I often wish I had mastered the art of gift buying. You know those people who somehow always know EXACTLY what to buy. Who have the amazing ability to hold on to a detail, mentioned briefly in a conversation 6 months ago, a find a perfect gift for everyone, every time.

Giving is one of the 5 ways to wellbeing, and has been shown to have incredible positive effects on our mental health and wellbeing. It helps to release positive hormones, reduces isolation and anxiety, gives us purpose and builds self esteem. It has also been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve your immune system, among other things which you can read in my previous blog here . So with so many positive effects of giving, why does shopping for presents always make me so stressed?

The truth is that giving is about so much more that buying people presents. Hannah recently wrote a blog all about the 5 love languages - words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, gifts and physical touch. We all give and receive love in a variety of ways, and so although some people may love buying people gifts, we can also be generous with our time, sitting and listening to people or helping them out in some way, we can be generous with our words, encouraging people or writing them a card of letter. It is important to recognise that these are all equally valuable ways of giving to those around us.

It’s also worth identifying the love language of the person you are giving too. You might spend ages writing someone a lovely card when what they really want is a hug. Or spend money on a really nice present, but they would really value just sitting and spending some time with you over a cup of tea.

Giving has huge positive effects on both you and the people around you. What are some creative ways that you can give to those around you during this time. Check out our recent video for more ideas.

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