Game of Stones: Activating Joyful Motivation, Part II

Tomorrow I embark on a new set of health and wellness goals, and I am super excited to share with you the fun way that I will be rewarding myself for my accomplishments. Last week I wrote about making a game out of keeping track of health and wellness goals, and how the fun of the game serves as an immediate payoff to help offset the cost of waiting for the long term results. After brainstorming various ways that I could keep track of my daily efforts, I came up with a fun little game that I am eager to play.

While developing the game, I identified eight areas of health and wellness that are most important to me. None are more important than the others, and I feel that in order to function at my best, all components need to be given attention. The eight categories are nutrition, sleep, exercise, mental health, emotional health, human connection, inner joy, and spirituality. I have also collected 8 different gemstones whose metaphysical properties correspond to each specific wellness goal.

Now before I go any further, let’s just get one question out of the way for all my fellow science nerds and skeptics: Do crystals and gemstones really have metaphysical healing powers? The truth is, it really doesn’t matter. If they do, excellent! If they don't, so what?! The intention of this is to have fun! This is a game, and I made up the rules, and in my rules the stones symbolize the impulses needed to achieve each wellness goal. Remember, part of this experience is letting our imaginations and playful hearts participate.

A variety of designs and sizes of grids are available to purchase.

The game is played as follows: at the end of each day I will assess whether I gave adequate attention to each area of wellness. For every category that I fulfilled at some point in my day, I will place the corresponding stone on a crystal grid. At the end of the week I will have a beautiful representation of my many accomplishments over the last seven days. I will be able to see which areas were fulfilled, and which ones need more attention.

This is what the grid will look like if I completed every goal, every day for a week!

The idea is to create something beautiful. Whether at the end if the week I have 10 stones or 56 stones on my gemstone mandala, it will still serve as a beautiful representation of my commitment to myself and living a life filled with the things that I have deemed most important to my well being.

Often times I think I tend to focus on one or two “failings” and amplify their significance, instead of looking at the many accomplishments that make up my days. This game allows me to focus on the positive aspects of myself, and how I am so much more capable of achieving my goals than I give myself credit for. Being able to look back and see all the things I did accomplish, instead of focusing on the things I didn’t, is a healthy perspective that I believe will keep me motivated and feeling inspired.

I welcome you to play along with me using your own established goals, whether they be health and wellness related or otherwise. In case you’d like to play along using the same categories that I will be using, I’ve included each category and just a few of the many various activities that I feel would qualify a stone placement. Next to each category, I’ve included the type of gemstone I chose to use for representation. Remember, doing just one thing from each list per day allows you to place the corresponding stone one the grid.

Nutrition: Apatite (blue)

• Log daily food intake

• Hit macronutrient goals

• Remember to take supplements

• Meet specific food goals (daily green smoothie, no sugar, 8 glasses of water, etc.)

• Eat your meal at the table with family/friends and without electronics

Sleep: Peridot (green)

• Get at least 7+ hours of sleep

• Take a nap

• Get to bed early

• Limit blue light after sunset

• No caffeine after 1:00 PM

Exercise: Jasper (red)

• Accomplish scheduled exercise

• Take a walk

• Yoga

• Dance class

• Take the stairs

Human Connection: Carnelian (orange)

• Talk on the phone with a friend

• Have tea/coffee with a friend

• Get a massage

• Attend a community or cultural event

• Complement or start a conversation with a stranger

Inner joy: Citrine (yellow)

• Dance/Paint/Sing

• Go on a hike

• Volunteer/serve somebody

• Listen to music that moves you

• Do something you loved to do as a child

Mental Health: Apophyllite (clear)

• Clean or declutter your home

• Use your less dominant hand for simple tasks

• Play a game of chess or other “brain game”

• Get lost in a good book

• Wear a helmet while riding a bike

Emotional Health: Rhodochrosite (pink)

• Write in a gratitude journal

• See a counselor

• Repeat positive affirmations

• Accept support when offered

• Say no when needed

Spirituality: Fluorite (purple)

• Engage in breathing exercises

• Meditate or pray

• Practice forgiveness

• Connect with nature

• Perform a ceremony or ritual

Another way you could choose to assign which gemstones correspond to each category is by chakra color. This way you don't have to worry about finding specific gemstone species, and instead can focus on simply the colors. If I had to correlate each wellness category to a particular chakra (and I may sometimes just to change it up!), I would do it as follows:

Red - Nutrition

Orange - Inner joy

Yellow - Exercise

Green - Emotional Health

Blue - Human Connection

Indigo - Mental Health

Violet - Sleep

White - Spirituality

Many of my gemstones have been purchased slowly over the years from The Fossil Cartel and Mystery Gallery, but one thing to keep in mind is that you do not have to go out and buy special gemstones and a crystal grid in order to play this game. You can use any flat surface and treasures of your choosing. Items from nature work well, such as seashells, found stones, sea glass, mini pinecones, cinnamon sticks, star anise, dried flowers, acorns, etc. Let your imagination guide you! On the contrary, if you've got the money to spend, check out this sweet little kit that contains all you'll need to play the game.

I will be posting photos of my weekly crystal grids on my Instagram page. I'd love to hear what you think about this game! What are your wellness goals? And do you have any suggestions for activities to add to any of the categories? Comment below!