
Let's start with the basics. I'm sure you already have a mat at home but if you plan to travel long-term, you might switch to a lighter mat.
Yoga mat
When you travel around the world you want to keep that heavy yoga mat at home and switch to a lighter version but still keep the good quality. So, I found one that is super light and has a great quality. I couldn't travel without my yoga mat anywhere. It's such a wonderful workout.
Yoga leggings
You can't have enough yoga leggins. There are so many beautiful prints out there. Here are some of my favourites:
- Palm leaf print (*)
- Colour gradient print (*)
- Galaxy print (*)
A brand that I fell in love with is Liquido Active.
Yoga books
Some yoga book inspirations to keep that motivation going:
-Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously
Compassion
Save an orangutan
As a yogi, ahimsa (non-violence) is a big part of our daily life. Due to the big fire in Borneo this year over 5,000 orangutans were killed. Having visited this beautiful country recently and also some sanctuaries, it hurts me even more to read about all the recent fires. You could hand over your friend an own certificate of his or her adopted orangutan. Let's help make the world a better place. There are also smaller packages available.
Support refugees
The most beautiful part of giving a present is the act of giving. If you give less expensive but more meaningful presents you could use a bit of the money to either support a local refugee project or if you're a german speaker you can buy this book for refugees written by bloggers (*). It doesn't have to be money though. Here's a good list how you can help in the refugee crisis. You could also just donate a few clothes or anything else that is needed.
Beauty & Lifestyle
The primary cause of rainforest loss is palm oil production. If action wasn't taken then 98% of Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests could be gone within ten years. That's alarming. Fact is, most of us use lots of products with palm oil in it, especially in everyday life. We're mostly not even aware of it. Here's a list to see which everyday products contain palm oil. I was surprised too. This Christmas you can try to buy beauty gifts that do not contain palm oil to do your own contribution to save the rainforests.
Soaps without palm oil
A good gift are soaps from Lush. I used to work for Lush next to my studies and their soap base is made from coconut and rapeseed oils which are more sustainable. You can choose whether you want the smell of an ocean, a peeling with sand in it or smell like a pot of honey. Here you find the whole selection of yummy smelling soaps.
Shampoo bars
Having worked at Lush, I know they save around 6 million plastic bottles just by selling shampoo bars. Women tend to use up lots of plastic bottles in the bathroom (think of all those shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, cosmetics, etc.)
Solutions are shampoo bars or solid lotions. There are now many other brands out there which picked up on this trend. If you still want to buy a body lotion, pick one which uses recycled bottles.
Water bottle
Also when we travel we tend to have a high plastic consumption. This is especially the case in countries where we have to buy water because we can't drink the water from the tab. If you stay longer in one place, you can buy a bigger water tank (5l) and fill up your travel bottle. In that way you use less plastic. I can recommend a foldable water bottle. When you don't need it, it's easy to pack it in your luggage and once you arrive, easy to use.
Retreats & Vouchers
Yoga retreat
Buy your favourite yogi a few classes from the local studio at home or a voucher for the next retreat in a country far, far away.
Spa time
Give a massage voucher to your friend or go spend a day in a local spa together. If you're looking for a whole weekend retreat, book a hotel in a city that you want to discover together or a retreat in the mountains to fully relax. Create beautiful memories together.
Christmas is a special time of the year where we can decide to take time for ourselves and our loved ones. It's everyone's decision whether you get stressed out with Christmas shopping lists or whether you organize yourself early and take the time to bake Christmas cookies with your loved ones or sit together for a cup of tea. Remember, it's not about buying expensive Christmas gifts. Last year when I had to save for my around the world trip, I gave lots of homemade gifts to my family and friends and they loved it. Be creative!
Take the time to tell your friends and family how much you love them. Give more hugs and be the light you want to see in others.
Be the love and spread the love.
If you have any other great gift ideas for yogis, please let me know in the comments. Spread the love yogis!