Where is the Love?

Where is the love? Have we strayed so far from our hearts that we have forgotten what it feels like to love? We need to get back into connection with our hearts.

I wanted to reach out to you and see how you are doing right now. I feel the weight of confusion, suffering, and pain that people are experiencing right now. My American friends are tired, fearful, hopeful, depressed, anxious, the full swing of emotions. My International friends are overwhelmed with, as one of them put it, “the negativity that dominates” around the American situation. I want you to know that I am honestly concerned for how you are feeling right now. I may never have interacted with you personally, but you reading this message connects us in some small way.

An Indian Guru I once saw, Sri Karunamayi, used to say, “when you are sad, I am sad.” I feel that. It hits home.

On November 23, 2020, my dear teacher Rama Jyoti Vernon (www.rama.yoga) left this plane of existence. I have wanted to eulogize her for you, but every writing turns into 6 – 10 pages. I feel like Legolas in Lord of the Rings after Gandalf’s passing, of course death happens, but it seems inconceivable for someone like Rama. When asked what they Elves are singing, he says, “a lament for Gandalf…I have not the heart to tell you, for me the grief is still too real.”

Rama Jyoti Vernon
Rama Jyoti Vernon teaching at her home in 2008

Yet, her passing brought us closer as I knew it would. I’m not vocal about it because I do not care to hear others’ opinions about it, but one of my gifts in life is communication with the other side. On the day of her burial, I sat in meditation. Rama came to me and told me how I was to communicate with her; what I needed to add to my practice for that sacred communication. Since that time, I have dived deeply into my practice. I get up in the morning and I am excited to sit. I feel the accumulation of the practice energizing my practice. And it has been fruitful.

I am called to serve, and that call comes from love. One of my other gifts is to access deep love for others. Perhaps that explains why the quote above is so powerful for me – it speaks to my experience. My deepest wish for my own realization is simply love, to live in that place of love all the time. I called it Inner Radiance in my book, some would call it God, Hashem, Allah, energy, the Universe, and my best word is love, just love.

Why share all this with you? Because I feel called to share in the hopes that my sharing serves you. I know that I am to share something when it pours out of me, as this writing has. My spiritual work this past month and a half urged me to create the Where is the Love? series on YouTube. These practices are coming from my practice or have been gifted to me from a space of love. I share them with you in the hopes that they inspire love, release, softening, hope, connection, radiance, etc. I have spent days of my life on this project with only the hope that it serves

About the Author

Rose Kress

Rose Kress ERYT-500, C-IAYT, YACEP, Owner/Director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, and author of Awakening Your Inner Radiance with LifeForce Yoga. She directs retreats and training programs on using LifeForce Yoga to manage your mood.

Leave a comment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for our Research Newsletter

