Wellness In Progress: April 2025

[itsfi]

April 2025 BWell Card

We're already into month 4, BIC. I don't now about you, but keeping up with some wellness activities has been a bit more challenging lately. Incorporating a few new activities to this wellness bingo board this month to help with a refresh to our self care activities. 

▶️  How To Play - There are several ways to go about this wellness challenge, including, but not limited to:

• Go for BINGO, 5 consecutive squares, whether they be 5 squares in a row, in a column or diagonal
• Pick a row or column and work your way through the activity noted - you can aim to do a square a day, moving on to another row or column each week.
• You can pick a different square you want to work on for each week
• Select activities that interest you or challenge you and work towards checking off those squares
• Choose at random what self-care activity you want to engage in for the day

Feel free to check back in weekly, periodically or near the end of the month with your progress on your BWell Card. We love hearing about and being inspired by what you're doing for your self-care.

☑️  How Do I Earn A Square? - Do an activity that fits within the activity described in the square. For a more detailed description of the self-care activities listed in the squares or examples of how you might go about those activities, check out April 2025 BWell Activities. These are just examples or suggestions, of course; if you have a self-care activity that falls within that description, mark off that square as being completed! Feel free to share your progress and activtities you've undertakend. 

⚠️  Make Adjustments As Needed - We are all at different stages of our wellness / self-care journey. While it can be good to challenge ourselves, sometimes, it's best to take make adjustments. I'm not at expert at this at all, and if there's an activity that is not something you are ready for, or one that you should not engage in, make the adjustments you need to, or just skip that square altogether.

• Be Safe. Consider weather conditions and your health and physical condition before engaging in any activities listed. For activities you're unsure of, especially the physial ones, before starting an activity, consult with your physician or health care professional before make any adjustments, if and as appropriate.

• Duration For Activities. As you will see, some activities include in parenthesis a time period. These are arbitrary and should be taken as a suggestion. If you are able to safely spend more time performing the activty, go for it. If it's better to start out with a shorter time period, do so. If you're starting out or are aware of certain conditions that may make it more challenging to engage in the activity listed, please discuss with your physician or health care provider before starting, and adjust accordingly.

Practicing wellness is a process, one that takes time and effort. Sometimes it's about finding what works for you, while other times, it's all about hitting your stride and maintaining your routine. We have our good days ... and our bad ones. Self-care can be a very personal effort - what works for one person may not work for someone else. And, that's okay. It doesn't hurt to have some support and encouragement along the way. Or just knowing that there are others working towards wellness. Wellness takes work. Let's do the work together, BIC!

[caitbird]

@CorgiMommy  awesome job with wellness this month! I have a terrible sweet tooth, so I definitely feel you there - no sweets during the week is a great goal, very inspiring! Sorry to hear about your unexpected expenses, but good on you for making a plan going forward - I hope future months will be kinder ones!

[CorgiMommy]

@caitbird thank you, trying to stay true to both but it is hard

[itsfi]

@CorgiMommy, curbing that sweet tooth can be a tough one; no sweets during the week is a good thing to work towards. Ouch, sorry about the unexpected expenses this month, but a huge "yes!" to having a financial plan going forward. 

[CorgiMommy]

@itsfi thank you,  not sure how long no sweets during the week will last but I am giving it a try.

[caitbird]

@byme4u  great wellness activities! Carrot orange muffins, I've never had those, but they sound good! 🤔 And "grateful not hateful" I love that! I will have to remember that one.

[itsfi]

These are some great wellness activities you undertook @byme4u; nice work. Oh, that stationary bike is a good workout!

[CorgiMommy]

Nice @byme4u. Carrot orange muffin sounds yummy 

[itsfi]

@byme4u, that's a delicious salad from Panera.

[caitbird]

@byme4u  great wellness habits! Ooh, that Panera salad sounds so good!

[itsfi]

Another check in. The middle of the month went fairly well for keeping up with self-care activities. I marked them on the bingo card with the hibiscus emoji🌺

Read - Audiobook - Podcast - TV / Movie - I just finished the last half of the 2-part Season 1 finale of the Matlock remake. I cannot wait for Season 2 to begin! 📺

Music - Listen, Play, Sing & Dance - Last week, I was given an opportunity to have a facial and I did not say no. During the facial, the aesthetician had the sounds of the ocean (waves, waves crashing, etc.) in the background and it was so soothing, so I've been playing that in the background for a few nights ever since, either as part of my digital detox before bed or when having some quiet time.

Quiet Time - Journal - Meditate - Breathe - As much as I wanted to dig deeper into journaling this week, I found myself spending more time just kinda being still while unwinding. Some times, I'd just find something to focus on, like ocean waves as background music or just closing my eyes and focusing my mind on one thing and/or on my breathing. Baby steps here.

Digital Detox Before Bed (30 Minutes) - I've been taking some steps to having a couple of nights a week with a less mapped out set of routines for my digital detox before bed. Some nights, my digital detox before bed has been elaborate and planned out (e.g., PEMF mat, yoga, skincare routine, journaling, etc.); other nights, it's pretty low key, involving a cup of tea and a journal. And, still, some other nights, it's been a middle ground between those two approaches - light a candle or candle; read or listen to an audiobook on my Kindle; and put on a hand and foot mask. As much as I like sticking to a schedule or routine, it's been quite nice to have a few different ways to go about a pre-bedtime digital detox. 

Springtime Stroll - Took a walk to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival in the city over the weekend. 

