Adaptogenic Holiday Hot Chocolate + Holiday Stress-Reducing Tips
Skip to Recipe
With the holiday season now upon us, it’s time to gather with family, friends, and loved ones. With these gatherings comes a lot of joy and happiness. However, it can also cause a decent amount of stress. Making the food, prepping for the gathering, not having a lot of downtime to recharge can put the nervous system on high alert. That’s why I developed an adaptogenic holiday hot chocolate. When our bodies are stressed, adaptogens can help our bodies process, reset, and ground. This is especially important during the holiday season, especially during a pandemic and navigating a new normal routine.
Along with this hot chocolate recipe, I’ve included a few of the stress-reducing tips and practices I’ve developed over the years. You can apply them to your own self-care routine during the holiday season to make it a little less stressful. Combining these tips and practices with a daily dose of adaptogens will really benefit your physical and emotional well-being.
Adaptogenic Holiday Hot Chocolate Magic
Nothing says cold weather and the holiday season like hot chocolate. It’s the perfect recipe to make to connect us back to our childhood and feel those nostalgic holiday memories. With this recipe, I wanted to incorporate all of the deliciousness of hot chocolate with stress-reducing adaptogens. I also wanted to sweeten the drink with something that wasn’t sugar, so I chose PRI Manuka Honey. Let me tell you, I totally prefer this holiday hot chocolate recipe to the one I grew up with. It’s so delicious and relaxing!
Adaptogens and Hot Chocolate For Stress Reduction
For this recipe, I chose to add my favorite adaptogen of them all, Reishi! Now, you might think, won’t that add a bitter taste to my drink? Especially since you are using natural cacao? Honestly, with the deliciously sweet Manuka Honey and creaminess of your favorite milk, the hot chocolate develops a semi-sweet, delicious masterpiece.
By adding Reishi to this hot chocolate, you get an immunity-boosting benefit, along with the calming and grounding properties provided. Reishi is known to calm anxiety which is definitely helpful during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. The immunity boost is also extremely valuable because the holiday season generally coincides with cold and flu season. Any little bit helps!
Manuka Honey, the Magic Ingredient
Sweetening this drink with Manuka Honey is the perfect option. This makes the drink 100% refined-sugar-free and adds a variety of other benefits. For Manuka Honey, I chose honey from PRI. PRI sources their Manuka honey from Australia and New Zealand. They are also the original importer of Manuka to the U.S. I have to say, the honey is absolutely amazing and has a wide variety of real health benefits. It’s also so smooth, sweet, and absolutely decadent. Manuka Honey also adds extensive health benefits including aiding digestive health, which is perfect for all of the food that usually gets consumed during the holidays. It’s also antibacterial and antiviral which can help you support your immune system during colder weather.
By choosing your honey from PRI, you are also supporting the bee population. PRI is committed to helping save the bees and promoting sustainability in the honey industry. They are active supporters of GloryBee’s Save the Bee initiative. PRI donates a portion of their honey proceeds to this initiative and chooses only to work with sustainable beekeepers. Bees support so much in our environment and help us enjoy the life that we have today. They are also in danger due to the number of pesticides and non-sustainable practices that have developed. Beekeeping with sustainable practices is a crucial step we can take to protect the longevity of our planet.
Other Delicious Ingredients
Along with adaptogens and honey, I made this hot chocolate with cacao. Cacao is pure chocolate and filled with antioxidants. This also helps with immunity and adds a rich flavor profile to this hot chocolate. I also chose to use plant-based milk and a drop of coconut butter for extra creaminess. Using just a few ingredients, this recipe can be made quickly and enjoyed in no time at all!
Stress Reducing Holiday Tips
Okay, so we have an amazing holiday hot chocolate filled with adaptogens and delicious Manuka Honey. How can you incorporate that wonderful drink into your routines to reduce stress? The adaptogens help, but developing a self-care routine is crucial. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, just a couple of minutes for yourself to decompress and come to the heart center and reset. Here are a few of my favorite ways to reduce stress during the holiday season.
Nature Walks
Getting outside in nature is essential. I make sure to get at least 20 minutes of nature time per day, even if it’s just a walk outside. It tends to be much cooler as we get into winter during the holidays. However, it’s even more important to get outside since the sun sets earlier and we tend to be inside longer. My tip is to bundle up and grab a warm drink, such as a hot chocolate! This way you can stay warm and relax at the same time.
Yoga and Meditation
If you have to stay indoors, you can still practice yoga and meditate. Just a few minutes works wonders for your mind and soul. I always meditate with a warm tea, which you could easily sweeten with PRI Manuka Honey or hot chocolate. Just having a few minutes to intentionally slow down and do nothing is essential for mental health during this season.
Plan your Shopping Ahead
Last-minute trips, forgotten ingredients, and gifts that are hard to get can lead to unnecessary stress during this season. I highly recommend planning your shopping ahead of time. PRI offers some amazing products with their delicious honey. These treats are perfect for loved ones or for your own self-care. A few of my favorites are Propolis Soap with Manuka Honey & Tea Tree Oil, Manuka Honey Chocolates, PRI Manuka Honey, and Propolis Lollipops, and last but not least I will definitely be gifting a few Manuka Holiday Stocking Stuffers.
Reducing stress during this season will allow you to take in more joy around families and loved ones. Enjoying the holiday hot chocolate can aid in stress reduction and is an absolutely delicious treat. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season! If you have any questions or have any of your own stress-reducing tips, definitely reach out, I’d love to hear them!
This blog post is sponsored by our friends at PRI HoneyPacific Resources International, all thoughts and opinions are my own, thank you for choosing brands that help support the blog.
Adaptogenic Holiday Hot Chocolate + Holiday Stress-Reducing Tips
The holidays can be stressful so here is a delicious adaptogenic holiday hot chocolate and some tips to help you call in as much joy as possible this season.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of plant based milk
- 2-3 tablespoons of cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon of coconut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of Reishi Powder
- 1-2 teaspoons of PRI New Zealand Manuka Honey
- 3-4 drops of PRI New Zealand Propolis Extract CPL 30
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Heat up your plant-based milk on the stovetop until it's just before a boiling temperature.
- Whisk in the cacao powder, coconut butter, Manuka Honey, Propolis Extract CPL 30, and sea salt.