Cart

What People Say

“I have been reminded that I am not on this path alone, that others are sharing the journey that sometimes seems so difficult. I have also been reminded of the importance of daily practice and I will do that. The whole program has been an incredible experience for me. Thank you!” — Lorraine Plauth, retired teacher, Voorheesville, NY
“I began a fantasy during the meditation exercise... almost as if I’d been there. It’s now an on-going work of fiction.” — Serian Strauss, Tanzania
“My personal practice will change, as well as my yoga classes. I have a better understanding of yoga!” — Andrea Gattuso, RYT, Yoga Teacher, Hackettstown, N.J.
“Words do not do justice to all that I learned. This workshop changed my life!” — Jen Nolan, Teacher, Cortland, NY
“I have gained a softer heart, more receptive mind, and tools to enrich both personal and professional aspects of my life.” – Regina Trailweaver, LICSW, clinical social worker, Hancock, VT.
“I have found the pranayama (breathing practices) especially easy to introduce in a clinical setting. Some people have benefited quickly in unexpected and transformative ways.” — Liz Brenner, LICSW, LFYP, Watertown, MA
“I learned lots of ways to reduce the anxiety and depression of my patients and myself.” – Aviva Sinvany-Nubel, PhD, APN, CNSC, RN, psychotherapist, Bridgewater, N.J.
“This workshop has changed so much — my self-image and my life. My own heart’s desire is 100% clear. I gained tools to help myself and others to live life fully.” — Marcia Siegel, Yoga teacher, therapist, Carlsbad, CA.
“My life is already changed! I will use the tools I learned in my own practice and in my work. I feel safe and seen.” — Susan Andrea Weiner, MA, teacher/expressive arts facilitator, El Cerrito, CA.
“I gained perspective of who I am in the world and this will change my life significantly.” — Mary Ford, artist, Southport, CT
“I feel profoundly transformed, both physically and emotionally. The connection between mind, body and spirit was clearly evident to me, but revealed to me through this workshop as an integrally vital link to overall health.” — Nadine Richardson, program manager at rehab agency, Monroe, CT
“This workshop helped me rededicate my energies and begin to work through some of the blocks I’ve felt creatively.” — Steve Mark, college professor, New Haven, CT
“I utilize the LFY techniques in both a class room setting and one-on-one environment. The skills have infused my teachings with compassion, mindfulness, and awareness.” — Kat Larsen, CYT, LFYP
“I gained tools for working with my own depression and with my clients’ depressions.” — Robert Sgona, LCSW, RYT, psychotherapist, Yoga teacher, Camden, ME.
“I came hoping to learn to move past some of the obstacles blocking my creativity. Over the course of this weekend, I feel I’ve gained a certain measure of faith in myself and in my ability to change. I also had some realizations that I believe will be very helpful to me. I feel encouraged. Both the content and presentation of this program were so well-thought out that I can’t think of any way to improve it.” — Andrea Gollin, writer & editor, Miami, FL
“I integrate strategies like mantra tones and pranayama, but above all I invite myself and those I teach to cultivate svadhyaya, to practice self-observation without judgment.” — Barbara Sherman, RYT 200, LFYP, Tucson, AZ
“This program changed my life in a significant way. It helped me connect with the spirit which is something you can’t get from psychotherapy and medication.” – G. W., artist, Pittsburgh, PA
“A client who returned said, "When I came before, you helped me understand and get where I wanted to go. Now you show me yoga practices I use to help myself understand and get where I want to go.” — Sherry Rubin, LCSW, BCD, LFYP, Downingtown, PA
“My patients can now have the same effects as many medications without having to actually take medication!” — Deborah Lubetkin, PSY.D, LFYP, West Caldwell, NJ
“Giving my clients a strategy and permission to quiet their minds and rebalance the sympathetic nervous system has been very beneficial to them and in our work together.” — Sue Dilsworth, PhD, RYT 200, LFYP, Allendale, MI
“I have gained an incredible opening and clearing of old obstructions. I hope to return to my life and fill this opening with things I love to do and that give me joy!” — Lisa Shine, administrative assistant, Ballston Lake, NY
I absolutely love this stuff! I have been using it with my clients and I am just finding it to be so incredibly helpful. There seriously something for everything. Although I am not as skilled as I hope to be someday, even at my level of training I’m finding that I am beginning to figure out what to do. It just blows my mind! - Christine Brudnicki, MS, LPC
“I have found the LFYP training to be incredibly useful in giving people specific tools to use in maintaining physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance, and further opening their intuitive abilities.” — Nancy Windheart, RYT-200, LFYP, Reiki Master, Animal communication teacher, Prescott, AZ
“Yoga Skills for Therapists is the ideal resource for those who want to bring yoga practices into psychotherapy or healthcare. Weintraub, a leader in the field of yoga therapy, offers evidence-based, easy-to-introduce strategies for managing anxiety, improving mood, and relieving suffering. Helpful clinical insights and case examples emphasize safety, trust, and skillful adaptation to the individual, making it easy to apply the wisdom of yoga effectively in the therapeutic context.” — Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author, Yoga for Pain Relief, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Yoga Therapy
Scroll to Top