Heart Kovalam

A yoga teacher friend recommended the Etsy shop, Heart Kovalam, for its beautiful hand-blocked cotton wraps and I had to take a look.  Four stunning kimono style wraps later (all gifts) I have to agree with her.  The super soft, versatile, cotton wraps, like the one above, are perfect as beach cover ups or summer dressing gowns.  Each one comes in a handy drawstring pouch.

I’m a fan of Ayurvedic treatments and the Keralan wellness and sleep spa kits also caught my eye.  Each kit contains a pillow filled with fragrant vetiver roots to aid sleep, natural turmeric or coconut oil soap with Ayurvedic ingredients and hand loomed cotton hand towels.

For yogis, the hand strung Tibetan prayer or mala beads in opal, coral and turquoise or the lavender filled eye masks would make great gifts and the handmade paper notebooks with block print covers are great stocking fillers.

There are lots of lovely products to choose from and proceeds from the shop support local makers in Kovalam, Kerala, and local people who have lost their livelihoods in tourism since the outbreak of the pandemic. The shop was set up by Tuesday McNeill, co founder of wellbeing studio, Heart Twickenham, who has been based in Kovalam throughout the pandemic and has witnessed the hardship first hand.  Shop sales provide those hardest hit with funds for food, medicine, school fees and other daily expenses.  Items are dispatched from the UK so there is still time to purchase gifts for Christmas. Click here to visit the Heart Kovalam shop.

Photos by Heart Kovalam.