Wellness In Progress: February 2025

[itsfi]

Hey there, BIC! The February BWell board is up!  🎉  For a brief description of the wellness activities listed in the squares, check out this link --> February 2025 BWell Activities.  

If you're new or this is the first time participating, welcome!! The activities change from month-to-month, some reflecting seasonal shifts and others made to switch things up and add a new take or approach to self-care into our efforts.

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!

▶️  How To Play - There are many different ways to take part in this wellness challenge. 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 and can select which activities you want to engage, choosing at random or thoughtfully deciding which activity/square you want to undertake.
  
  
• You can aim to do 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. OR
  
  
• You can just go about your day picking one activity to engage in 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 this approach!

⚠️  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.

Looking forward to another month of working together towards wellness! 

[itsfi]

March BWell Bingo card has been posted to Wellness In Progress: March 2025 

[itsfi]

Week 4 - took some extra effort but was able to check off the last of the squares this week.

• Movie - Book - Art - Photos: Worked on some photography when I had a chance, or if I passed by something that caught my eye.
• Aromatherapy: I lit a few candles simultaneously while waiting for my hair mask - Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Hair Mask 8 oz/ 237 mL (gratis) - to work its magic. This tub is bottomless, it seems. 😮😅
• Self-Care: Your Way: Prioritizing sleep is one of the most meaningful forms of care I can give to myself. There were a couple of longer days this past week that resulted in my digital-detox-before-bed routine being truncated but I was able to get back on tract last night, going to bed early and getting through a pretty good portion of my wind down routine. Going to try to repeat that again tonight. 🤞
• Free Space: I treated myself to a frozen yogurt earlier in the week. 🍦
• Try or Do Something New: I typically stick to neutral browns, nudes, beige tones when it comes to my eye makeup, occasionally using a color mascara or liner; or just a simple wash of color or possibly two shades. It was a 90's era theme for this week's BALETTE ROYALE: Showdown of the Shadows and I gave a heavier purple smokey eye, with a mini winged liner a try. Maybe not completely new, but new-ish for me. 
• Create: Aiming to put the final touches tonight on our BWell card and the write up of wellness activities for March. It'll be posted sometime tomorrow (March 1)

[ather]

 Feb started out great but came crashing down. Things have settled and I am surprised I have checked so many boxes off!

Movie, Book, art, photos- I ended up getting sick so I stayed home from work and watched movies 🍿 most are hallmark loveurary movies! 

get outdoors- went skating! Made sure to remember my sunblock! I used Summer Fridays ShadeDrops Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Mineral Milk Sunscreen 1.7 oz / 50 mL  which is so good!!! 😊 

be kind to yourself- being super sick and single moming it, I made sure to take rest and make sure my little man and myself were taken care of. And not trying to do to much or push myself to do more! 

Create- I painted a card for a special friend! 

Check in with friends- I have had some friends going through struggles and I made sure to check in and FOCUS on them! 

Audiobook- I recently downloaded the audiobook the let them theory and listen to it while getting my exercise in 😊

Aroma therapy- I set the mood and lit my fav candles while relaxing in a bath! 

[itsfi]

You did a marvelous job with you wellness bingo @ather! I spy so many BINGOs - yaaaay!!

I'm so sorry you were sick; it makes the things in your routine every single day, the things that you are so accustomed to so much more challenging. Happy to hear though that you were able to get in some rest and down time for yourself - a movie marathon even, how fun! I know it's hard to just rest and not push through it so kudos to you for listening to your body and giving it what it needs. It's so good that you were able to rest and take care of yourself and the little guy. 

Oh, you'll have to let me know how the audiobook feature is working for you and if you've found good books to listen to. Smart to combine that and working out!

[ather]

@itsfi  yay!!!! 😀 bingo! Yes finally on the mend. I also was dealing with a very sick kitty. But she is doing better also! February was a rough month. And my big man comes home Friday so things are trending up!! 

[itsfi]

Oh no! I'm glad to hear everyone in the @ather house is all better but ouch, that's rough, being sick and having one of your kitties sick. So happy everyone is better! And yes!!! to your foot mask buddy 😉 coming home - yaaaaayyy!! 

