February LOVE Letter

Hey LOVE Community,

February, the month of love, is here. We just got done with our Bhakti

yoga weekend for Yoga Teacher Training, where we spent the weekend

exploring the “yoga of love and devotion,” so the timing is just right.

During our weekend, we had some real talk about how to practice love on

and off our mats, especially when the world feels like it is falling apart and

there is so much hatred, violence, and injustice boiling around us. How do

we keep our hearts open to love when life and society feel overwhelmingly

anti-love? In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, “where is the love?”

In the world of Bhakti yoga, one way we practice is to place our attention

and meditate on love- any and everything that inspires love within and

around us. This could be a specific figure like Jesus, Hanuman, Mother

Theresa, Buddha, etc. This could be on our pet, our favorite place, mother

earth, our family, our partner, a sunset, something that fills our hearts

with love and positive energy. This could be on a mantra, on loving-kindness, on acts of courageous love that we see play out in our world. In doing this, we magnify the feelings of love within us. This is quite the opposite practice that many of us do on the regular- such as watching the news, scrolling on social media, gossiping about the evil and horrible things happening around us. Where our attention goes is where our energy flows, as they say. So, where is the love? It is to be found in many things and practices, as long as we reach for them. It is found in humility and forgiveness and the most outrageous thing we can possibly do which is to search and find and focus on the GOOD in others. Love is a choice.

Here’s what the bible says about love:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

In other words, love isn't a passive and romantic affair- it takes

decisiveness, attention, discernment, and action. This leads us into the

philosophy of yoga, particularly the Yamas, which provide us a roadmap

for how to act with others. The first two yamas, Nonviolence (Ahimsa) and

Truth (Satya), are where we can always begin again. Ahimsa reminds us

that our first responsibility is to cause as little harm as possible—to cultivate a steady commitment to compassion even when we’re overwhelmed. Another way to think of nonviolence is to have LOVE and REVERENCE for all beings. That is no small order. Satya, or truth, reminds us that kindness without honesty is fluffy, slippery, and not rooted in the depth and purpose needed to carry it forward. Truth-telling is how we keep our hearts and minds clear. These principles show up everywhere—in yoga philosophy and mythology, in the Catholic tradition in which I was raised, in every wisdom tradition that has tried to teach humans how to live together without tearing each other apart. And each tradition says, in its own way, what The Lorax tried to tell us bluntly: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” We're on the heels of MLK Jr. Day and unfolding into Black History month. Martin Luther King Jr. spent his life trying to articulate: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Hate is a great burden for all, and love is the only force capable of interrupting cycles of hatred and harm. He taught that responding to darkness with more darkness simply entrenches the problem, whereas responding with love—disciplined, uncomfortable, truthful love—is what actually changes things.

Another great example of love and devotion to others is Hanuman, the

half-monkey/half-human Hindu archetype, who shows us that love isn’tsoft or decorative—it’s devotion in action. He loved Rama and Sita so fiercely, that he went to the end of the earth for them. His love for them wasn’t sentimental, but rather steady, brave, and rooted in service. Hanuman pledges his love for them, and then does what it takes to ensure their safety and wellbeing. He enters the most uncharted and dangerous situations, lifts what feels unliftable, and moves straight through fear not because he is fearless, but because devotion and love give him strength. His greatest reminder is that through love, devotion, and community - ANYTHING is POSSIBLE.

So…how can we practice love this month? Of course, it always starts with

ourselves, but we have to not let it stop there. When our cups and hearts

are full, then we can interact with others with compassion, grace, and

clarity; then we are not moving from a place of quick reaction and fear and

burnout, but from a place of inner knowing and discernment. When we

love others well, it is because we are in a good place within ourselves and

have the capacity to be resilient and offer up some solid, good love.

One simple and immediate way to practice love for yourselves and others

this month is through Loving-Kindness Meditation. It’s not only meant to

feel uplifting, but to retrain the heart toward steadiness, clarity, and

goodwill, especially when those things don’t come naturally.

Here are the traditional phrases:

For yourself:

May I be safe.

May I be healthy.

May I be happy.

May I live with ease.

For someone you love:

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be happy.

May you live with ease.

For someone you struggle with:

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

May you be happy.

May you live with ease.

For all beings everywhere:

May all beings be safe.

May all beings be healthy.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings live with ease.

When the world feels harsh, this is one way to refuse to meet harshness

with more harshness. One way to “care a whole lot” and to choose the kind

of love that actually drives out hatred, rather than feeding it.

With so much love,

Holly 

♥ 

---