Looking for a memorable and mindful gift?
One that encourages relaxation and peace?
With mental health becoming a priority for families since the pandemic, gifts that promote mindful living are not only thoughtful but practical.
From adults to children, here are 20 mindfulness and meditation gifts to benefit every age. (Stick around until the end to see several FREE gift ideas!)
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a commission at no cost to you. Thank you!
1. Peace Inducing Teas
Whether it’s a warm cup of chamomile before bed, or the perks of green tea in the morning, sharing your love of tea with another is a wonderful way to introduce them to or reacquaint them with mindfulness.
Connoisseurs can be mindful with a cup of tea by pausing their day and using their senses to pay attention to the present. For example, feeling the warmth of the mug in their hands, watching the colors of the tea leaves swirl into the hot water, smelling the scents of the tea, and perhaps listening to the hot water fill the cup.
2. Sunrise Alarm Clock
My mornings and nights changed when we purchase this Sunrise Alarm Clock. I love waking up to the steadily glowing brightness that mimics the sun. It’s much more tranquil than the jarring noise of a blaring alarm clock.
The nature sounds are a nice touch too. In the mornings you can hear the birds chirp. At night there are the rocking sounds of the waves to lull you to sleep. This is a great mindfulness gift idea for those who want to wake up and fall asleep peacefully.
3. Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat
For some, the idea of sitting to meditate can be intimidating and overwhelming. But combining meditation and yoga can start by making your yoga practice more meditative. Whether your giftee practices yoga or needs a new place to sit to meditate, a yoga mat is a wonderfully mindful gift.
This is one of my favorite mindfulness gifts because our family has spent a lot of time on our yoga mats. Whether I’m unrolling it to practice Sarah Beth Yoga, or the kids place the mats side-by-side to Cosmic Yoga, we’ve all enjoyed exercising with yoga. Heck, the kids found yoga mats can create awesome roofs for forts!
4. Calm App Subscription
I’ve utilized the Calm app for years, but I began using it almost every morning to complete a 10-minute daily meditation during the pandemic. We also used it with our kids at bedtime. There’s a length suitable for everyone from meditations as short as 3 minutes to stories that run half an hour.
Developed in 2012, with over 100 million downloads and 700,000 5-star reviews, Calm helps users improve sleep and focus, reduce stress and anxiety, assist in self-improvement, and more! You can gift a year of Calm or a lifetime membership.
5. Inspirational Books for Kids and Adults
Notice I wrote “inspirational” rather than “meditation” or “mindfulness”. Why? Because most books that inspire us to become more aware of ourselves and the world around us are encouraging us to live more mindfully.
Some of my favorites for adults include The Little Book of Mindfulness, The One Thing, Essentialism, and The 5 Love Languages. My kids and I have read loads of enchanting mindfulness books for children that make concepts of meditation and mindfulness easy to digest.
6. Noise Canceling Head Phones (or Ear Buds)
Whether we’re meditating with the Calm app, or engrossed in a mindful coloring book while listening to nature sounds, shutting out distractions increases our focus on the task we’re currently doing.
Since I started using bilateral music to lower my anxiety, I use my earbuds almost every day. I created a bilateral music playlist, which you can listen to for free on Spotify. I use it during my therapy sessions, while I meditate, draw, color, journal, write, and even while I pay bills! But in addition to bilateral music, headphones and earbuds are great gifts for meditation because they make it easier to follow along with guided meditation apps like Calm.
7. Relaxing Himalayan Salt Lamps
For the giftee who struggles with sleep, this is another mindful gift. Here’s why. Himalayan salt lamps have many benefits. They can improve sleep, air quality, enhance mood, and some accounts claim these lamps can calm allergies and coughs.
The soft orange glow creates a relaxing ambiance at bedtime. I have one in all of my kids’ rooms and love the option of a dimmer. We also have a Himalayan salt night light in our kitchen. I had a hard time sleeping after my miscarriages, but after placing a salt lamp in our room at night, I settled into my mindfulness exercises before bed (and then sleep) more peacefully.
