Healthy Gifts Based on The 6 Aspects of Wellness

As we head into the year’s biggest giving season, I’ve been pondering wellness and fitness gifts again. I want to give in ways that nourish whole beings: heart, soul, mind, and strength. Actually, this article was originally written for Christmas, but there are many reasons to engage in giving year-round, so I figured it was time for an overhaul and some NEW ideas!

What Are the 6 Dimensions of Wellness?

It’s easy to think of fitness as being solely about physical things: food and movement.

However, even as I teach the exercise video workouts here on Fit2B, I want to do my best to address our overall wellness which — as I learned in college — has six dimensions: physical, mental, environmental, social, emotional, and spiritual.

Those six categories act like dominoes: if one falls, it knocks down the others.

For example: when I’m feeling down emotionally, I don’t usually feel like working out or being social. If I’m feeling mentally challenged — like I can’t solve something — then I want to go work out hard!

Different people feel the dominoes in different ways at different times, though. Maybe you like to be social when you’re sad, because you’re an extrovert who is energized by people. No matter how unique we all are, I’m sure you’re with me when I say that I’m intrigued by giving gifts that can bless more than one dimension of our well-being at once!

Before I offer a few suggestions for each of the six dimensions of wellness, let me elaborate on that last statement…

Just like giving a child a toy is seldom just about playing because most toys these days also teach, I think other gifts can be multi-purpose. In fact, think of how the goal of any gift is to please the person, to make them smile. You’re looking for an emotional response when they physically use their hands to open your gift that could be something that helps them live a greener life.

See where I’m going with this?

Each of the items on this list touches more than one dimension — not only because I was intentional in picking them that way — but because of how we are made to experience and process everything with multiple senses. Check these out!

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Environmentally Healthy Christmas Gifts

Mobot Foam Roller Water Bottle — Most foam rollers aren’t made with non-toxic materials, so what do you do when they fall apart? What about a water bottle covered in EVA that doubles as a tool for myofascial release? We are over the moon about this concept and so excited to use it for our foam rolling routines!

Garbage Gifts — Repurposed, shabby chic, upcycled is the name of my town’s game where pallet signs and chalk-painted dressers are snatched off sidewalk sales. Crochet a rag rug out of recycled t-shirt yarn. Make a rustic frame from wood scraps. Dress up an old drawer with chalk paint and fill it with goodies. Make a quilt out of all your sweetie’s old racing shirts.

Bento Lunch Boxes — When we do our part to not put as much trash into the environment around us, we are being good stewards of this Earth God has given us to manage with wisdom. These bento boxes have saved me money and time, and they create less waste. Each compartment seals, and they are dishwasher safe. Read my article about them here.

Mentally Healthy Christmas Gifts

Puzzles — Not just the flat kind, but the building kind or the tricksy kind! A gift that stimulates your mind or takes your mind off hard things for a while can be such a blessing, and who doesn’t love a puzzle? My children have so much fun with our marble Q-Ba Maze sets, and there are also Perplexus ball mazes which are great for minds and bodies while developing hand-eye coordination and shoulder mobility.

Socially Healthy Gifts

Group Gifts — Rather than giving just to one person, give something a whole family can enjoy — like a “Movie Night” basket or a new board game that gets them laughing and socializing with each other.

Paint Night — Events in your area that get your loved one out of the house and interacting with others in a fun, low-pressure situation are awesome gifts. I’ve always wanted to go to one of those paint nights where you get an art lesson while eating treats and trying to copy someone else’s work. Sounds fun! I’m not kidding! Hint, hint!

Spiritually Healthy Gifts

This is a tough category to cover. Everyone has different beliefs about faith and divinity, so I’ll fall back on the college class where I first learned about the six dimensions of wellness. For spiritual health, we discussed how two things that people across cultures and {most} religions identified as boosting their spiritual health: Music & Love.

Music — Has an album recently moved you? Helped you literally move your body or moved something deep in your roots? Share it with your loved one as your gift, and attach a note explaining your connection to it. You might also happen to know that a friend is geeking out on a certain artist; buy him an iTunes gift card and encourage him to get the songs he loves plus more!

Love — What makes your loved ones feel loved? You have to love them enough to watch and listen, and this book might help YOU give better gifts in general: The Five Love Languages book shows that not everyone gives or receives tangible gifts as their love language. Some of your friends may prefer an act of service like making cookies or helping in their garden. Others might need quality time like a coffee date or a local hike together.

Physically Healthy Gifts

Workout Props — Here are nine home fitness props that aren’t super spendy, don’t involve machines, and they are things we use in several of the workout videos here on Fit2B. My fave on that list has to be the half round foam roll which I used in a really inventive cardio routine — PLUS it doubles as a balance beam or play sword for the kids.

Fitness DVDs — They’re easy to wrap, we offer free shipping, and when they’re high quality and safe for all fitness levels like ours are, you don’t have to worry about your loved ones hurting themselves. Find “Fit2B Beginning” and “Fit2B Firm” on Amazon today!

Emotionally Healthy Christmas Gifts

Word Signs — We all need reminders. Signs on roads help us know where to turn, and I have found that my emotional health is boosted by words signs that keep my perspective in check. I have one that says, “Someone else is happy with less than what you have.” Another says, “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without.” Then there’s one I got at a farmer’s market that says, “Oh what a foretaste of Glory Divine.” These little reminders help me smile and remember my values. My friend Stephanie Wright of All The Wright Words does custom vinyl letters for people who want to make their own signs!

Tactile & Sensory Helps — When I’m stressed, certain sensations can calm or frazzle my emotions, soothe me or frustrate me further. Touching various textures can literally make me gag or make me grin from ear to ear. Watch your loved ones and notice how they react emotionally to blankets at a store.

If digging in sand or smooshing playdough relaxes them, find them more fidgets. This can soothe nerves and make conversations easier.
Do they hate being barefoot because they don’t like the feel of things on their feet? This mat might help them desensitize and be able to spend more time barefoot.
Do they sleep under a pile of blankets? Perhaps they’d enjoy a weighted blanket!

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Giving Gifts Based on The 6 Dimensions of Wellness