This holiday season, I invite you to explore a thoughtfully curated collection of gifts that celebrate the art of rejuvenation. From nourishing gourmet treats to skincare essentials, innovative wellness technology, and books you won’t be able to put down, our 2024 gift guide highlights products and businesses that align with our commitment to holistic wellbeing and longevity.
At Aro Ha, we believe true wellness lies in harmonising the body, mind, and soul while honouring our planet. Rather than getting swept up in Black Friday and buying in bulk, let’s buy what’s best. This year’s guide embraces sustainability and innovation as key pillars of living well, offering meaningful presents to enrich both your life and the lives of your loved ones.
As we consider ways to give, I also encourage you to gift yourself (and your loved one) something priceless: a screen-free bedroom. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck on your phone at night or scrolling first thing in the morning, this simple shift can transform your sleep into a sanctuary for deep recovery, and a place of connection if you share it with a special someone. Move devices out of the bedroom, and lean into the habit of presence—it’s free, and the benefits are profound.
For those wondering, “But how will I wake up?” let me share a solution that’s changed my mornings: the Philips light-based alarm clock. Its gentle sunrise simulation and soothing bird sounds ease you into wakefulness naturally, aligning with your circadian rhythm. This small shift has improved my sleep, broken my scrolling habit, and allowed me to start each day with clarity and calm.
May this season be one of wellness, joy, and renewal. Let’s celebrate the art of living well—together.
With love,
Damian
Food & Kitchen
Plant to Plate Cookbook
This is our world-class retreat menu in a cookbook including beautifully plated and honest food with an emphasis on abundant nutrition. At Aro Hā, we don’t count calories, we count natural vibrant colours. If you value the depth of healing that comes from caring for the whole, the pages in Plant to Plate will synthesise an opportunity to elevate your relationship to food through all your senses.
A Homemade Recipe
- Cookies TBC
Activist Manuka Honey Gift Set
Complete with a toiletry bag created from upcycled fabric from luxury fashion houses, the ACTIVIST Wellness Kit is the perfect way to share the wonder of Manuka honey, in a artful way this season. We love ACTIVIST for their novel solutions for enjoying Manuka Honey, such as their immune elixir, or even a face mask.
Aro Ha Ceremonial Cacao
A relaxing alternative to caffeine, invite your friends to enjoy a new daily routine with our Organic Ceremonial Grade Cacao; a tantalising call to embrace the present moment, take a deep breath, and transform the mundane into the sacred.
This unique blend traces its origins to Peru where it is cultivated with love, inviting you to open your heart and savour its flavours.
Gidon Bing Ceramic Juicer from everyday needs
We love this slow approach to a morning juice ritual, with this ceramic juicer by New Zealand maker Gidon Bing. A lovely gift for the cook with everything. This piece has been handcrafted and refined using traditional sculpting techniques, from pure white China Clay from Matauri Bay, NZ.
IronClad Pan
Did you know that cast iron leaches small amounts of iron into food during cooking, which can contribute to meeting dietary iron needs, especially for individuals at risk of iron deficiency? With this in mind, we enjoy Ironclad Pans, which not only support your iron intake, but are also designed to be passed down generations. A health win for you and the planet.
Wellness Tech
Damian’s pick of the Season
Philips Sunlight Alarm
The Phillips Sunlight Alarm is tried and tested by our team and has helped with the switch towards a screen-free bedroom.
Lumavitae CellPower bottle
The Lumavitae CellPower Hydrogen Water Bottle combines advanced technology and wellness in one sleek package. Infusing water with molecular hydrogen, it provides powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, promoting better energy, recovery, and overall health. The bottle’s stable hydrogen concentration and eco-friendly design ensure consistent, high-quality hydration. With added features like frequency infusion and magnetic field emulation, it’s a perfect gift for anyone interested in enhancing their wellness routine with cutting-edge hydration technology.
Therabody SmartGoggles
We all have a friend or two who may need a little extra support in relaxing this holiday season, so we are loving these cutting-edge smart goggles, crafted to elevate relaxation, recovery and well-being in a truly innovative way. SmartGoggles are the only eye mask powered by SmartSense Technology™ — the exclusive biometric sensor customises treatments to lower your heart rate to a more relaxed state.
Oura Ring Generation 3
Back by popular demand, the Oura Ring remains one of our favourite tools for gaining deep insights into personal health. This sleek, lightweight ring offers precise tracking of key metrics, providing invaluable data to help you better understand and improve your well-being. Paired with its user-friendly app, it transforms complex information into actionable insights. At Aro Ha, guests can try the Oura Ring during their stay, gaining a deeper understanding of how the retreat supports their wellness journey.
HigherDose Red Light Face Mask
From the experts in sauna innovation, this wearable red and near-infrared light therapy mask delivers dermatologist-level skincare at home. Red-light therapy offers the rejuvenating benefits of sunlight without harmful UV rays, helping to improve skin health and radiance. Made with soft silicone, it straps on comfortably, letting you multitask or simply unwind while it works. Perfect for anyone seeking effortless, glowing skin—this is a gift of relaxation and rejuvenation in one sleek package.