8. Lively Green Plants
Live plants—be they indoor or outdoor—make especially important mindfulness gifts because a crucial part of living mindfully means being in touch with nature. And when we’re indoors, that can be a struggle.
Giving someone an indoor plant invites nature to be a part of their day at all times. Plus, many indoor plants help purify air quality. Outdoor plants can also be calming. Consider giving them a succulent arrangement for their outdoor bistro table. Did you know you can even meditate on plants? But you need a few live plants to make it work!
9. Mindfulness Cards
There are many positive affirmations card sets. Some are geared towards certain aspects of mindful living such as gratitude, creativity, stress relief, and more.
With a mindfulness gift like these, the recipient will continue to feel inspired all year long with each new card.
10. Whimsical Wind Chimes
The deep gong of wind chimes has always soothed my mother. And in the summer, when I lay by the pool in her backyard, I close my eyes and the chimes are the first sound I hear as I slip into a mindfulness exercise.
For the outdoor meditator, wind chimes not only create a tranquil vibe in the garden but can encourage the relaxed state that comes with meditation. Since chimes make various sounds, consider listening to the sounds of the chime before purchasing this meditation gift.
11. Calming Lavender Products
Lavender anything creates a calming vibe for me. So I use it often when I practice mindfulness.
A lavender pillow or linen spray can add a peaceful vibe before a bedtime meditation. After a stressful day, a lavender heat pad helps reduce the tightness in our neck and shoulders. And lavender eye pillows (used cold or hot) can be a reprieve from intense headaches. Basically, almost anything lavender makes a calming mindfulness gift!
12. Creative Coloring Books
The act of coloring can be relaxing and restorative. It’s also a great way to practice mindfulness. As you color, you can pay attention to the feel of the brush, marker, or pencil in your hand. The pressure of it against the paper. We can become so absorbed in the feeling and the action that we’re totally present in it. Or even enter a meditative-like state, relieving stress and worries.
Mindful coloring isn’t reserved for adults either—kids can do it too! And while I’ve shared some coloring gifts for mindfulness here, my daughter and I have used whatever coloring books we had on hand and a box of crayons and had the same effect.
13. Soothing Singing Bowls
If you listen to bilateral music or guided meditations, you may have heard a singing bowl or two. These bowls make great meditation gifts because they’re used to help enter deep meditative states.
There are actually many benefits of singing bowls. They promote relaxation, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve focus. Most singing bowls come in a set with a bowl, a striker, and a cushion. But some come with more than one bowl, creating different notes. And some bowls are made of crystal instead of brass.
14. Imaginative Zen Gardens
My first zen garden was in high school. I had another when I worked in an office. Now, we use the sand in our kids’ sensory bins.
Making patterns in the sand, feeling it slide between your fingers, and watching each grain of sand move, is exceptionally calming. And when we allow ourselves to tune into our sense of touch with something like a zen garden, we can enter a mindful and even meditative state. A sand table or zen garden is one of my favorite mindfulness gifts for kids too because it’s often an activity that leads to relaxation.
15. Innovative and Therapeutic Journals
While getting someone a journal may seem like a less-than-imaginative gift, it’s a perfect choice for someone who meditates or practices mindfulness. Here’s why.
Whether it’s bullet journaling, gratitude journaling, one-line-a-day journaling, etc., dumping your thoughts onto the page is therapeutic and freeing. It can help someone sleep better. It can help someone be more intentional with their day. It can help someone document their journey. And when we’re done journaling, it makes space in our head for other, new thoughts. It’s a wonderfully mindful gift.
16. Serene Tabletop Fountains
Did you know there are benefits to being around water? It helps us relax, it promotes creativity, it connects us with nature, and it encourages a meditative state!
My husband once did a study of my stress on days when our outdoor fountain was running versus days when it was shut off. He noticed how much less stressed I was when I heard the fountain running! (Which is why it’s almost always on!) Since outdoor fountains aren’t always an option, like in an office, tabletop fountains are a strong substitute.
