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manifesting

What The What is Karaoke Yoga?

June 6, 2012

Karaoke Yoga®.

What the what?

Well, let me tell you a little about this sweet little dream of mine…. About what I manifested…. After 13 years of working in the same restaurant in Los Angeles and being very depressed and anorexic.

banner by Jenni Young Creatives, of course

We sing in my classes.

We sing a lot.

We laugh.

A. Lot.

We sometimes have dance parties.

We a lot of times have dance parties.

We do all the things I deprived myself of for years.

I got wind that my friend Aimee Nicotera was doing a “Sing & Cycle” class (karaoke with spinning) and I got a little interested.

We were having a coffee and I flat out asked: Can we do karaoke with my yoga class?

She flat out said: Done.

This is why I love her.

An idea was born.

It couldn’t be done without DJ Gina Mooring of Sing Out Loud Karaoke, of course. I will never do it without this rockstar. She is the butter to my bread. She is the glass to my wine.

Good Morning America was looking for a way to feature me and heard of this karaoke yoga and decided to fly out from NYC to film it. It aired the day after Christmas. A true dream come true. It was on my vision board.

Since then, I have been in countless magazines, both foreign and domestic for karaoke yoga and now ABC is coming back to film us June 20 at The Pasadena Equinox. 10:45 am for those in L.A.

So what is it?

It is, in a word: JOY.

It is food for your soul.

It is yoga without taking yourself too seriously.

It is singing your heart out and laughing and dancing and balancing and sweating and letting go of all your fears.

It is connecting and letting your inner light shine.

It is finding your inner rockstar.

It is being silly and not giving a damn.

It is NOT about alignment.

It is NOT about being perfect.

It is NOT about singing well.

It is about being the most you.

It is about being authentic.

It is connecting some of the greatest pleasures I know of in life: dancing, singing, yoga, connecting and good old fashioned rock’n’roll.

Let me know if you want to be a part of the ABC filming at Equinox in Pasadena on June 20th at 10:45 am. It will air June 26th.

You may never be the same.

For more info on Karaoke Yoga® or my other classes please email me at info@jenniferpastiloff.com

Guest Posts, How To, Inspiration, manifesting

Epiphany on Vision Boards. Guest Post by Elise Ballard.

May 23, 2012

Elise Ballard’s inspirational book. Click to order through Amazon.

The following post is by my soul sister Elise Ballard. I met Elise in NYC where we attended Oprah’s LifeClass together. Elise and I both write for Positively Positive and she happens to be the author of one of my favorite books, Epiphany! We met in NYC and have been connected ever since. It was meant to be, there is no doubt about that. This morning, during a phone chat, Elise shared with me that she had created vision boards and put exactly what she had wanted on them. And you know what? She got those very things. Look at the photo of the book above, folks. That book is a result of a seed in her imagination first, and then yes, a load of hard work. 

The theme in class this week is imagination and the mantra is ” I am already there” so our phone call felt so timely. As does our friendship. (Also, stay tuned because Elise and I are hosting a Twitter contest where you can win a spot at my October Manifestation retreat and a copy of her signed book!)

She shared with me the following post she wrote 2 years ago and I knew I had to share.  You all know my love of the vision board. We even do them at my retreats and workshops. I hope you are as inspired by her post and her success as I am. And yes, she will be featured soon in The Manifestation Q&A Series.

Elise and I at Radio City Music Hall in NYC with Oprah

For All Those Vision Board Doubting Thomas’s by Elise Ballard.

elise-ballard

I never put much credence in Vision Boards (this is a link to a great article about them) but I kept hearing how amazing things were happening for friends of mine and reading about them so I thought, “What the hey – I need all the help I can get at this point.” It was September 2009 and I had been working for almost an entire year developing this project, writing the book proposal and creating and launching my site. We were about to submit to publishers and I had no idea what would become of me. (I suppose I still don’t but at least I have the book release to look forward to and it will definitely live in the world now – back then, it was completely unknown what would happen.) So I did a Vision Board and put images of things on a piece of poster board that I desired or wanted to happen, just as my friends and Martha Beck instructed me to do . WITHIN DAYS, things started materializing…it was wild! And within a month, I had a book deal for Epiphany with a major publisher (Random House) who wanted the book to be exactly the way I’d always envisioned it and for the exact advance I knew I had to get to make it happen.

Check this out: (Note: These are not great photos ahead, but I think they’re decent enough that you’ll be able to see what I’m saying. And I don’t know why my mock up Epiphany Book Cover is torn, but again, you’ll get the gist.)

This is what I typed/mocked up put up on my Vision Board last Sept.

And this is what the cover of the galley of my book looks like that is going out to press and to my contributors:

IT’S THE SAME FONT AND PRETTY MUCH THE EXACT SAME BLUE AND ORIGINAL TITLE.

