Treat yourself or encourage a friend to healing gifts that will offer peace to the mind, body and soul.
With all the trauma happening in the world, the universe is begging for healing. By now we’ve all experienced the domino effects of trauma and feel it as heavy negative energy on our bodies. It takes a person that is disconnected from Self and from the world to commit a crime. Encourage reconnection with the universe and peace in a friend or in yourself with a self-love or self-care gift. A gift won’t change the world or stop war, but the more people take care of and love themselves, the better they’ll be able to cope and help others.
From self-massage tools to recommendations of energy healers to how-to-make-an-eye-pillow, you’ll find a therapeutic tool that connects with you and is in your budget. All of these options will relax your body, freeing it of tension. Ridding of tension allows messages from your spine to flow freely to your brain and lets blood and nutrients reach all parts of your body, blessing with you inner happiness and clarity.
Restart, refresh, and fall in love with yourself and the universe this holiday season!
1. Massage Tools
Head massager
Starts at $2
This is one of the simplest and cheapest massage tools out there that stimulates innervation, light touch that excites nerve endings and releases endorphins. Endorphins are a set a of hormones that reduces pain and stress in the body. It also gets blood flowing into the scalp through a process called vasodilation, both of which promotes relaxation and feelings of happiness. It feels especially sensational if you use it by the neck (ugghhh I melt every time). Try it on yourself or have a friend use it on you. Buy one here.
Neck Massager
$18.80
I got this tool at an adorable Japanese store called Daiso and love, love, loveeeeee it! It reaches the hard to get spots of the neck for a cute price of $18.80 and is easy to use anywhere. There is one con, this product might not be as a effective on a person with a wide neck, but there are other versions online that are bigger than this tool. I like to use this tool lying down on my back with a towel propped underneath my neck and this massage tool on top of the towel so that all the pressure of my head and shoulders are pressing into the massage tool which presses on and slowly releases knots. Buy one here.
Everything massagers
Cheap af at the dollar store
You honestly don’t need any crazy tools to give yourself a massage. The cheapest and best tool out there are tennis balls. Tennis balls will be your best friend. You can massage your feet, legs, hips, back, neck, shoulders, chest – literally any spot you can think of, with tennis balls. I’m telling you, they’re the homies. I found some other bouncy balls at a shop that had things like nose shaped sharpeners and T-shirts of ewoks in San Francisco that have a different pressure than tennis balls and don’t cause rug burn if I use them with my shirt off (oh yeah, caution, you will get burns if you massage TOO MUCH with the tennis balls). And the golf ball in the photo can be used for more advanced self-massage practitioners (a.k.a. when you can handle the pain!!!) to nail deep knots or to massage your feet.
To massage your feet, stand up, place a ball underneath the foot, and massage back and forth with light pressure. Then draw lines from your each toe to your heel with the ball. Next, massage your inner arch on the big toe side of your foot and then the outer arch on your pinky toe side of the foot. To end, massage back and forth and again with more pressure.
To massage your back and shoulders, lie down on your back with your knees bent. Place two balls on below your neck and by the spine, but never on it! Lift your hips up and move your torso and walk your feet toward your head so that you draw a line straight down your spine all the way until your sacrum, that bony structure by your butt. You can go up and down drawing lines and pause when you get back to your shoulders. At your shoulders, make shoulder circles with one shoulder at a time and move side to side so the ball moves over the shoulder blade and back toward the spine.
To massage your legs, lie down on your stomach and place one ball above your knee. Use your hands and arms to roll your body toward your feet so the ball moves up toward your hip flexors. Take this a couple of times, then repeat on your side leg. Still on your side, bend the knee of the leg you’ve been massaging, and place the tennis ball on the cushy part of our side knee. Massage the knee area and thigh. That’s a very tender spot for me! Again, still on your side, you can also place the tennis ball into your hip closest to the floor, right before the butt, and massage in circles. The hamstrings are a little bit hard to get to with the tennis balls, but it’s doable if you play around with it.
