Wellness In Progress: November 2024

[itsfi]

Hey there, BIC! I don't know about you, but keeping up (or even just doing) things for my own wellness or self-care can slide off my radar or just get pushed aside for some other activity. That happens even more often at the end of the year and with the holidays.

Here we have a game of wellness bingo for November. I thought it would be a fun way to try to keep at it, or to keep it top of mind, by making a little game of it. I also thought this might be a good way to get a leg up on resolutions for the new year. Wellness takes work - let's do the work together, BIC!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

🌻  There are a couple of ways to participate. You can aim every week (or every month) to try to check off a different 5-boxes in a row - vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. OR, to add a different take to this wellness challenge, you can use this sheet to see how many boxes you can check off this month. Those are just 2 ways to participate; I'm sure there are other ways and if there's an approach that you find works better for you to get in a little more self care, more regularly, please do share! 

BONUS CHALLENGE: This challenge is certainly one you can do on your own. It's also something we can take part in together! Share about the activities you did to earn each square. I love hearing from this Community - I learn about new things I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Or, share challenges or questions.

🎀  We are all at different stages of our wellness / self-care journey. I'm not at expert at all at this 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 the activity. For instance, the first square is to take a walk outside - if it's storming outside or you're in an area where it is not safe to walk outside (e.g., weather advisory, shelter-in-place, etc.), then skip this one and stay indoors. Be safe. For some of these activities, particularly the physical ones, please consult with your physician or health care provider before starting, if and as appropriate. 

⏲  The time periods I included are arbitrary - if you want or can do more than a 10 minute walk outside, go for it. If you're starting out or if you're crunched for time, aim for 5 minutes and work up when, if and as appropriate for you.

🗒  Wondering about the activities mentioned in the squares? Check this out - Wellness In Progress: November 2024 - Activity Summary

[peculiarzmakeup]

So true! I love the cuticle oil idea and notification sounds! I might try changing my Home Screen photo to a reminder of the goal and benefit. 
I might do like a traffic light 🚦 

❤️-30 minutes prior, then increase

💛- Wind down checklist (nightly routine, finish any tasks for next day, prepare meals) 

💚- I think I might actually make a list or picture to switch the Home Screen too during this time, I’ve read digital detox is good for increasing prescense, focusing on hobbies, and other things so I might ask myself a questions and use a general statement so if I do click on my screen, I am looking right at that as well! That shows me visually, how the benefits look in real time. Definatley will make one and post it 🙂 

such a good one 🙂 

@itsfi 

[itsfi]

Oh, digital detox before bed was a struggle for years @peculiarzmakeup. But, allowing myself a fresh start with each reset and coming up with ways to make it easy to do helped a lot - this was a lesson learned after several attempts to just start over again, which is great in and of itself; having little extra things to help or motivate just made it easier to sustain.

I love how your mind works, peculiarzmakeup. 💞 The traffic light signal brought back a good memory for me (thank you!) and your traffic light signals are marvelous! I'm really interested in hearing about how this works out for you and what you come up with for those 💚 prompts on your phone! 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much! I really have trouble with it too! But I think this will help now that I have it in mind. It’s a good goal! It’s a great thing to have on the Bwell Chart. 

I might set this little collage I put together on my phone each night or maybe do a print out, I really love visualization it helps to see things in real time 

 I got a kick outta the cat one so relatable haha 

thank you for the encouragement @itsfi 

[itsfi]

Such a fun and creative collage @peculiarzmakeup! 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you! @itsfi 

[caitbird]

@peculiarzmakeup  I love this collage, it's like a mini vision board! The cat is my favorite ofc haha! I love visualizing things too, it really helps me keep them in mind and remind me of my goals!

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you 🙂 I love visuals definitely nice to have a guide ❤️ @caitbird 

[danielledanielle]

Ok, so these are pretty frequent

Take a walk

Stay hydrated

Practice Gratitude

Body Care

So that's my ongoing bingo..

This is what I took a go at:

Mask Time ✅

Quiet Time ✅

Hand Care✅

Speak Kindly to yourself🤷🏽‍♀️

Spoiler

Anyone else struggle with this one? Like, the self dialogue when I do it feels so disingenious .  Part of it is just my humor in general, like I lean towards bluntess more so, so telling myself "I'm awesome" out of the blue just feels so odd.  For example, I might say to myself "we cute" and that feels fine... But to call myself anything else would feel like "I'm laying it in thick or gassing myself up.". This is not a false attempt or call for attention, just wondering if this is also a cultural thing for some who grew up in certain ways, or are just naturally sardonic/sarcastic?

I gave myself the shrug on that one because I don't do the counteraction as often as I used, which is speaking negatively to yourself, which is what I figure to be the point of speaking positively.  I do say stuff like, "I got this," which I find positive and affirming.  I also jokingly say, "I did my one good deed for the year" or " that's my job" when I'm at work.

[Mellmars1185]

@danielledanielle Love your ongoing Bingo!  I can relate to what you mean about speaking kindly to yourself. For me, internally I am telling myself "it is ok" when negative thoughts enter.  Or if I feel like I can't do something, I may tell myself that I can so I can push through the negative self talk

[caitbird]

@danielledanielle  I definitely know what you mean, I don't know if I am too cynical or just too self conscious but things like positive affirmations and the like sound great in theory but always feel too unbearably...idk, corny? When I try to say them myself. I am still working on figuring this one out, for sure. Being kind to myself is already a struggle a lot of the time, but trying to put that self kindness into words is even more difficult for me, it seems like.