[ather]

@itsfi  Yes! I have a couple foot masks set aside for us when he gets home! A friend from work also brought me some masks for when he was away so I need to set a night aside to use those before he’s back too. 

[itsfi]

Oh my goodness, I just realized that I may not have asked before - do you both have a favorite foot mask? Or maybe he really likes one and you like another @ather? 

[ather]

@itsfi  Hmmm I really like the SC foot masks! But I love them all to be fair! Moisture is good!! Do you have a fav?? 

[itsfi]

@ather, I really like the SC foot masks, too. It ranks up there with my faves. My favorite has been (and still is) the Mediheal paraffin foot mask. I actually need to use foot masks more. I try to do the exfoliating / peel ones twice a year. I was better at using a non-peel foot mask consistently when I incorporated a sheet mask more regularly into my skincare routine. My skin doesn't need a sheet mask as frequently anymore but I can see myself reaching for one more often when the weather warms up. We shall see. Do you have a frequency for foot masks that would be ideal for you? 

[ather]

@itsfi  I’ll have to keep my eyes out for the Mediheal one. I don’t think I have seen it before! 

I think ideally I would like once a month but I think I am much less frequently using them. Especially leading up to summer. I find as I have gotten older my feet seem to be more dry. I have been using a balm at night that has been helping but there’s something special about using a mask! 

Hmm same. I haven’t been using face masks as often as I use to. I haven’t even been using my mask Saturday's either. I need to bring that back!

How often is ideal for you to use foot masks? 

[itsfi]

Same @ather! If I can do a foot mask once a month or once every 4-6 weeks, I'd feel like I was doing pretty good with my foot care. Maybe a little more frequently as we inch closer to summer and also during the winter months. Or, if not an actual foot mask, massaging a lotion or oil over my feet and then covering them with a pair of socks. I'd have to do that before going to bed, maybe put on socks and then walk around the house in slippers, because I've a feeling the socks would come off at some point during the night. 😆 Maybe I'll try that next winter?!

[ather]

@itsfi  That’s a great plan!! I feel the same I am either super consistent or not at all. Maybe more in the summer when my feet are more out! Hmmm I am the same with socks. They come off in the night. Most of the time I don’t even know when!! 

[CynthieLu]

I hope you are all over your sickness and feeling much better @ather ❤️ Single moming when you're not well is very challenging. 

I like you term loveurary, and I enjoy those movies too. They are oddly comforting and sweet. 

[ather]

@CynthieLu  It is so challenging even when 100% so when sick it’s so much harder. But I do it all the time so I have a great routine down!!! Thanks for understanding 🥰 

Yes! I don’t know what it is with those Hallmark movies but I always watch them and they are definitely my comfort zone! Even if I’m not 100% paying attention I still love them! 

[Samtian]

Probably my last update for this month. The shortest month would be my best month.

I think I come away with 4 Bingos! 

[CynthieLu]

That's pretty darn succesful lady! @Samtian Way to tackle February like a champ! 🏆

[itsfi]

Ahhhhh yeaaahhh!! 4 bingos!! That's awesome. Solid self-care month @Samtian! 

I actually feel like February is a more challenging month for self-care - we're rolling off of the first of the year when it's easier and more motivating to work through goals, self-care, etc. and being the shortest month means there's less cushion for skipping a BWell square - 25 squares to try to aim for in 28 days (vs. 30 or 31). So you nearly clearing the board and with 5 days still to go?? That's a job well done! 👏👏

[Samtian]

@itsfi Haha that's kinda what I meant. I don't do as good as the long months haha. 

[PrettyPaint]

I was able to do the top row (more or less) this week. I took a little time to play piano and read, I checked in with a couple of friends to see how they were doing, and I burned my lovely "By the Fireplace" candle for some aromatherapy time. I also purchased some matcha powder and have been enjoying some hot matcha almond milk lattes (and some iced ones). For exercise, I did a HIIT workout this morning (and did weights for the rest of the week). I may need to take a rest day tomorrow because my legs are super sore.