To massage your chest, you can either stand up facing a wall, place the tennis ball on any sore spot below the collarbone and about inline with your armpit, and press the ball into the wall. You can either hold at a knot or massage side to side. If the wall is too hard because the ball likes to slip you can do the same thing lying down on your belly.
RAD
$24.99 – $140.00
There’s a couple of rad companies out there (ha, ha, ha…see what I did there…) such as Gaim or RAD that create fancy products that do the same job as cheap af tennis balls, but of course in a more fabulous way. If you have the budget for it, go full out and try this kit! It has a neck, leg, and back massager and they look delicious. Check out their products here.
Leg massager
$39.99
A yoga instructor recommended this GRID Foam Roller from TriggerPoint for her sciatica and, though my mom was at first skeptical about why self-massage would help her, healed her pain within a few months! I love this roller for my legs, I’ve heard some people use it for their back but I think that’s just crazy because this roller has no space for the spinal cord, so you wouldn’t be getting the best self-massage for your back with this tool (and actually would probably feel very uncomfortable on the actual spinal cord because you really aren’t supposed to massage the actual vertebrae, just around them) but it is AMAZING for your legs. It’s the kind of “hurts so good” massage hehehe. You can buy one here.
Self-love Massage with your Fingers and Oil
However much your oil of choice costs – anywhere from $7-$45
Your skin is the first thing that is vulnerable to the world, so massing your skin with your own fingers is very intimate and creates compassion and love for yourself. Get naked, and massage your whole body with the oil and your fingers. Your face, neck, arms, fingers – my favorite in this process is to start standing, and work my way down from my hips, thighs, knees, lower legs until your my hands caress the tops of my feet and I’m in a forward fold. Forward folds fully relax the body, so adding self-massage with a forward fold is overwhelmingly relaxing. Tip: While your massaging your skin, include some positive self-talk. Ask your body how it’s doing, and tell your body thank you, I love and respect you. You can buy crazy expensive but very legit massage oil with essential oils here, or check out your local health store for cheaper oil options. Sometimes I just use coconut oil so that it also hydrates my skin at the same time. Other times I use eucalyptus or peppermint massage oil to offer open and cool down my joints.
I haven’t tried these yet but Lush also has massage bars that sound fantastic! You can purchase them here.
I hope one of those works for self-massage, or treat a friend or loved one and massage them xoxoxox.
2. Bubble Bath and Bath Salts
$2-$10
Water in general is soothing and calming to the mind, body and soul. So if you’re not into baths, maybe try a long warm shower, some jacuzzi time, or a trip to the beach. If you’ve never been a bath person but want to give it a go, you can get a bottle of bubble bath for as cheap as $2 from Johnson & Johnsons, but I also found a cute one by Burt’s Bees for aboutt $7 here.
Combine your bubble bath with epsom salt and you’ll be in muscle relaxer heaven! Epsom salt can be found at your local grocery or health store for about $3 a bag. Just pour one to two cups into your bath and let it dissipate into the water. Be warned that when you buy fancy bath salts, they might have other stuff besides epsom salt in them, which is what aids in muscle pain relief. However, some bath salts have lovely essential oil coated epsom salt with stress relieving scents such as chamomile or lavender.
For all you virgin bath takers and senior bath lovers, I found these awesome Lush bath products that all start around $7 might interest you:
Bubble Bars
Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles !!! Buy one here.
Bath Bombs
Date night with self starts with this romantic rose bath bomb. Buy this one and others here.
Luxury Bath Melts
Rich butters and essential oils that melt in your bath. Buy one here.
Fun
Mold dinosaurs, kittens, aliens with your take your bath with this soap, shampoo, bubble bath and putty toy! Buy one here.
Find what makes you happiest or make a cute gift basket for a friend who needs to zen out!
