In Orlando, Florida, residents in a gated community of active senior citizens are now enjoying the rejuvenating effects of Love Peace Harmony practice, in weekly sessions on Fridays.
René Protacio, along with his wife Nora, are the Love Peace Harmony Foundation volunteers bringing these sessions to their new community.
René shares, “This is my way of giving back to my community, just like what I have done in the past nine years when I lived in Hawaii. I live in a community of active senior citizens who suffer from different life challenges (physical, emotional, mental, etc.). In our weekly sessions we share movement meditation, calligraphy tracing, singing, creative visualization, breathing, and more. This is a commitment I made to serve, to help others become happier, healthier, and more empowered.”
The sessions began recently, and already attendees have been experiencing the benefits, René shares, “Before we started the practice, two people shared that they had lower back pain. The first woman said on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, it was 12. The other had 4 out of 10 pain.” As a group, they practiced with the Love Peace Harmony Field, tracing the calligraphies and listening to the song for around 20 minutes. “Afterwards, the first lady with lower back pain said it was significantly reduced, and the other said the pain was practically negligible,” shares René.
During another session, two ladies, one an Air Force veteran, and the other a Marine’s wife, did not mention any pain beforehand. However, after practicing with the calligraphies, they both realized they had had pain in their back and knees, and that pain was gone after the practice.
René shares his approach during the sessions: After introducing himself, “I also introduce Dr. Masaru Emoto’s book ‘Hidden Messages in the Water’ because it’s a good basis to start – the body being composed of mostly 70%+ water. The positive and negative effects of message we send to our bodies and others.”
René has done similar outreach programs in Hawaii, including at the Veterans Treatment Court, holding a monthly meditation program for rehabilitating incarcerated veterans; for U.S. Vets, a non-profit organization that provides housing for homeless veterans, holding weekly meditation, singing the LPH song and tracing the calligraphies; a weekly meditation at Fisher House, a temporary lodging for visiting military members and their families who have medical appointments at Tripler Army Medical Center; at Five senior nursing homes throughout Oahu where they sing LPH with the residents; weekly meditations for the staff at the Hawaii Army National Guard 29th Brigade Support Battalion; weekly meditations for the residents of Hickam Air Force Base’s Community Center.
Additionally, René shares, “My wife and I went to an event sponsored by the non-profit organization which was founded by the parents of a former Army Soldier who served six years in the U.S. Army. During the event, we had the chance to meet the Outreach Director and Case Manager for a non-profit organization that provides mental heal support to veterans and their families. They were both very interested about allowing me to be a provider, and potentially as a Mentor for the Veterans Treatment Court in Tampa, Florida that they just started to form and organize; I was a Mentor for the VTC in Honolulu for about seven years. We also met the Chief Operating Officer of a non-profit organization that provides mental health therapy using horses for military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The organization was established in honor of her brother (an Army veteran) who suffered from PTSD after his multiple tours in Afghanistan, who was medically discharged for his condition and later committed suicide. After exchanging information, she insisted to introduce me to her parents who founded the organization. During my conversation with them, I realized that we live in the same community, just three minutes away from each other. They’re both very interested in attending my movement meditation class on Fridays. They also introduced me and my wife to the person in charge of the horses that they use for therapy (the animals need help, too) and perhaps offer healing for their horses with health challenges. They also connected me with the Director of Operations & Veteran Engagement for another non-profit organization that also provides equine therapy for veterans. We are excited because our service is beginning to take wings and fly to serve our new community. Thanks to the Love Peace Harmony Foundation for helping us open these doors so we may continue to serve those in need.”