By Miranda Aponte

Have you ever welcomed sensation to your body? This is the way Kate starts class in her Dantayama Restorative Yoga class. We welcome sensations as she guides us through each part of the body.

“Welcome sensations to the left eye, the left eyebrow, the cheek, now to the right eye, eyebrow, and cheek.” What does welcoming sensations mean, you ask? It means allowing and accepting the way your body feels in that very moment, connecting with it and not trying to adjust or fix.

We spend so much of our day disconnected from our body and using it as a tool to get from point A to point B or using certain parts of it to get a task done like cooking or cleaning. When we stop, reconnect, and accept we come back to our true essence. Take a moment, right now, to realize and appreciate  all of the miracles your body is creating. A healthy body is constantly working to produce energy whether it is breathing or sending glucose and oxygen to your organs without any effort from you. Breathe, digest, shed cells, regenerate cells, produce energy… The list goes on and on. How incredible is that?

Yoga reminds us that throughout our daily lives this miracle of a vessel, our bodies, store every experience we’ve had. How can we relieve these stored emotions and experiences to make sure they don’t build up tension or aches in the body? Acceptance. Through the bodily practice of receiving sensations, welcoming them, and not trying to change them, we create a harmonious relationship with the body. A relationship that can be carried over into our relationship with life.