[fatimamummy]

@danielledanielle I can relate so I think I am starting with cutting myself some slack as in being kind to myself but speaking has yet to happen.

[ather]

@danielledanielle  I am with you. I tend to make fun of myself as a way to not take myself so seriously. But I always try and speak kindly about other. Or uplift them. I guess I need to start practicing this on myself. We’ve got this! 

[danielledanielle]

💯 @ather , relate to that, too.  And, yes we do 🙌🏽

(Does that count?)

[ather]

@danielledanielle  Maybe we need to work on it!! We are kind to others. I think that works! 

[PDXXXX]

@danielledanielle I like your frankness about the self-talk and relate big time. And you are also talking to someone with very dry wit.  My inner dialogue used to be non-stop criticism. I still never feel like, "Oh yes, I look goood" or identified as pretty I think in large part because I had kind of a messy childhood with a Mom who wasn't around much and a Dad who took off when I was three. So, I just did not see that positive self-talk modeled or have the experience of parents who told me I looked nice at all. The best thing I ever learned to combat the negative inner dialogue was not positivity - it was the "f off" method my old therapist taught me. She asked me what I would say to a person who said any of the things in my head to a friend and I was, like, "I'd tell them to f off." So that's what I started saying to myself when I got critical thoughts. I had to learn to treat myself the way I would treat my friends. Anyway, going on here but long way of saying being kind to yourself can be very hard work. So kudos for giving yourself permission to invest in that.

[danielledanielle]

Thank you @PDXXXX 

[peculiarzmakeup]

I like how you noted what you do regularly and great job for doing those things. The inner dialouge struggle is real sometimes I’m up late and literally writing poems in my head and I’m like shhh 🤫 count sheep then I count sheep and the sheep start skipping numbers I’m going off on a tangent. Something for that is the 5 senses thingy 

5 things you see

4 things you hear 

3 things you smell 

2 things you touch 

1 thing you (honestly can’t recall the other thing oh taste!) 

It’s the grounding thingy magic (can’t spell that word) sometimes it’s helpful other times it’s not but hopefully it could be to someone somewhere lol 

I think that’s super relatable 

this is excellent amazing work 🤩❤️ @danielledanielle 

[Samtian]

@danielledanielle Yep struggle for me too! I don't know how to be nice 😄 

[itsfi]

Ongoing bingo?!! I like it! 👍

"Speak Kindly to yourself🤷🏽‍" 

 ~ You got this, @danielledanielle! And are deserving of a ✅ on that one, too! Just my two cents. 

The "Speak Kindly to Yourself" and the "Be Kind to Yourself" may be more of a struggle for me than any of the other squares (but I will say I checked off the latter, so "yay me!" 😆)  The challenge for me personally is not with feeling disingenuous but feeling uncomfortable - though not with the self dialogue as I often talk to myself 🤣

To your question about whether it's "also a cultural thing for some who grew up in certain ways, or are just naturally sardonic/sarcastic," I would say for me it's partly the way I grew up and partly what I tell myself is my refined wit. It is a work in progress and one that is progressing sloooowly, but progressing nonetheless.

Okay, back to you. 

Well done, D! Well. Done! 👏👏

[Mellmars1185]

I have got another Bingo. 

Mask Time - ✅️ I have been trying to use up my innisfree Super Volcanic AHA Pore Clearing Clay Mask 3.38 oz / 100 ml 

Stay hydrated - I am not the biggest water drinker. I have been purchasing electrolytes for the past few years and they really help me to get that first glass of water in. I notice I feel much better when I don't forget to drink water.

Exercise 20 minutes - I follow a few challenges so I try to get in 3-5 workouts per week. Lately it has been more like 3. I have started taking walks on my lunch at work to clear my mind and get some more movement in.

Get a good night's sleep - No problem here. Not sure if this is a good thing but I have been very sleepy early and going to bed early. I am wondering if it is because of the recent time change and it gets dark early. I am not sure what to do about this. My cat likes to wake me up in the morning to feed him so he makes sure I don't over sleep.

Catch up with a friend(s) - At the end of October a couple of friends and I went to play Bingo! When we were there, we made plans to go to Niagara. It was a lot of fun hanging out. It was long overdue. We celebrated one of their birthdays and went to Brasas for the first time. I was amazed by the entertainment, selection of food and energy in that restaurant! I did not have luck at Bingo or the casino in Niagara. However, the birthday girl did!

[caitbird]

@Mellmars1185  yay, another Bingo! 🎉 look at you go, you are crushing this wellness challenge! Good for you for getting regular exercise into your routine and staying hydrated and getting good sleep, those are all so good for you! I am pretty good at drinking enough water most of the time, but the others I'm still working on 😅

I love that your cat wakes you up and makes sure you don't oversleep - mine do that too, except they go too far in the other direction and wake me up super early in the wee hours of the morning 😭 sometimes I go downstairs to the living room to get a few more hours of sleep on the couch!