Guest Blogger Spotlight: Get to know, Eliza.

Hey Einnim friends! It's time for another guest blogger spotlight 🤗.

I met Eliza not too long ago while attending a virtual femmebought happy hour and was super impressed by her positive energy and overall approach to life.

We decided to exchange information and the conversations have been amazing ever since! I couldn't pass on the opportunity to ask Eliza if she would be interested in being my next guest blogger, and to my excitement, she said yes!

So, without further ado... meet Chicago-based life coach and founder of Sweet + Well, Eliza.

---

How to make more ME time (for unwinding, self-love, and self-care)

How would you spend your time if you had all day just to yourself? Maybe you would be sipping some tea, reading a book by your window sill, taking a soothing bath...

This kind of relaxing alone time is much needed in our hyper-wired modern society, but a common problem is that we often can’t take unlimited time to ourselves. Between work, family, and friends, the world is always snapping for our attention.

As a life coach and meditation teacher, I wanted to share some tips on how to create more “me time” when your calendar is already booked solid.

These aren’t “time hacks” in the sense of trying to create squeeeeeeeze in just one more minute of self-care or add another thing to your routine. My tips today are on changing the way you approach your time and consequently, how you approach self-care and self-love as a whole.

1. Rethinking what “me time” is

Even with my example above, in exploring what you would do with a full day to unwind by yourself, there’s this idea that “me time” = “alone time.”

Now, I suuuuper value solitude and alone time for recharging. I’m not saying that’s not important! However, I want to challenge the notion that the only “me time” is when you’re alone.

Because in reality, any time that you spend alive is YOUR TIME.

Let me explain: No matter what you’re doing, whether you’re at work, running errands, or with your family, YOU are always part of the equation. You are giving your attention, time, and energy to something outside of you, but that doesn’t mean your experience doesn’t matter!

Because this is still YOUR TIME, you are allowed to feel grounded in these moments. You’re still allowed to set personal boundaries. You’re allowed to enjoy the moment.

Part of this comes down to mindfulness--letting yourself be fully present in your life no matter what you’re working on. You can do this by simply connecting to your breath, checking in with your body, and opening up your physical senses.

And once you connect with yourself, then you can also check-in and see how you can make any time or task more enjoyable for you. Maybe you can light a candle to calm you. Maybe you need more nourishing foods. Maybe you need to turn on some early 2000s pop to jam to! (...is that just me?)

2. Not letting perfectionism get in the way of self-care

It’s 2021, and following a morning/night routine is all the rage.

While having a dedicated “me time” throughout the day is AWESOME, I’ve also worked with people who judge themselves because they can’t stick to a perfect self-care routine… which then stops them from practicing any form of self-care at all.

So in addition to rethinking the concept of “me time,” I also want to offer that how you care for yourself doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t need to start every day at 6 am with a set ritual of 30 minutes of meditation, a journaling prompt, intention setting, power yoga, a green smoothie, and a cold shower. (Unless that works for you!)

Self-care and “me time” is not a test. You’re not going to be graded for every box you check off! And if that’s how you’re approaching wellness, you’re missing out on actually feeling GOOD through these practices.

And that’s the whole point, right?

Taking care of yourself is a life-long commitment. I hope these tips are helpful in letting yourself reclaim your time, your energy, your life.

---

Be sure to follow @sweetandwell.co on IG and if you are in the market for a holistic life coach and meditation teacher, then head to http://sweetandwell.com/.

Don’t forget to follow @einnimlifestyle on IG as well and join our mailing list to take 15% off your first purchase!!