Working Towards Wellness: November 2025

[itsfi]

Whether self-care is new to you or you're a seasoned pro when it comes to wellness activities, welcome! 👋

There's a lot going on in the world - be it due to the holidays season, or 2025 coming quickly to a close, or just everyday stuff. Sometimes, we just need a space to block out the outside noise and spend some time focusing on our own well-being. Or some time to remind us to look after ourselves. Consider this one of those spaces. Jump right on in and join us for another month of wellness bingo. 

Self-care, the activities we undertake for our own well being, varies on our circumstances and needs. We're each on our own personal self-care journey, but it doesn't hurt to have a little encouragement along the way. Or to be an encouragement to others as we work towards wellness. Wellness takes work; let's do the work together, BIC! 

For more information on wellness bingo, check out the following:

• How To Play
• Rows 1 & 2 Activities Described
• Rows 3, 4 & 5 Activities Described
• How To Post

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy November!  

Spoiler

Tagging a few folks who have posted to previous Working Towards Wellness threads. Will try to update tags throughout periodically. If I inadvertently missed someone, I apologize. Feel free to tag others you think may be interested. Be well!
@ather @blackkitty2014 @caitbird @CorgiMommy @curlychiquita @danielledanielle @missjeanie @PrettyPaint @Samtian @Shosh85 

[caitbird]

@Samtian  thank you so much! I am a sucker for a pretty notebook, haha.

[Samtian]

I like the idea others have done with a different kind of marker each week. So I am doing fall based "stamps". Starting with Apple Cider...that you will never see me drink. 

• Stay Hydrated- My work had it's yearly month long shutdown so finances said no more soda or monsters this check. So I must drink water. Against my will. 
• Aromatherapy- Have fall based wax melts out and I'm hoping to finish off a candle I've been warming all summer this month.
• I'm not a warm and cozy drink kind of person so I'm cheating. I went with a seasonal drink. Wal-Mart had some Hocus Pocus Orange Cream Milk so I grabbed that. Yummy.  And I had a Holiday Vanilla Coke that was delicious too. 
• Treat someone else- kinda cheating on this one too. I grabbed one of the kittens outside and got her fixed. Let her rest in the house while she recovered. 
• Prioritize Sleep- During shutdown I was lucky enough to get to work (actually that's lucky and unlucky) but it was a different schedule so one night I came home and went to bed an hour earlier because I was way tired.
• Read/TV- Watching more Gilded Age, Football, and reading the 6th Bourne book. Trying for one chapter a night. 
• Hobby- I am finally done editing portrait work, so now I can catch up on travel pictures. But I am also trying to not sit at a computer all day so I limit how much I am doing. 

[missjeanie]

@Samtian I am also begrudgingly drinking more water.  Why does it have to taste like water and not my beloved Diet Pepsi?  I should look for where I can stream The Gilded Age here as well.  I feel like it's one I could enjoy. 

[Samtian]

@missjeanie Haha I know huh! Cirkul makes a product now that carbonates the water (or whatever) with "soda" flavors but it's outside my price range. 

Gilded age is pretty good! We have it on HBO/Max whatever it's called now here. 

[missjeanie]

@Samtian I was gifted a soda stream about two years ago now with the hopes that maybe I could drink more carbonated water.  They also make additions to make it more pop like, but it's just not the same.  I also tried a water bottle that has a scented piece for the top, so you drink the water, but smell the flavour.  It was interesting... but... not the same lol. 

[missjeanie]

@Samtian Okay I just looked up Cirkul.  It looks like the same type of water bottle I have with a different name.  I mean... it was fun for a while.  But it doesn't replace pop for me.  

[caitbird]

@Samtian  great job! Love the apple cider stamps - I look forward to seeing what stamps you choose for future weeks this month! And I hope the kitten's recovery goes well - thank you for taking care of her! 💜

[Samtian]

@caitbird Thank you! Hopefully they look cool haha. Kitten is doing well and very happy to be back outside. 

[CorgiMommy]

@Samtian great ways to prioritize yourself while work was shut down.  

[Samtian]

@CorgiMommy Thank you!

[itsfi]

Marvelous job on self-care @Samtian. Not cheating at all, none of it; making this work for you. 👏 Making a note on the warm and cozy drink, thank you. Hope the little kitty's recovery goes smoothly; you're a good mama to your fur babies! 😺

Those are great goals to work on - reading a chapter a night and trying to limit screen time. That latter one can be a challenge especially since photo editing is a hobby. Sometimes it helps to just have breaks while you're doing the work, to give your eyes and body a break. Speaking of which, I am going to walk away from my screen and stretch my legs and hands a bit. 

