Wellness In Progress: December 2024

[itsfi]

Happy holidays, BIC!  2024 is flying by at a rapid pace, a pace that will undoubtedly pick up even more momentum as we draw closer and closer to the end of the month. This can be such a fun and joyous time, as well as a very busy and heavy one. Wanted to take an opportunity to keep our own self-care top of mind and to (hopefully) have some fun with it, so wellness bingo is back for December! 🙌

We're each on our own personal self-care journey, one that, if you're like me, varies - some days (weeks, months, years) are better than others. Wellness is a process - it's about progress, not perfection. It takes work. Much of that work will fall on us and our efforts, as it should, but it's helped, inspired, encouraged, and supported by others, be it friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, or those who make up this Community. Wellness takes work - let's do the work together, BIC!

How to play / participate:

All are welcome and encouraged to take part in this B Well challenge, wherever you are in your own self-care journey, and, as and how this game of wellness bingo serves you best. 

▶️  There are many ways to participate. A few are mentioned in the spoiler below, but if you have a way to approach wellness bingo that works best for you, go for it!

Spoiler

• Treat it like a game of BINGO, except in this BIC-version, you are your own moderator, either (a) selecting which activities you want to engage in or (b) putting them into a random generator tool, blindly pointing at a square, or writing each activity (or each square) onto a piece of paper, placing all of them into a bowl and pulling one out each day you intend to undertake a wellness activity, and then doing that activity.
• You can aim to do 5 activities in a way that earns yourself a BINGO!  5 activities across the same row, down the same column or across diagonally from upper left corner to lower right, and/or upper right corner to lower left. 
• You can just go about your day picking one activity to undertake and work towards doing all the activities on this B Well card (but see notes on making adjustments below).
• You can choose to go row by row or column by column each week. Thank you, @Mellmars1185, for sharing how you went about your wellness bingo last month. It's such a great approach! 😊 
• You can choose the activities that come more naturally to you, that you already do as part of your daily routine. Or, you can choose activities that are more challenging for you. Or a combination of both. 
• The self-care activities in the squares change from month-to-month, with some appearing in a previous month's bingo wellness card, and others being new or tailored to the specific month/season. If you're interested in seeing what others have done for some of the activities being repeated, you may want to take a peek at folks' replies on the Wellness In Progress: November 2024 thread.

🌟  BONUS CHALLENGE: This challenge is certainly one you can do on your own. It's also something we can take part in together! If you feel comfortable, share about the activities you did to earn each square by replaying to this original post. I love hearing from this Community, and others do, too. I've learned about new ways of doing things that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Some are incorporated into this month's activities; others may appear on future months' bingo cards.

🎀  Make Adjustments As Needed. We are all at different stages of our wellness / self-care journey. While it cn 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 that you shouldn't engage in, make the adjustments you need to, or just skip that square altogether.

• Be safe. Consider weather conditions or where you are in your own wellness efforts. For instance, the second square in the last row is for a winter walk or hike - if it's storming outside or you're in an area where it is not safe to do this (e.g., weather advisory, shelter-in-place, etc.), then skip this one and stay indoors. Be safe. Also, for some of the activities listed in the boxes, particularly the physical ones, please consult with your physician or health care provider before starting, if and as appropriate, and adjust accordingly.
• Focus on one activity per week vs. one per day. We have BIC'ers who engage in wellness activities in some form every day, some more than one activity in a day. We also have BIC'ers who are starting out on their wellness journey or are coming back to self-care. There's be different objectives for each of us; make this work for you. If there's an activity in a square that you've been eyeing for whatever reason and you want to focus on that for the week, focus on working towards that activity for one day, two days, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 for the week. If there's another activity that piques your interest, give that a try for another week. 

⏲  The time periods for certain activities included here are arbitrary.

• For example, the third square in the first row is for "Exercise (20 minutes)" - if you want or can do more than a 20 minutes, go for it. If you're starting out or if you're crunched for time, aim for 5 minutes and work up from there, when, if, and as appropriate for you.
• Same with the "Stretch (20 minutes)" in the third row, second square.
• If you're starting out or are aware of certain conditions that may make either a more challenging effort, please discuss these activities your physician or health care provider before starting.

🤔  Wondering about the activities mentioned in the squares this month? Click on this link for a more detailed description of the wellness activities here - December Wellness Bingo Activities

Looking forward to another month of wellness bingo. Be well this holiday season, BIC! 

