The Art Of Winefulness

The Art of Winefulness is designed as an off-the-wall, left-field introduction to those who would like to try meditation but perhaps think it's dull or impractical. In these locked down times, here's an alternative approach to opening up.

Transcript

For this guided visualization,

You are going to pour yourself a glass of wine or imagine you have one.

If you are tea total,

There is no need to actually drink a glass of wine and the imaginary option might be best for you.

You have the bottle of wine and a glass in front of you and either uncork the bottle or unscrew the bottle top to allow the wine to breathe.

Now you take a deep breath in and with your mouth slightly open,

Exhale all the stale air from your lungs.

Now before pouring yourself a glass or imagining you are doing so,

Look at the front of the bottle and really take in the label,

The text,

The colours,

How well it stuck or fused to the bottle and for the next few moments simply notice what you notice.

Now turn the bottle around and look at the back.

Most bottles have two labels but some have one.

Again take in all the detail.

What is the percentage alcohol of the wine?

Was it bottled at source or shipped in bulk and bottled locally?

Now close your eyes and with the information you now have,

Just imagine how the wine is going to taste.

Just imagine all the steps taken to get the bottle in front of you.

Have the grapes first grew on the vine,

Taking moisture from the earth and the sky along with energy from the sun.

How they grew over summer.

How the grapes were harvested when they became ripe,

By hand or most likely by machine.

How the juice was extracted from the grape and the juice was incarcerated in the dark and transmuted and fermented and left to develop into what you are about to drink.

How the essence of the juice must have felt,

If wine can feel,

When it was bottled and released back into the light,

Even if that light was dim and in a cellar.

Imagine how it felt when someone placed an order with the grower or the bottler,

So that it was sent across the globe to a place far from its home.

Imagine how it felt when you chose it from all the 40 billion bottles of wine consumed by humans each year.

Imagine how it is feeling now,

That it is sitting right in front of you and about to be consumed and then returned back to the earth.

Before opening your eyes and taking a sip,

Just muse on this whole cycle from the earth back to the earth.

And now it's time to take your first sip,

Or your first imagined sip.

Open your eyes slowly,

Pick up your glass and your bottle,

Angle your glass through 30 degrees or so and slowly pour yourself some wine.

Notice how much you filled your glass.

Is it enough?

And would you like a dribble more?

Did you bear the percentage of the wine in mind when filling your glass?

Now place the bottle down and notice the new level of liquid in the bottle.

Now bring your attention to the level of the liquid in the glass and how now the juice is released,

It is able to breathe the fresh air once more.

If not too full,

Swirl the glass gently and now watch the legs,

How fast or slowly any remaining liquid on the inside of the glass gets reabsorbed.

Muse on how much the percentage on the outside of the bottle might have informed you of this.

Now pick up the glass and take a deep in-breath of its bouquet through your nostrils.

What does the nose tell you about how the wine will taste?

And now at last it's time to take your first sip.

Make it a small one and run it around the whole of the inside of your mouth.

Breathe a little air into your mouth if you can to aerate the wine.

And as you swallow it,

Imagine how the wine must feel as it once more goes into the darkness of your body.

And now comes the time you've been waiting for.

Take your first full drink of the wine and be wineful of how much you imbibe.

Be even more wineful of when you take your next sip.

And now just luxuriate for a few minutes with your glass of wine.

Indulge yourself in the moment.

Read more at Lewis Rooster RO laziness patronage change is to be out of game you you you you you

Reviews

🍷 chairs Tom
Thanks for a great meditation that resonates within 😊
We ready should stop wineing, life is good...

Maybe not the best meditation to do in the morning. But I enjoyed this very much. I love being surprised by your thoughts & meditations over and over again. 🙏

My one son-in-law is a wine distributor and another son-in-law is a Frenchman, so we take wine very seriously in our family. I hope they will be able to access this meditation. Having visited vineyards on both coasts and in France, I appreciate envisioning where the grapes were grown. This was wonderful. Wine is to be savored and enjoyed.

That was really cool. Such an appropriate ending. 😃🙏🏻🥂

I love your sense of humour Tom - I’m no beginner when it comes to mindfulness - but I’m certainly a beginner when it comes to “winefulness” Genius touch to use those 3 strikes to end the meditation! Beautiful, cheers! 🙂🍷

Half meditation, half public service announcement. Good job! :)

Gamay-ste, Tom🍷

Lovely visuals. Great mindfulness techniques. Thank you Tom. 💙

Very enjoyable meditation, thank you very much 🍷🙏

Brilliant! This is the perfect intro for those reluctant to try meditation. Thanks for thinking outside the box (or bottle in this case)! 🙏🍷💜

Way more fun than taking 10 minutes to eat a raisin but Hey! Look how versatile grapes are.
Nicely done Tom 🍾🍷🧀

And a Super Duper shout out from my buddy Ray- nbow 🌈 🍷🍾✈🍇 This Winefullness is chockfull of Spirit on this Sunday morning. Blessings to All! Cheers!

Coming from a wine enthusiast, that was delightful, Tom! Mindfully drinking in the morning just after I woke up was different! I held up my glass of red wine and toasted my good friend Patty! Thanks, Tom, I will look at my wine glass differently now!

Beautiful bouquet! Cheers! I don’t usually drink wine before breakfast, but hey - I’ll drink to that! Seriously 💜

Thanks for a bit of fun amidst all the challenges.

Like a good wine this meditation is worth doing again.🍷🥂. Enjoyed visualising the rose I had first time I did this friday so much may have to go and get another bottle for this evening

Haha! With this meditation I can now afford to have Veuve Clicquot every day! 🍾