Books
While a smaller gift, the right book can be worth so much more than words bound in paper. Books hold the gift of transporting readers into another world or sharing knowledge about undiscovered experiences. These are a few of our top picks from local curator Bookety Book Books that are set to inspire:
- In The Garden
- I May Be Wrong - Björn Natthiko Lindeblad
- The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk
- A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath
- Outlive - Dr Peter Attia
- Build The Life You Want - Oprah Winfrey & Arthur C Brooks
Health & Skincare
Sans Ceutical Holiday Travel Bags
Take the Sans [ceuticals] experience into the holiday season with their new curated holiday travel sets. Clean, potent formulations in a custom-made canvas travel bag for a luxurious gift giving experience. The perfect piece for the friend that is heading out of town to take a break.
Aotea Therapeutic Pack
Celebrating the power of New Zealand's natural healing flora such as Kawakawa, Manuka, and Harakeke, Aotea is a regenerative skincare brand that is excavated and formulated on Great Barrier Island (Aotea). Their innovative, natural skincare products are the perfect gift for anyone needing a little extra self-care this summer.
Abel Fragrance
Perfect for those with discerning taste, but who value a low-tox lifestyle, Abel is a 100% natural Wellington-based fragrance house that harnesses biotechnology to create complex, luxury scents. With a range inspired by the ocean and rainforests, Abel is a beautiful way to express your love this gifting season.
Arithmos x Aro Ha Superfine Body Oil
This exclusive brand collaboration has been designed to embody the transformative Aro Ha experience within a luxurious skin experience, each drop encapsulates the retreat's serenity and rejuvenation. This light weight, luxurious body oil infused with carefully selected botanicals, whisks you away to Aro Ha's haven. If you’ve visited us before, this is the perfect way to share the Aro Ha feeling with the ones you love.
Emma Lewisham Essentials Kit
We love New Zealand based brand Emma Lewisham for their 100% natural approach to effective skincare. Not only are they natural, but they are certified Climate Positive, and use a circular system that prevents waste from entering landfill. It's Jane Goodall approved, and it's officially Aro Hā approved too.
INXHALE Calm Inhaler
CALM inhaler is an original blend of 100% natural aroma compounds designed to help reduce anxiety and stress, promote relaxation and improve sleep quality. Backed by science. A wonderful little gift for those who are interested in natural ways in supporting their cognition.
Lifestyle
Everyday Conversations from Everyday Solitude
We love this purpose-driven card game that aims to deepen connections and create meaningful conversations to advance mental health. Share the gift of quality conversation, by opening new dialogues with your nearest and dearest.
Yu Mei ECONYL® Landscape Tote
A New Zealand-based and regenerative luxury label, there are many things to love from Yu Mei. The Landscape Tote is made from ECONYL®, a regenerated nylon product made from discarded fishing nets, carpets, and off cut fabrics containing nylon 6 polymer. This chic and sustainable bag is perfect for your mid-week wander into your local yoga studio, or a trip to the coast.
VivoBarefoot Runners
If you’ve visited us on retreat, you’ll know our amazing Retreat Leaders love the VivoBarefoot runners. Specially designed to support foot health, Barefoot shoe soles are thinner and more flexible than the average shoe, allowing the feet and toes to better perform their natural function in the walking movement.
Nagnata Romeo Trouser
Great for anyone who moves, these GOTS Certified Organic Cotton and GRS recycled nylon blend track pants are perfect to wear for nature immersions, fire-side book reading, or wandering the city streets. A thought-leading, Australian-based sustainable lifestyle brand on our radar, Nagnata’s pieces are the perfect gift for those design-led yet conscious adventurers.
Baina Pool Towel
Between the pleasing design, and 100% GOTS Certified Organic Cotton, Baina Towels are the perfect accessory for the Sauna lovers in your life.
Maggie Marilyn Ocean Club Bag
Handmade with love in Peru using organic cotton, the Ocean Club Tote Bag is the perfect blend of style, function, and sustainability. Created by local artisans through Ethical Edit’s ethical supply chain, this spacious tote easily fits everything from your yoga mat to beach essentials. Thoughtful, eco-conscious, and practical, it's a beautiful addition to any wellness journey.
Immaterial ideas
Aro Ha @home
Give the gift of a transformative @home retreat this holiday season. Perfect for loved ones seeking rejuvenation, the Aro Ha online programs offer a unique opportunity to experience wellness from the comfort of home—whether in a serene beachside escape or their city sanctuary. They can choose their ideal setting and timing and you can even do it together, as they embark on a journey of renewal.
From the Seasonal Renew detox, an award-winning, science-backed 5-day fast-mimicking cleanse, to the deeply immersive Realise Retreat, receive the expert guidance and world-class support of a luxury retreat, at a fraction of the cost. Elevate your loved one's wellness experience this season and invite deep, lasting transformation into their life.
The gift of an outdoor excursion
As a friend of Aro Ha, you understand the profound impact of nature immersion - why not share that joy with a friend? This holiday season, take action by organising a day outdoors, taking time to plan the excursion and the trail snacks required. To make it feel more like a gift, go one step further and print use a Canva template to print out your own unique experience voucher.
A membership to Forest & Bird
Whether they are an avid bird watcher, or obsessed with protecting the outdoors - a Membership to a conservation project such as Forest & Bird is a great way to further engage your loved ones with a bigger purpose while supporting the incredible charitable efforts of organisations that protect wildlife and wild places.
An Audio Gift
Give the gift that matters most: your appreciation. Our guide helps you craft a thoughtful, heartfelt voice note — a reflection practice wrapped in gift giving. Share love, gratitude, and admiration in the most meaningful way. Need a prompt? Try this practice by retreat leader, Chris, here.