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Sometimes the best gift is not another item to keep track of but an experience where you can lose yourself entirely and find serenity, healing or replenishment.
Fortunately, L.A. is filled with unexpected places that provide an escape from the supersonic speed of our daily lives, and many of them offer gift cards. From a secret tea house in the Arts District to a festive sound bath in the Santa Monica Mountains, we’ve scoured the city for some of the best pockets of unexpected calm. Think your pals and loved ones will be into hiking with pygmy goats? Meditating with bees? Ready to try an ice bath? We’ve got you covered with self-care experiences for under $100.
If you make a purchase using some of our links, the L.A. Times may be compensated.
Escape to a dreamy oasis and drink tea
For anyone who’s obsessed with drinking herbal tea or hanging out in a TikTok-approved oasis for hours, Tea at Shiloh is the perfect gift. The tea house, which stays open until 11 some nights, hosts an array of connection-driven gatherings, including jazz evenings, breathwork sessions, flamenco performances and workshops. Tea at Shiloh also offers daylight hours — imagine a quiet co-working space — on select days. Reservations are required to experience this tranquil space, so treat your loved one to a gift card. A reservation for one is $44 and $88 for two. Or if they don’t live locally, consider purchasing them Tea at Shiloh’s limited-edition herbal book, “Roots, Leaves, Flowers.” — Kailyn Brown
$44 at Tea at Shiloh
(Zay Monae / For The Times)
Experience the healing powers of plants at Meet Me in the Dirt
When you don’t have the funds or time to get a massage at your favorite spa or stay at a luxurious hotel, you can find respite at a surprising place: the South Bay Galleria. Inside a 2,400-square-foot space at the mall is Meet Me in the Dirt, a whimsical plant shop that hosts events meant to generate the positive effects that being exposed to greenery and playing in soil can have on your mental health. We suggest gifting the soil meditation experience, which costs $75 and is hosted by shop owner Barbara Lawson, who is also a certified grief counselor. Or if your giftee might prefer alone time, book them space to in one of the five Zen-inspired rooms, which have names that represent what people may need in their life at that time (e.g., valued and loved). Room rentals are available for people ages 21 and up and cost $50 to $85 per hour. — K.B.
$75 at Meet Me in the Dirt
De-stress in an ice bath or sweat it out in a sauna at Remedy Place
Although many social clubs require you to be a member or a member‘s guest to experience their amenities, Remedy Place doesn’t have such restrictions. Created by Jonathan Leary, this Sunset Strip spot claims to be the world’s first social wellness club. Visitors can participate in everything from ice bath classes to infrared sauna sessions at a la carte rates. It’s the perfect way to try a service such as cryotherapy ($50) or lymphatic compression ($100 for 30 minutes) without having to commit to a pricey membership. We recommend buying a gift certificate; you can either pick the dollar amount or book a specific service for your gift recipient. Once they’ve completed their service, they can take a steamy shower, then hang out in Remedy Place’s gorgeous lobby, where there’s an alcohol-free bar that sells tonics, herbal energy drinks and more. — K.B.
Prices vary at Remedy Place
Channel the inner child on a goat excursion
Who needs a therapist when there are goats? Michelle Tritten of Hello Critter hosts rejuvenating goat events around the Los Angeles area. That includes goat yoga as well as goat hikes, goat walks and goat sound bath meditations. Her Nigerian dwarf goats are playful, loving creatures — part dog, as they’re smart, friendly and loyal; part cat, given their independent quirky personalities; and part horse, with an appetite for outdoor adventures. Treat your most harried friends or family members to a goat yoga class, held at cultural institutions around the L.A. area such as Pasadena’s Gamble House and the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Or splurge on an all-day excursion — Tritten leads private groups on goat hikes to a remote waterfall. Why goats? Because their “playful antics and gentle manner,” Tritten says, “open hearts, widen smiles and deepen stretches throughout each [yoga] practice.” — Deborah Vankin
Gift cards start at $50 at Hello Critter
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Totally unwind at a head spa
A Chinese scalp treatment at the San Gabriel head spa Cai Xiang Ge might be the most relaxing spa service in L.A. Some on social media even claim it will “change your life.” The 60-minute service includes a detailed scalp analysis — shedding light not just on the health of your noggin but also your overall health, according to practitioners — followed by a slow, indulgent head and neck massage and repeated hair washings. All the while you’re wearing a heated eye mask and your feet are soaking in a warm bath infused with Chinese herbs. Dermatologists say that scalp treatments promote circulation and detoxify, as well as calm and hydrate skin, all of which can help prevent dandruff, itchiness, dryness and inflammation. But the real benefit is the deep relaxation and sense of being cared for that comes from someone expertly massaging your head in warm water for an hour. With gifts, it may be the thought that counts; but with a head-massage, it’s the experience that matters. The service ends in the salon, with an “anti-hair loss” treatment and blow-dry as you sip tea and eat sweets. Pure heaven. — Deborah Vankin
$95 for 60 minutes at Cai Xiang Ge
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Seek guidance from the stars with a down-to-earth astrologer
Warm and infinitely relatable, Richard Contreras offers down-to-earth (and affordable) astrology and tarot readings that might change your giftee’s life or at least help them gain some much-needed perspective — assuming they’re open to that kind of thing. The messages Contreras divines may not always be reassuring — “I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be a bumpy road ahead,” he told me in a recent reading — but he also reminded me that challenge is necessary for growth. Contreras, who used to have a storefront in Pasadena, mostly sees clients on Zoom these days. He’s also efficient: I met with him for less than an hour, and the reading continues to reverberate weeks later. — Deborah Netburn
$60 for 30 minutes, $90 for 45 minutes. Contact him through Instagram: instagram.com/ozomapilli.
Meditate in an apiary at Teas With Bees
Spiritual beekeeper Marvin Jordana’s latest offering is Teas With Bees, a two-hour experience that invites participants to find calm in the presence of hundreds of thousands of bees. (Yes, it’s possible.) You’ll begin with a handcrafted herbal tea and a brief discussion about the divine energy of the hive. After a meditation, you’ll move slowly and mindfully into the apiary (Jordana provides bee suits and veils), where you’re invited to feed bees honey, observe a hive with a magnifying glass or simply zone out to the buzzing vibrations around you. “Ask yourself, ‘Can I slow down?’ And then ask yourself, ‘Can I slow down even more?’” Jordana said before leading my group out to meet the bees. “It’s a safety thing, and also a meditative thing.”
— D.N.
$44 at Teas With Bees
Bliss out with a magical sound bath in Malibu
Ana Netanel’s Shakti Sound Bath might be the most magical in all of L.A. It takes place most Sundays (weather permitting) on a grassy clearing high in the Santa Monica Mountains beneath a massive sculpture of a seated figure with a heart cut out of its torso. Led by Netanel and the members of her High Vibe Tribe, it’s a 90-minute alfresco experience that includes harp, flute, gongs, chimes, rain sticks, crystal bowls and other relaxing sound makers. I think of it as somewhere between a new age revival and a concert — joyful, rejuvenating, relaxing and festive all at once. It doesn’t matter if your loved ones are new to sound baths or if they attend them all the time — they will be dazzled. — D.N.
$45; $111 for VIP tickets at Shakti Sound Bath
Prices and availability of experiences in the Gift Guide and on latimes.com are subject to change.
