 Today is interesting to say the least. Lots of shock, confusion and change. For SaverinaScozzari.com, this is the first #WellnessWednesday post featuring an article from contributor Eryl McCaffrey. She will be writing about mindfulness throughout this blogging season, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. Check out her article below. When was the last time you took yourself on a date? Not a do-or-die gym session--a real, wonderful date with numero uno? If you can’t remember, it’s been too long. Gone are the days of pushing through and burning out. NOW is the time of self-care, working smart and living with ease. This is one bandwagon you want to get on, my friends! This is a real ongoing personal project of mine—making “me time” a cornerstone of my daily self-care routine. I feel like I came out of the womb kickboxing and blowing fire! I like action. I like creation. It serves me well, but it often drains me if I’m not careful. I can fall into an old pattern that consists of working too hard, fizzling out and then coming back. That’s why I love yoga so much: it keeps me balanced and in connection with what I really need at any given moment. The fizzling out and coming back part wouldn’t be necessary if I consistently took breaks for myself and made rest a necessity, right? Right. So, that’s where I’m at. Back to me. Back to basics. Back to balance. And it feels so so so good. Sometimes all I need to do to hit my reset button is take a short walk and drink a tea. I’ve dropped extremes in exchange for that cozy middle ground. I’m breathing more easily, communicating better and finding freedom in places I never knew it existed. Basically, life is brighter and more beautiful than ever before. Don’t just take it from me—a study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that free time can actually help us to become more self-directed, especially as kids. The paper highlights that children who spend more time in “unstructured activities” get a better grasp on crucial life skills like speaking clearly and organizing their thoughts effectively. Those of us over the age of 5 have plenty of reasons to dedicate time to ourselves too, like having a clearer mind, less stress, better problem solving, an improved mood, and healthier relationships. Not to mention, we get to know the most important player in our lives much better—ourSELVES. We can’t create shifts in our lives or the lives of others without looking at ourselves in the mirror first. The best way to do that? BE with yourself. The non-negotiable truth is that we need to fill our energetic cup before it gets empty, not after. Our inner resources are what give us the ability and capacity to help others. We can’t serve our external world if we don’t serve our internal world. So let’s start with a whole lot of self-love and go from there. You don’t have to start meditating to get in your “me time” (although I’d strongly encourage it), just reconnect with whatever it is that makes you relax, smile, play and explore. Start and end the day with YOU. Take breaks. Get outside. Watch a movie. Read a book. Sit in silence. Whatever it is, whatever brings you back to balance, do it with kindness and do it often!
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