Here’s What Functional Medicine Doctors and Healers Are Giving This Holiday Season
This is what real wellness experts are giving this year.
If you’re just getting started on your holiday shopping, we’ve got a few ideas for you! We asked our favorite experts in the field of health and wellness what they’re giving their loved ones this holiday season, and they had more than a handful of great ideas to share.
1. Dr. Mark Hyman, Functional Medicine Doctor
Dr. Mark Hyman is a practicing family physician and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He’s calling the Oura Ring ($314) his “favorite health gadget of the year.”
A discreet band worn around the finger, the Oura Band helps keep track of exercise, heart rate variability, and – perhaps most importantly, according to Hyman – sleep.
“Quality sleep is one of the most underrated spokes on the wheel of total wellness,” says Human. “Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how well we’re sleeping. My Oura Ring has given me quite a bit of insight, so it’s something I wear most days. It’s the perfect gift for health junkies!”
Hyman also loves the Sauna Space ($349.99) to reap the benefits of a sauna right at home.
“I don’t have a ton of space in NYC,” he says, “but this item is easy to use and tuck away. It’s great for any space. And sauna is one of my TOP wellness activities. It’s great for inflammation, detoxification, and much much more. I know this item is a bit pricey, but if you’re looking for a high quality, compact option, it’s a great product.”
Hyman’s new cookbook, Food: What the Heck Should I Cook? ($19.69), is a great choice for those looking for delicious and healthful recipes, especially folks who have already read Hyman’s first book, Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?
“So often people think healthy eating is about depriving yourself,” says Hyman. “I’m here to tell you that’s not true. Real food tastes good and is good for you.”
This book shows people how to take Hyman’s suggestions for healthy living and turn them into actionable solutions and delicious meals.
2. Susy Schieffelin, Sound Healer
Susy Schieffelin is a Los Angeles-based sound healer, reiki master, yoga and meditation teacher, and sobriety coach. With the chaos of the season, she says, “There is no better gift than a good night’s sleep!
She recommends giving this gift in the form of the Saje Wellness Sleep Routine Restful Sleep Kit ($30), complete with a roll-on essential oil and a super soft sleep mask.
To help your rest be even more restorative, Schieffelin also recommends this Darling Quartz blanket by Sackcloth and Ashes ($129), a company with the goal of donating one million blankets to the homeless by 2024. For each blanket purchased, a blanket is donated to a local homeless shelter.
“These blankets are gorgeous, cozy, and perfect for snuggling underneath,” says Schieffelin, “and each blanket purchased also does a world of good.”
3. Mona Dan, Acupuncturist
Acupuncture is predicated on the important links between different parts of our bodies. For Mona Dan, LAc., herbalist, acupuncturist and founder of Vie Healing, that means that one thing that should be on your holiday shopping list this year is Ear Seeds ($34).
“When applied, the magnetic seeds on the pressure points of the ears send signals to the reflex centers of the brain to relax your nervous system to keep your body into processing mode instead of fight / flight mode.”
Functional and beautiful, these 24-carat gold ear seeds are a discreet way to improve your general wellbeing – the perfect gift for a friend or loved one who’s managing more than his or her fair share of stress.
4. Sophie Uliano, Holistic Nutritionist
Board-certified holistic nutritionist Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist and wellness expert. She loves using Scottish spurtles ($21.99), originally designed to stir porridge oats, for pretty much any kitchen task.
“I use them in place of all my old spatulas,” she says of the trinket that’s as much fun to say as it is to use. “I use them for stirring, prodding, scraping, and the whole nine yards. Most people I know like to cook, so this is the girl and guy gift of the season.”
5. Nealy Fischer, Cookbook Author
Nealy Fischer is a wellness entrepreneur, yoga instructor, and the founder of The Flexible Chef. She loves giving tools that make healthy eating easier as gifts, and this year, she’s hooked on dehydrators.
The Excalibur 9-Tray Dehydrator ($319.95) makes homemade snacks like granola, nuts, crackers, and homemade fruit leather easy to prepare and enjoy.
“Just prepare your ingredients, place them on a dehydrator sheet, and let them ride,” she says. “You can go about your day as usual and in a few hours (or in some cases, a few days), you’ll have a delicious treat.”
Fischer also unites 100 tasty recipes in her book, Food You Want for the Life You Crave ($13.69), a great gift for foodies looking to clean up their diets easily.
“With my adaptable system you’ll have a simpler recipe for success, both in and out of the kitchen,” explains Fischer. “You can make each meal—and each day—less harried and more enjoyable.”
6. Dr. Dawn A. DeSylvia, MD, Functional and Integrative Doctor
Dawn A. DeSylvia, MD, The Center For Whole Health recommends Rachel Naomi Remen’s Kitchen Table Wisdom ($10.99), a book she read before entering medical school.
She says she was inspired by the way the book explores “how we used to sit around the kitchen table and share stories – all sorts of stories from all ages.”
“We have lost this both in our homes and communities,” she continues, “as well as having lost it in the profession of medicine, where listening and hearing someone’s story may arguably be the foundational factor to any healing.”
This book helps any reader get back in touch with this essential wisdom.
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