[peculiarzmakeup]

You are such a sweetheart! Thank you so so much! I appreciate that! I see your creativity shine through your posts the way you elegantly organize and label and beautiful photos! Do you like art? Always enjoy seeing your talent on here 🙂 hope you had a great day 😊🫶 @PDXXXX 

[PDXXXX]

@peculiarzmakeup I started out as a painting major at a fine arts college 🙂 But mostly I'm a photographer now and a musician. I've played classical piano since I was 5 and am a hobbyist singer/songwriter/guitarist. You're very sweet to say such kind things. Hope you had a good day too ❤️

[peculiarzmakeup]

So are you!! And that’s so cool I just saw the photo, that’s such a unique skill and wow painting love that 🙂 very relaxing! @PDXXXX 

[itsfi]

That's a beautiful acronym @peculiarzmakeup. And, look at you go with BINGO! 🙌 

Your wall art - you're around the things you admire in your home; that's lovely. 

Ohhhh, decluttering email ... that's a hard one for me. Ugh. I really need to do that before the month is over. That's a good reminder; I'll have to just go little by little each day. 🤞

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it and also your encouragement so much! You make this such a great place to be! I was going through my emails one by one but then I learned on a laptop you can select all and I was like oh I’ll just search the ones haha it saved a lot of time 🙂 @itsfi 

[Titian06]

Wow, your wall is amazing, @peculiarzmakeup !  Poems, pottery, collage, you are so creative! 🥰🤩💖🎨

[peculiarzmakeup]

Aw thank you! I appreciate that it definatley helps me get in the zone. 🙂 @Titian06 

[danielledanielle]

I've treated myself 5x already, so that's my bingo 😂

Glad to see the new card @itsfi 

[itsfi]

😂🤣😂 @danielledanielle! My first thought was "overachiever" 😉  I love it! 5 times? That's dedication. 👊 I need to catch up on Neoteric & Necessary November Hauls 2024 and December "🎶Deck the HAULS with boughs of Haul-ies!🎶" 🎁2024 threads so I'll keep an eye out for proof of you treating yourself! 🛍

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi Thank you for making this thread! I definitely fell off track at the end of November. I love how these challenges keep me accountable. It is also fun sharing and reading what the community does. I love the inspiration I get from here!

[itsfi]

@Mellmars1185 100% agree; I find myself jotting down new activities or approaches to self care activities every time I read someone's post! #inspired  I think ebbs and flows are so common (and understandable) when it comes to self care. Awesome that you're hitting reset and getting back into the swing of it.  

[caitbird]

@itsfi  yayyy I'm in!!! I loved participating in last month's Wellness thread and seeing everyone else's progress and ideas as well. Looking forward to participating again this month! Thanks for creating this thread! I'm loving some of the new activities this month too!

[itsfi]

Yaaaay @caitbird! It was fun coming up with some activities that work well during the wintertime. I jotted down some things I want to try this month based on what others did for their self care last month.

[ather]

@itsfi  oooo this is awesome! Thank you for creating one for December!!! I can’t wait to start checking these off! Technically I did a craft with little man today but it was a dinosaur 🦖 so I won’t count this one. I think I can do better and do a Christmas craft! Although this month is a busy one so I may need to schedule it. 

[itsfi]

You and your son made a dinosaur @ather?!!! That's impressive. You can count that ... or give your awesome little guy an X on his bingo card! 

[ather]

@itsfi  Not as impressive as it sounds! But I’ll find a better one to check off the square! I’m sure we will do a gingerbread house at some point!! 

[Samtian]

@itsfi I'm in! I'm not sure if it's my computer or what, but the picture is very hard for me to read, like blurry. Can you send it to me when you get time?

[itsfi]

@Samtian, I’m wondering if it’s because of the different colors I used to write out the activities. 🤔 I edited it to black ink and reposted the bingo card. Will send it to you right after I post this reply. 

Thank you so much for letting me know! 

Very happy to hear you’re in!! 

[Titian06]

@itsfi - The card is somewhat less blurry in black text.  I'm wondering if it's the font rather than the color.  Not a big deal since you spell it all out with the descriptions. 🤗

[itsfi]

Okay; I tried a different font. Let me know if this or the second one is better. @Titian06 @Samtian

[Titian06]

Thanks, @itsfi !  This version is much better!  It's not crystal clear (not expected) but definitely much easier to read.  I appreciate your patience with my old eyes! 🤣👀