The Great Big Wonder

With the completion of June we are halfway through my 52 New Things Challenge! This is wild! I honestly didn’t know if I was going to be able to pull this off. Some months have been more difficult than others but so far I’ve found that I’ve really enjoyed all of the new things I’ve tried. I look forward to trying something new each week and wondering how I can make it part of my challenge. For June, I took part in a Sound Bath at the Integratron, made some homemade lemon bars, enjoyed some restorative yoga, and went on a hike that kicked my booty. Continue reading to learn more!

#21: Sound Bath (Things to do)

I recently posted about the Weird and Wonderful California Desert and all the things I got up to out there. Admittedly, all of the things I did that weekend were firsts, but the Sound Bath was my favorite. Prior to this trip I’d never been a meditation kinda gal. I tried countless times, but nothing worked and nothing stuck. Then I went to the sound bath and fell in love. The thought is that the sound coming from the crystal bowls, played by the host helps guests to focus and balance the chakras. It’s so relaxing it’s almost scary. Even though you’re in a room with a bunch of other strangers, you leave feeling incredibly relaxed. The Integratron was a little pricey, coming in at $40 a person for the bath but I would totally do it again. Now I’m looking for sound baths near me.

#22 Lemon Bars (Food)

I love baking, duh. Honestly this part of the challenge has been an excuse for me to get back into baking and cooking and it’s worked. This month I made some lemon bars. They were incredibly simple to make and they were SO tasty. I learned the hard way not to top them with sugar and then put them in the fridge, the sugar will melt, instead wait until you are going to serve them and then pop them in the fridge! The lemon bars were super tasty. I gave some to our neighbors and their son, who ate the whole plate, wrote me a thank you note. It was so sweet!

#23 Restorative Yoga (Activity)

My friend, whom I have known for her entire life is an AMAZING Yoga instructor. She was hosting a restorative yoga session and I signed up since I had never attended a class before. I had done yoga by myself at home with the help of YouTube, but I had never gone out of my way to attend a class. Skyla is a FANTASTIC instructor and I say that not as a friend but as a guest. She went at a wonderful speed, explained things and the flow was outstanding. I loved the class, and it made me really interested in continuing to take Yoga classes. Restorative yoga is…

#24 Horsethief Canyon Trail (Outside)

This month I was desperate for a hike. I needed to get out and do my “outside” activity so I logged into my All Trails app and found a short but worthy hike near me. Horsethief Canyon trail comes in at a little over 1.3 miles, but it truly kicked my butt. It was STRAIGHT up hill. I thought I was going to pass out. My brother took the hike like a champ, yet I’m the one who works out daily. At the top of the trail was a bench perfect for passing out on and a picnic table. The view overlooks the city and the freeways and on good days you can see for miles. The trail was pretty dead at this point in the summer, most of the brush had been scorched by the summer sun.