P.S. Love the stamps! 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Thank you, I certainly try! She appears to be doing well, I let her back outside Thursday and her siblings welcomed her back. 

I edit, get up and clean or something, edit, clean etc. 

[danielledanielle]

I'm happy for a lot of the walks I've gotten in, the foliage is so pretty.  I guess this is a fall fave, too 🍁 🍂 

[caitbird]

@danielledanielle  great job with your wellness this month! I enjoy the fall foliage too, it helps me appreciate the fall season more despite the things I don't like about it (colder, shorter days).

[CorgiMommy]

@danielledanielle I love walks in the fall with all the leaves changing.  

[Samtian]

@danielledanielle I bet fall that way is pretty. I should try to experience it in a big city someday. 

[itsfi]

@danielledanielle, the fresh air and fall foliage is a great way to enjoy the season. 🍂 🍁 

[missjeanie]

@danielledanielle @Nice to get a hop on the month and keep moving!

[itsfi]

Have been able to get a few activities marked off the board. The rest of the week will likely involve repeating the same activities again (though I'll try to dial back on treating myself 😆 for the remainder of the holiday savings event).

Completed activities will be marked with a different woodland creature each week.

Go on a hike or nature walk (bundle up):  Decided to put my newly-acquired fleece-lined leggings to the test for a day outdoors on a particularly chilly day. 

Treat Yourself: There have been multiple "treat myself" moments so far, and we're just at the beginning of November 🙄😆 Not surprising; just stating the facts. And just what kind of treats have I found myself indulging in over the last five days? Let's see:

• a shopping treat; okay, there may have been more than one - see November 2025 Monthly Hauls! 
• a food treat - Tenzaru soba 
• a "me time" treat - getting in some leisure reading in some form or fashion, be it a physical book, on my Kindle or through Audible. I'm aiming to do this at least once a week, either early in the morning on the weekend, or during a long walk during the week / weekend.

Treat Someone Else: Grabbed a couple of mini’s for a “pick me up” treat for a friend. Also purchased canned goods to donate to the local food bank. 

Read - Audiobook - Podcasts - TV/Movie: Got around to watching the Season 5 finale of Only Murders in the Building the other day. 👍 I'm holdig off on starting another TV show for a bit, and, in the meantime, have been using some of that time doing a simultaneous read/listen (Kindle/Audible). 

Exercise (30 minutes): Weights / strength training 

Reflect - Refocus - Recharge - Resolve: My self-care focus for the better part of the last 3 months (well, actually this entire year but I kicked it up a notch recently) has been a combination of prioritizing sleep and unplugging from my phone and laptop. I took a few days at the beginning of this month and end of October to  think about what I really need to work on / what I want to work on this month (and probably December as well) for my own wellness. I definitely plan to keep up with my digital detox - before bed as well as being online less (or maybe being more strategic about my time online is better way to put it).

I'm also steering more time and attention to physical health; specifically, strength training, or incorporating weights more consistently into my workout, which I find is a practice that ebbs and flows a lot in my routine. I don't need to do it as frequently as I did when I was in high school and my aim is not to meet that cadence, but something more than just every now and again and also getting to a place where I can increase the intensity of my routine, which I don't expect to happen anytime soon, but something to work towards.

Tenzaru soba with fish & veggie tempura. Soba is handmade daily.

Hope everyone's month has been off to a good start and you are able to get in some time to look after yourself, be it with a day of R&R, a shopping trip, a cup of tea, a run, time spent journaling, or that one thing that lifts your mood. Be well, BIC!

[nuinui933]

@itsfi 

Handmade tenzaru soba is delicious. I've missed it and am wanting it more now. There's a little shop around the corner from my apartment that makes it daily and they will give you some of the soup water from the noodles to drink or put into the dipping sauce. 

[itsfi]

Yes!! @nuinui933, they have this little station set up with the water in which the soba noodles were boiled, so people can help themselve; it's heated continually and they replenish it throughout the day as needed. I tried it that way for the first time this month. Ahhh, lucky!! If I lived that close to a restaurant that made handmade soba noodles daily, I might be there every day! Or, at least once a week.