Wellness In Progress: January 2025

[itsfi]

2025 is literally just days away, BIC! Let's start off the year strong with making our health, wellness and self-care one of our priorities. We can make it fun, too, with another game of wellness bingo! 

Self-care can be a very personal thing - what works for one person may not work for someone else. Practicing wellness is a process - it takes time and effort. We have our good days and bad days - moments when we are thriving; and others, where we need to pause, take a deep breath (or multiple ones, for that matter), and reset. But even as our self-care journey is a personal matter, support, encouragement and just knowing there's something there doesn't hurt. 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, 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. OR
• 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!

🗒  Monthly Self-Care Activities:

• 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. 
• For a more detailed description of the activities in each of the squares above, click on this link ➡️ January 2025 Wellness Bingo Activities
• 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 some of the replies from other members of the Community in previous wellness challenge threads -Wellness In Progress: November 2024 and Wellness In Progress: December 2024.

🌟  Posting Your Self-Care Activities. 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 replying to this original post - with words, photos, and/or a pic of the bingo scorecard with the activity / activities you took part in crossed out. You can post weekly or at the end of the month, depending on your preference. We love hearing from the Community and have learned about new ways of doing things that we wouldn't have thought of otherwise. 

🎀  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. 

⏲  Duration for Certain Activities. 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, and adjust accordingly.

Excited for another month of wellness bingo, BIC. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year! 

[eshoe]

That yoga class looks so relaxing @Shosh85 - how fun too that it is led by a good friend!! 

[Shosh85]

@eshoe  It was fun! My friend does a really great job - she has such a soft, calm relaxing voice that makes the experience even better. 😊

[itsfi]

These are awesome @Shosh85‌‌ ❣️ Awww, A Light in the Attic - brings back memories, love the nostalgia. LOVE that you're getting in an hour of reading before bed - #inspired

Oh my goodness!! Look at you with the DIY house - you're incredible!!! That mini couch looks so cool! I want one, maybe in a slate grey or a taupe shade. Hmmm, I may have to take a photo of that mini couch when it's time to go furniture shopping.

Yesssss!!!! So happy that you had some Shosh-time in yoga class. 

Love this update. You're doing amazing things for your self-care this month and wait, what do I spy with my little eyes? 

[Shosh85]

Haha, thank you, @itsfi! That lady in the gif cracks me up! - I feel like she's someone I could be friends with 😂

I love all of Shel Silverstein's books, but A Light in the Attic is probably the most nostalgic for me because it reminds me of the 4th grade. We had to pick a poem of our choice, memorize it, and recite it in front of our class - the poem I picked was from this book 😉😊

[itsfi]

Yes, exactly @Shosh85! I think everyone needs someone like the lady in the gif in their lives! 😊

[peculiarzmakeup]

Great wellness week! Those books look fascinating. The DIY project is so exciting it’s looks really engaging and fun. I’m glad you enjoyed the class that’s so amazing and great for Excersize! That mask is adorable! 🥰 @Shosh85 

[Shosh85]

Thank you, @peculiarzmakeup! The DIY project has fun for the most part, but is also very time consuming and requires a lot of patience, so there are days I'm just like, "nope, not doing that today" 😂  

My friend does a good job with her yoga instructing - she makes feel calm and at peace, while also breaking a sweat at the same time 👍

[peculiarzmakeup]

I know what you mean by time consuming haha! That’s sounds so fun! I used to take these werk classes they were intense I haven’t done anything like that in a while maybe this a sign to go 🤩 @Shosh85 

[Samtian]

@Shosh85 That DIY project is amazing!!! Fantastic work on everything!

[Shosh85]

Thanks so much, @Samtian  It (and myself 😉) are a work in progress!

[PrettyPaint]

@Shosh85 Wow! You've made a lot of progress. The DIY project for your niece is such a neat and thoughtful idea. That is really cool that you actually have to do the wiring for the lighting. Hopefully there are pretty detailed instructions included. I would love to see a photo of the finished product, but I imagine it is quite time consuming! Hopefully you are enjoying it, though. 

