Last Minute Shopping? Buy Something for The Only Home You’ll Have Forever.

This holiday you are probably, like me, trying to figure out what to get everyone on your list, and oh, it’s basically a week from Christmas.

If you’re also like me this fact is stress inducing. I hate getting people stuff. I like to get people meaningful and personal experiences. But I also have a serious present unwrapping tradition to uphold with my family involving a whole morning in PJ’s, drinking mimosas, many cups of coffee, and participating in round-robin gift session that my husband finds crazy.

This means I have to have something to wrap, so it can be unwrapped. And that means buying stuff.

But what if I could buy my parents and friends happiness, time and energy? What about focus, self-love, and a sense of peace? Is it weird to want those things for the people we love? Why is it so much easier to give someone a jacket or a book, than to give them a way to invest in their body?

I think about this a lot. Our bodies are the only homes we will have forever. And yet we invest so much more of our time, energy and cash in our houses and apartments and cars.

I guess investing in your body can feel like admitting mortality, but I think about it as investing in the experiences I will have in this lifetime. If I’m on the beach in Hawaii but not fit enough to take the hike to the waterfall, or can’t stop thinking about my work emails or feel that pounding headache coming back – am I really present?

I never want my body or mind to prevent me from getting the most out of my experiences. That’s why I try to treat my body as the vehicle I most want to have experiences in.

Here are 5 things I am gifting this year to help the people I love better decorate their only homes for life:

1. A Parsley health coaching membership. We all have that friend who has been saying, forever, that this is the year they are going to get in shape. And it never happens. That should be a tip off that they probably need some support. Our health coaches are trained to help people achieve their goals.Did you know that people who work with a health coach are twice as likely to achieve their health and fitness goals? It’s a vote of confidence to give someone you care about a coach’s support.
2. A couples facial – for me and my mom. I am taking us both to get facials in NYC at a spa I love, the Greenwich Hotel. It’s a splurge but it’s an investment in spending time together and in feeling good together. Sorry mom if you’re reading this, I blew the surprise!
3. A Parsley medical membership. Yes this is somewhat narcissistic as it, by definition, implies that I’m giving the gift of myself:-) But I have so many friends who want the testing and guidance I offer through my functional medicine training, and it’s hard to give it to them in one off conversations. It really works when they do the whole program. Keeping the surprise on this one – 3 of you are VERY lucky this year!
4. A set of 5 classes at my favorite local yoga or spinning studio. If someone I love needs help getting started on a new workout, I’m not just buying the classes. I am going with them. This has obvious selfish benefits too:-)
5. A plane ticket. Sometimes the only way I can get unstuck in life is to physically go somewhere far away and see the world from another direction. The other side of the world is nice, but there are domestic places worth exploring too. This year someone is getting a trip to a US destination new to both of us – so we can explore and see a new place with new eyes together.

Finally, and unrelated!

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