Financial Wellness - I have a couple of things in mind for this for myself. First, my low/no buy period as far as non-essentials / non-necessities starts at the end of this month. I've been outlining a plan and hope to have it finished by the weekend - I'll post what I ultimately come up with here once I've finalized my plan. I've been jotting down the details of it, as well activities to do in the city that are free (e.g., free days at the museums; venues, events, and/or activities that are free to city residents; parks I've been wanting to visit, etc. I'm aiming to keep to the low/no buy through mid-August, with a stretch goal of taking it through the Labor Day weekend. 

Second, simultaneously with reining in my spending, I'm also planning on doing some reading / research during that time on ways to improve financial wellness.

Stretch (30 Minutes) - I've been doing a 15-minute full body stretch in the morning and then a 15-30 minute stretch at night, focusing on the part(s) of the body that need more attention. 

[caitbird]

@itsfi  great wellness activities! A facial with relaxing ocean sounds, that sounds amazing! And a walk to see the cherry blossoms, that sounds lovely! I like your approach of having different bedtime routines that you can pull from, depending on the day and the situation; that's something I've worked on (and am still working on) myself, with various self-care routines. I find that my "ideal" or complete routines (whether it be for bedtime unwinding, skincare, or something else) don't always work with my mental health and what I'm able to do on that particular day, so I have to adjust and improvise. It's a work in progress, for sure.

I am planning to tackle the financial wellness task tomorrow and this weekend as well - I really need to do some tighter budgeting and stick to more of a low buy after this month 😅. My parents actually gave me a financial planner/workbook for Christmas, so I plan to try to make use of that to help me figure things out.

[itsfi]

Sometimes I get fixated on following through with a routine that if I'm not able to do it, for whatever reason, I can feel like I missed the mark. Having a couple variation of my skincare routine helps a lot @caitbird - it not only makes it more likely that I'll not just crash on the bed but I won't be so hard on myself for not going through aaaaallll the steps of a thorough (but what is likely a very long) routine. My shortest routine, for nights when I'm just exhausted - mentally, emotionally and/or physically does what I need - micellar water, cleanser, moisturizer or face oil (depending on the season and my skin). 

Hope budgeting went well this past weekend. Very impressed that you are putting in the effort - that's commendable and inspiring. 

[itsfi]

@byme4u, I don't watch much TV, haven't had a lot of time. I started into the season a little late but have really enjoyed the script, characters and the acting on the Matlock remake. It's Kathy Bates, after all; she's fantastic! It gets crowded in that area during the cherry blossom festival - they're beautiful and some shops and restaurants sell cherry blossom themed/focused foods - candies, teas, sauces made with them. 

[CorgiMommy]

Great wellness activities!  I love the ocean sounds and the stroll to see the cherry blossoms.   @itsfi. Great job on wellness and inspiring us

[itsfi]

@CorgiMommy, thank you; that's always nice to hear.

[caitbird]

Hi BIC wellness squad! I am late to the party, as usual 😅 but I still wanted to join in. Thank you to @itsfi  for hosting this wonderful challenge thread, it's so inspirational and really helps me to focus on wellness for myself! 💜

Here are this month's wellness bingo squares I have completed so far:

💜Soak up the sun - yesterday was an absolutely glorious beautiful day - warm sunshine, clear blue skies, gentle spring breeze - and I sat out on the porch to do my nails. The sun felt sooo nice!

💜Motivational quote(s) - one of my personal favorite motivational quotes is "progress over perfection." As a lifelong perfectionist, I often struggle with feeling that if I don't do something perfectly, I'm a failure, which can paralyze me. It's a mindset I still struggle with, but keeping the phrase "progress over perfection" in my thoughts reminds me that it's okay to take things gradually as I'm able to, and that it's okay not to be perfect.

💜Hydrate - I have 2 reusable glass water bottles (so that I have a backup when one needs to be washed), and I take one with me everywhere. It really helps me to remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day and stay hydrated.

💜Have a healthy meal - tonight my amazing mom made a Southwest scramble dish with eggs, beans, veggies and tortilla chips - it was delicious! We had fresh sliced oranges with it, too.

💜Aromatherapy - I have been enjoying both perfumes and scented candles lately. I try to do both on my days off (I can't wear perfume on work days), and have been doing pretty well with that goal in recent weeks.

💜Music - listen, play, sing, dance - I sadly don't have a musical bone in my body, but I do have a great love of music. Listening to my favorite music always manages to lift my mood. Recently I purchased a new (new to me, it's actually not new at all) CD to listen to in the car (yes, I'm old, I still listen to CDs in the car 😂). It's The Man With a Rhyme by Archie Fisher, and I've been listening to it nonstop since it arrived.

💜Try something new-to-you - Today I went to my local Sephora and got my lashes done for the BIC Insider Challenge. I'd never worn false lashes before, or gotten any beauty service done at Sephora, so it was a very new experience for me, and a bit out of my comfort zone. However, the Sephora Beauty Advisor who did my lashes was fantastic, she was so nice and did a great job, and it ended up being a fun experiment!

💜Treat yourself - the other day, I picked up a couple of house plants as a bit of an impulse purchase - an orchid and a pothos. I used to have a lot of plants and loved them, but unfortunately due to mental health issues I was unable to care for them for a while, and they sadly all died. I am hoping that now that I'm doing better, I will be able to keep these ones alive.

💜Quality time with loved ones - I have been spending lots of time cuddling with my kitties, which never fails to put a smile on my face! I also had a nice time hanging out and just chatting with my mom the other day, while she was doing some cooking.

And here is a little collage I made, with pictures of some of my wellness activities:

No bingo yet, but I'm getting there! 😉

[caitbird]

@byme4u  thank you so much! Having a reusable water bottle that I take with me everywhere has really been a game changer, I used to get dehydration headaches all the time and now I rarely do.