17. FREE: Show Your Gratitude
Yay! We hit the freebies. It wouldn’t be a gift guide for mindful gifts if there weren’t FREE ideas, right? Let’s start with showing your loved ones how much you mean to them with a thankful craft or card. Get vulnerable and deeply express how grateful you are for your giftee and all that they do—include specifics!
18. FREE: Donate Your Time and Skills
If you’re an artist, make your giftee something special. If you fix things, offer to fix something for them. If you babysit, offer to watch the kids or pets. For those of us whose love language is acts of service, this will be our most memorable gift!
19. FREE: Adventure Outdoors
Take your giftee on an outdoor adventure. This could mean a trip to the beach, a hike, a bike ride, or a mindful walk. Being in nature offers many opportunities to tune into our senses and be mindful of our place in the world.
20. FREE: Give Your Presence—Seriously. Read this.
Being present may not seem like a gift. Because you can’t easily wrap it. It’s even hard to measure. BUT. Here’s what it looks like.
Being present means engaging.
With your giftee.
And with what’s going on around you two.
If it’s the holidays, use your senses to remember your favorite parts of the holidays and give them those! The smell of the tree and prickliness of pine needles—help them pick out and decorate a tree. The crackle of the fire on a cold night—build a fire together. The taste of nog, cookies, roasts—help them with the cooking! The sight of your favorite holiday shows—spend a night or two snuggled up with your favorite holiday specials. Fully experience those memories together. Enjoy the season to its fullest!
In Conclusion: If You Only Choose One, Go with Number 20
Imagine getting a thoughtful gift meant specifically for you.
Imagine getting mindfulness or meditation gifts that fuel your drive to live mindfully.
Now imagine having someone special to enjoy it with. Someone who is fully there for you, enjoying the moment with you.
That’s what your mindfulness-loving giftee will feel when you give them your presence (and it wouldn’t hurt to throw in any of these other wonderful gifts)!
Happy holidays! And stay mindful, even when your mind is full,
~Chelsea
21 comments
What wonderful suggestions! LOVE them! Great post!
Thanks Jennifer!
Ah yes, being present!! That’s what we all want more than things!
So many good choices! I would love another salt lamp and the tabletop fountains are really nice!
These are all GREAT thoughtful gift ideas! I’d love 1,2,3 and 7 at least, for myself. But thanks for all these ideas, definitely going to use some this holiday season.
Great gift ideas. I love the sunrise alarm. I will have to check it out to buy it for myself. Of course, #20 is the best; it’s priceless.
These are great ideas! I love all the free options. I think those are more meaningful!
These are excellent gift ideas! I want that sunrise alarm clock! I hate a blaring alarm.
I am a big herbal tea drinker, especially in the winter months. I find that certain herbs are quite relaxing.
Getting out into nature and spending some time outside is one of the most helpful ways for me to find peace with God.
Bless you and yours!
Laurie
Ridge Haven Homestead
These ideas are simply amazing and sure to be loved! I have recently been wanting a sunrise clock! And many of these have made great gifts for people!
We love our sunrise alarm clock. It makes my nights and mornings so relaxing.
So many good ideas! I love our singing bowls and am excited to check out the Calm app!!
What great ideas! The plants and table top fountains are great ideas!
These are great ideas. Love the lavender and the sunrise clock!
Great ideas! The sunrise alarm clock sounds really nice.
Great suggestions!
Great idea! I love the calm app and recommend it to my patient! (I’m a psychologist)
That’s how I discovered it actually! My therapist recommended it. 🙂
These are such great mindful gift ideas. I have so many of them like the salt lamps, the eco friendly yoga mat, but I love the sunrise alarm clock idea. I’ve seen those before and have been quite curious. I also love wind chimes but have none so that’s a great gift idea for me 🤪Thanks so much for sharing these memorable & mindfulness gift ideas.
I love all these ideas. My sister is really focused on mindfulness, so I think those teas would be a great gift. Going to check them out! And I agree, being present with someone is invaluable!
Thanks Megan!