[Shosh85]

Thanks @PrettyPaint! Yes, the DIY project has been very time consuming and because of my kids, I only get to work on it just a little bit each day. It can be fun, but also super frustrating because most of the instructions aren't very clear. It definitely requires a lot of patience, and some days I just don't have that. I'll definitely have to do an update when I'm finished! 😃

[peculiarzmakeup]

Week 2 

 
The first Wellness Week I did the first row across this week I filled in some squares at different places on the Wellness Map.

Excersize (20 Minutes)- 

I’ve been doing this everyday but wanted to take a moment to appreciate the mini hike I did with my dad. 

 It took some zooming in but I finally got my dad to see the face in the tree (tree face). It was a chilly day we saw an alligator too! Being in nature was very healing and centering. I’m glad I got to do that this week.

Arts and Crafts and Hobbies 

I love crafting, I also love getting my sister engaged in crafting because she’s so talented and I love to show her how much she can surprise herself with her talents. I taught her friends too it was a whole thing (moments 🥹)

Pokemon Collage

Aromatherapy

Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Find Comfort: Awaken Confidence Body & Hair Fragrance Mist with Niacinam...  

I have been using this as a hair mist and body mist and of course my sister does too. If I don’t say it enough part of my wellness is setting a good example for her and considering her in everything I do. She loves the peach scent from Rare Beauty.

Declutter

 We call this “the pokemon room” it felt nice to clean and sort and organize. 

Prioritize Sleep

2024 was not my year for sleep I stayed up to the crack of dawn and was exhausted. Having a wind down time has been helpful which I set for week days and weekends wind down doesn’t mean bed it just means slowing down I do this around 7pm on weekdays. I’ve slept the whole night through for almost 2 weeks! Love catching zzzz’s

A New Thing

Saying no to my sister. My sister wants everything and when I say no to her she is upset with me but I learned that’s okay because she isn’t for long and in the long run I’m showing her that there’s always gonna be something it may just not be the right time. Setting boundaries is new for me. And I have learned alot of good things by staying true to what I know is best for me and for my sister!

 
Reflections

These past couple of weeks have been a bit challenging but I’m so glad to have these challenges to really open to my eyes to some of the beautiful things that are partaking in life 

thank you all for sharing your journeys with me as well. 

I wish you all the best in your Wellness weeks! 🩷🩷🩷

[Shosh85]

Nice job, @peculiarzmakeup! You've got so much checked off already!
The nature walk sounds/looks like it was fun and beautiful - there's nothing like soaking up the great outdoors to help really center yourself. ☺️
..... and oh gosh! How cute is that collage!? Love it! You're such an awesome big sister! 😊

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much! Ah nature always holds the best moments so much to discover! Collaging has always been a fave of mine so i thought it would be cool to see how it goes with my sister and I realized something super neat! She tells a story with her collages while i make mine kinda puzzle like. It was such a nice moment 🙂 @Shosh85 

[Samtian]

@peculiarzmakeup Great job on everything! Swamp puppies are so cute. Love pokemon! 

[peculiarzmakeup]

I was surprised how much my sister knows about it I think the characters are so artsy and well designed, thank you! ❤️ @Samtian 

[CynthieLu]

I really enjoyed reading this @peculiarzmakeup And I had to stop and really look at the Pokemon pieces collage. On the bright orange background it really pops! The time spent sharing your passion for art with your sister and her friends is pretty darn special, they are so lucky you are so caring and share with them. 💕

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you! I was suprised how engaged they became and how well they worked together. Creativity has always been part of wellness for me and now I get to do that with makeup too so happy I found BIC and all the wonderful people, just like you ❤️ @CynthieLu 

[CynthieLu]

Creativity for wellness, that sounds kinda fascinating in a really good way @peculiarzmakeup. Outlets are so important.

I'm so happy you found this space. 💕 It's such a supportive and helpful little spot. We all need a little place like BIC. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

I find it so peaceful to engage in activities I love everyone’s creativity here as well! And I am so thankful to find BIC. I really appreciate that ❤️ thank you so much 🙂