This is how you can honor your body's wisdom and sensitize to the celebrations of life

When I sit down to write to you, I consider what I'm going through, what I'm learning, and what I need.

I also pour over the threads I witness weaving themselves through the lives of my clients.

Yesterday some pain in my body had moved on, and I felt a sense of joy and happiness reignite within.

The contrast of ever-present, sharp yelp-inducing sensation next to an occasional dull ache invited an easy smile to my face and a gratitude.

I took a bath to see if I could soften the tightness I could now feel underneath what was before only to emerge heavy and molasses-pouring slow. 

I wondered if I could even crank the gears in my head to show up for a client.

And when we both faced each on the Zoom screen, they -- and then I -- let out exasperated noises of, 

"WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?"

It was a beautiful moment of allowing my authentic self to come forward and simply be while holding space and guiding another.  

It was also a moment of collective energy and realization.

We are all going through so much.

Individually.

Collectively.

Politically.

Systemically.

After that I had a conversation on the phone that offered me the smallest amount of movement and relief so that I moved on to feel light, smiling, and in search for fun.

I poked my teenager. I created nature art. I walked barefoot in the grass and across the warm patio stones.

Later I found myself with warm tears of salty gratitude sliding down my cheeks, overwhelmed with an outlook of years and decades gone by.

I share all of this not as a personal journal entry but as insight into the flow of sensation that life can offer us in a day.

Each small shift and opening I experienced was...well, small.

And the impact of that small shift and opening was also profound as I welcomed and acknowledged and celebrated it.

So as I write this, I'm wondering what shifts and openings you've been experiencing in your days.

What are you welcoming, acknowledging, celebrating?

Photo by Freddie Collins

Here are four steps for exploring the sensations you experience to better welcome, acknowledge, and celebrate life:

STEP ONE: Familiarize

Senses are what we use to interact with the external world.

See, hear, smell, taste, touch.

Sensations are internal messages from the wisdom of our body sent to communicate with us.

Common sensations you might recognize are ones likes: 

• Tender

• Achy

• Sore

• Tight

• Nauseous

I've been feeling some ugh and blah sensations lately that could be described as 

• Contracted

• Heavy

• Cold

• Numb

• Hollow

I know I'm feeling good when I witness sensations like:

• Streaming

• Relaxed

• Open

• Spacious

• Expansive

To familiarize yourself with sensations, explore this list and see if you can ignite those sensations or recall memories of when you've felt them in the past.

STEP TWO: Notice

See if you can offer yourself a few moments to go within and notice what sensations are arising to the surface of your awareness.

Maybe take a few breaths.

Maybe close your eyes.

And notice or witness or be with the sensations happening in your body.

STEP THREE: Location

Then in the moment, notice what sensations you're experiencing and where you're feeling them in your body.

Sensations are localized.

We don't tend to feel them as all over, full-bodied experiences.

You're familiar with different energy centers putting forth specific types of sensations.

Maybe a nausea in your gut or a constriction in your throat.

Next time you feel something -- maybe wobbly, maybe spacey, maybe tingling -- notice where you feel it.

STEP FOUR: Vocalize

After taking a few moments to notice your sensations and witness their location, speak them out loud.

This supports you to connect the wisdom of your body to the language center of your brain.

You connect the body and the mind.

Right now I'm noticing an ache in the right side of my lower back. 

I feel a constriction in my diaphragm.

I'm experiencing a clenching in my left shoulder.



To welcome and celebrate life, we must acknowledge what is.

When I take a few moments to be with my sensations and their location, I witness a softening, a relaxing, a gratitude my body offers me in return for simply allowing and honoring the moment.

I also sensitize to the ebb and flow and ever-present change occurring...even in times when I wish things would change a little faster.

Sending you so much love,
Daniela

P.S. I'd love to hear about the sensations you're experiencing, the flow you're noticing, and what you're celebrating. 

Please feel free to hit reply and share with me. :)