I’m four weeks into my 52 Weeks of Yes! During my 50th year, I’m challenging myself to do something different, unique, fun, unusual, or out of my comfort zone every single week. This month, I (tried) to meditate, bottled my own wine and balanced my chakras with Tibetan singing bowls. Join me on my journey as I share with you 52 Weeks of Yes Month One!
Verdict: I’ll rate each activity on a scale of 1 to 10 wine glasses
(1 glass means please don’t ever make me do that again and 10 wine glasses means more please)!
My first week started with a bang as I celebrated my 50th birthday in Costa Rica. You can read all about the first week of my 52 Weeks of Yes! challenge here.
52 Week of Yes!
Week 1 – Costa Rica trip of zip lining, feeding wild monkeys & swimming under a waterfall
Week 2 – Meditation
Om, Om.
I was determined to balance my chakras đ and keep my mind in the present so learning to meditate sounded like just the thing I needed.
Little did I know when I walked through the doors of the meditation center with a few of my friends, I was actually walking into a Buddhist center! This hour and a half class was part meditation and part group discussion. Led by an instructor, the topic this week was compassion and the other attendees (most of whom were regulars) seemed to know all the chants and songs.
This week’s topic was compassion and we spoke about self cherishing. While I always thought that was a good thing, they said that self cherishing keeps us from thinking of others which in turn keeps us from reaching true happiness.
Then she led us in a meditation that lasted around 15 minutes. As my stomach chanted along (why hadn’t I eaten before I came?), my mind was filled with thoughts of piles of laundry to my grocery list to sinking my teeth into a juicy Five Guys hamburger (which coincidentally was just a few doors away in this suburban shopping center). Needless to say, it was very difficult to stay focused especially since I had no idea what I was doing.
Note: Inner zen was not achieved and while I didn’t love this class (I could have done without the self help aspect of the group discussion), I would love to really figure out how to meditate. Two of my friends LOVED it and plan to go back and another felt the same way I did (and she loves to meditate).
The biggest let down was that I didn’t even get a burger after class!
Verdict: 3 wine glassesÂ
Week 3 – Bottle My Own Wine
I am part of a garage wine making group. Before you laugh, know that it was started by our friend who is a science geek and this is next level wine. While our “winery” may not be pretty and we don’t have our own vineyard (we had 2 tons of California grapes shipped to our humble garage last fall), we have fun and the wine tastes pretty damn good!
We have a few get togethers a year including a fall “crush” and a spring “bottling and racking.” While I am usually content to sit back and enjoy the party (and drink all the wine), I haven’t really gotten my hands dirty but all that changed when I dove head first into bottling the wine. I took some video of the wine bottling process and posted on my Instagram that you can see here. The wine was bottled, corked and sealed and then everyone got to take home the fruits of our labor!
I really threw myself into the spirit of the party and made these grape cluster cupcakes that were a huge hit!
Verdict: 10 wine bottles!
Week 4 – Tibetan Singing Bowls
Tibetan singing bowls, when struck with wooden mallets, create sounds and vibrations that are said to shift the body at a cellular level. The soothing tones of the singing bowls are supposed to open the flow of energy in our bodies.
My neighbor raved about doing this and said she was so relaxed, she fell asleep. She woke feeling refreshed, restored and fabulous. Sign me up!
I enlisted my experienced neighbor and another friend (promising that we would go out for a glass of wine after) to try this out so we packed up our yoga mats, blankets and pillows and off we went.
Stay tuned for next month’s 52 Weeks of Yes!
Learn more about my 52 Weeks of Yes! here.
Looks like you are off to a great start of your 52 Weeks of Yes, can’t wait to see what’s next for you! You’ve inspired me to look for new and exciting experiences myself!
p.s. – Love the wine glass rating system!!
You go gurl!
I laughed so hard! My husband and I took a meditation class at a fitness center. We were to walk heel to toe around the room, clearing our minds, concentrating on each movement of our feet. Instead I got furious as I thought about our uncooked now late dinner, the laundry I needed to put away before bedtime, and at my very zen husband who bought into it all. I was an epic failure at zen. I realized later that my zen wasnât his zen. He was going for peace, I was going for something that had visual results.
LOL – it is definitely something we need to keep trying!
Kelly, Happy belated 50th! I can’t wait to see what you do next in your 52 weeks challenge. Your trip sounded amazing. Pat S
Thank you Pat! I am having fun trying new things!
I’m loving this!!! Thank you for sharing and I”m going to look forward to reading about this all year. I want to do the same thing…I just turned 49.
Happy birthday you young whippersnapper! Hope you plan some fun things to celebrate!
I love how adventurous you are Kelly! A true inspiration!
I’m trying Lisa!
I love this!
Loving the reviews! The meditation class had me laughing so hard. I read an essay by Amy Tan years ago, she was sharing her experience at the Zen Buddhist Center in Marin County. (A very serious place for hard core meditators đ) she pretty much had the same experience and at one point everyone stood as part of the meditation, but she thought they all got up to look at something and she couldnât figure out what the heck was going on.
I have to report, I am a daily Ommer. I fell in love with Gabriel Bernstein and her miracle mind set and have become a daily meditator with the âCalmâ app. It takes a lot of practice for the person with an overactive brain, but thatâs exactly why I have found it so helpful.
I am going to check out some Tibetan singing bowls and maybe even take a Gong Bath. Needing my chakras aligned and inner peace to wash over me. Either that, or I need to lay off the Nutella and Diet Pepsi.
Canât wait to see what you do next. đ§ââď¸đ§ââď¸đ§ââď¸đ§ââď¸đ§ââď¸
I’ve heard great things about the Calm app and need to check it out! Happy 50th to you too Karen and to many more adventures!