3. Essential Oils
Essential oils can help with muscle pain, anxiety, depression, and a number of other ailments! Natural essential oils are different from pleasing artificial scents because the artificial scents, according to research, do not alter brain waves. When an essential oil is inhaled, the particles go directly into your bloodstream to heal you inside and out. When topically applied, the oil can kill harmful bacteria. Some oils recharge brain cells and help dry skin.
When first trying essential oils on your own, it’s best to try individual ones rather than blends because that way you will know what actually helps and start to make blends with those that help.
A well trusted brand for essential oils, but quite pricey, is called Young Living. The retail price of one oil can be about $40…but wanna know a secret? If you become a member of Young Living, you can get 24% off all their retail goods and make money if you sell their products. Selling their products is not mandatory to be a member and receive a discount, however, to become a member you do have to purchase one of their startup kits, the cheapest is $40. Become a member here and check out their essential oils here. If this is totally out of your price range, you can find cheaper ones at your local health store. I use peppermint oil most frequently for mental clarity and to release any inflammation and pain in my muscles.
If you start getting into making your own mixes, two must-have books are:
The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
by Valerie Ann Worwood
$9.18 on Kindle or $13.43 on paperback. Purchase one here.
And:
The Fragrant Mind: Aromatherapy for Personality, Mind, Mood and Emotion
by Valerie Ann Worwood
$10.99 on Kindle or $19.01 on paperback. Purchase one here.
5. Massage with a Massage Therapist
Starts at $60 an hour
My go-to massage therapist is Aja Alexander. It can get confusing when first searching for a massage therapist because THERE ARE SO MANY! What is deep tissue massage?? What is Thai massage? Reflexology? My tips for your is to first, read this article Aja wrote about the different styles of massage and how it helps with mental obstacles, and secondly to know that if you are going to get a massage therapist, it’s not going to be cheap. A good massage usually starts at $60-$100 an hour. If you go to a cheaper place, you could risk further damaging yourself with a less experienced therapist.
If you live near Santa Clarita and would like to get a massage by Aja, you can contact her here.
6. Energy Healing
Starts at $100 an hour
Another expensive but totally worth it gift for yourself or for a loved one is an energy healing session. Energy healing is where a practitioner manipulates energy to provide healing effects in your body to battle physical, emotional or mental pains. Even if you have no current or noticeable pain, it is good to have a yearly energy healing check-up to remove any negative energy that you have collected on your body from other people and experiences. I have definitely heard some stories of energy healing sessions gone wrong, so I am recommending that you contact Marnie McNulty. She is trained in several methods such as Kalos, Theta Healing, 12-strand DNA activations, The Melchezidek Method, Reiki and Sensory Learning and can help you in person or through the phone. I’ve seen her several times over the past two years and she’s rewired my brain to lessen panic attacks and rid of tension in my neck that was causing my throat to dangerously close. Learn more about what energy healing is and how it can help you in an article Marnie wrote here. You can contact Marnie at dragonmoonrising@yahoo.com.
7. Reiki
Starts at $0
Reiki is a type of energy healing that anyone can learn and perform on themselves or on other people where you are able to channel energy through your body and out your hands. Many people suggest to be attuned by a reiki master, but you can teach yourself how to perform reiki without being attuned! All you need to know is the proper placement of your hands on the body to heal. Sssh, I’m telling you secrets!
Learn the 12 basic reiki hand placements here for self-treatment. If you feel the need to be attuned, your local yoga studio would probably be your best bet in asking where to find the best Reiki master who can attune you, but don’t be surprised if it costs a lot!
8. Self-Help Books
$2-$15
Self-help books can aid in reconnecting with the universe and discovering your inner happiness! Here are some of my favorites life-saver books:
A relatable zine !!!
Go to your local zine shop or zine festival and find some relatable zines! Some of my favorites are Mckenzie Mullen’s zines for $2 here.
=&0=&