THE LESSON LEARNED: Don’t be so impatient and such a worry-wart, silly grasshopper, things eventually come around. (And VISION BOARDS work!)

I’ve probably done about 3-4 Vision Boards throughout the past year and things always happen from them. I always recommend at least trying VISION BOARDS – even if it’s just to see what happens…Why not? Encourage the magical aspects of life – it makes it all that much more exciting and fun.

Here is another great post Elise shared about vision boards a few days ago.

Here is Elise’s TED talk. Talk about inspiration!

About Elise Ballard

Elise Ballard is the author of Epiphany! a book of inspirational stories, aha moments and exclusive interviews from Random House Publishing.

Follow Elise on Twitter

Follow Elise on Facebook.

Buy the book Epiphany! by Elise Ballard.

Manifestation Retreats, manifesting

Destination: Blississippi.

May 3, 2012

I am so excited. Tomorrow I leave for my 7th Ojai retreat in 2 years.

This weekend is not only titled The Manifestation Retreat, but I’ve added Destination: Blississippi because my soul brother Frank Gjata is joining me and will lead workshops with me.

If you do not know who he is, boy are you in for a treat! His q&a will be up next week.

Here is his new site called BLISSISSIPPI, which I am addicted to. Have fun playing!

I will blog from retreat about all the magic that will be going down.

PS, apparently I have a big spread in MAX Sports & Fitness Magazine. However, it is was April’s issue. It’s now May. Oye, does anyone have a copy? Here is link online in the meantime. I thought it was some cool manifesting.  (Page 33 and 34)

Delight, Hearing Loss, Inspiration, manifesting

Life By Me.

April 24, 2012

I got interviewed for an amazing website called Life By Me and the post went up today.

They asked me which word was most meaningful to me at the moment and I said, yea, you guessed it: manifest.

Sophie Chice is brilliant for coming up with the concept of the site.

And just an FYI, I didn’t write the piece but rather it’s excerpts from my words.

Surf around too because there are some incredible folks on it and some heavy hitters.

Click picture to read post on LIfeByMe.

jennifer pastiloff: inspiration seeker. laughing yogini. true listener.Jennifer Pastiloff is a lover of life, laughter, poetry, yoga, and a really good glass of wine. She created Manifestation Yoga, which is all about causing serious breakthroughs in life without being too serious.

Click here to read. 

Guest Posts, manifesting

The Real Secret by Jeannie Page.

April 16, 2012

The following is a guest post by my friend Jeannie Page. It originally appeared on her fantastic site called The Awakened Life. Jeannie is a writer and motivational speaker. To book her click here.

Stay tunes because Jeannie will be featured in The Manifestation Q&A Series this month.

The following post was so aligned with all that I teach that I felt compelled to share.

Jeannie is in the process of writing a book.

I have no doubt it will be a best seller.

Have you ever known the person who thinks that they have it worse than everyone else? No matter what tragedies may have befallen your own life, their situation is somehow always more tragic. Whenever you talk to them they have that dreadful “woe is me” tone that makes you roll your eyes and want to hang up the phone. And even when you try to be a good friend and offer words of encouragement they find ways to pooh-pooh anything you say. The person who seems to pride themselves on spouting off nothing but negativity, that somehow if they can drag you into their negative web that they will feel better about themselves. We’ve all known these people.  Heck, perhaps at one time or another we’ve even been that person. Come on people, let’s be honest. I know I’ve definitely been there at one dark time or another. I’m sure many of you have too.

Here’s the thing that those people (or we) do not realize. By allowing themselves (or ourselves) to wallow in their (or our) own angst and fester in their (or our) own negativity, they (or we) are actually poisoning themselves (or ourselves). Here’s why: our thoughts have power. Yes folks, you heard right and I can’t say it loudly enough. Our thoughts have power. Now many of you naysayers who have heard about the Law of Attraction and watched or read The Secret will now be rolling your eyes and think that this is new-agey horseshit. Allow me to clear some things up for you. I have studied the Law of Attraction for the past several years and I have seen proof positive of its validity in my own life: for both good and bad. You know those days when you wake up and stub your toe and then the whole day spirals downhill from there? That is the simplest example of the Law of Attraction. You started with a negative thought and you focused your energy on it, and because of that you attracted more negative things into your life that day. You become like a magnet. I have seen my negative thoughts perpetuate more negativity and create drama in my life, and on the flip side I have seen how harnessing the positive thoughts can truly change your life in brilliant and magical ways.

 

 

 

Let me talk about The Secret for a second. While the underlying premise of this book and film resides in Universal truth, their portrayal of the Universal Law of Attraction is actually a bit too literal and oversimplified. The Law of Attraction does not mean that you can focus all of your attention on a new bike and then “poof” a new bike will appear. It does not even mean that you can focus on your dream job, and that if you put it on your vision board that you will one day manifest it. That is a false and very misleading teaching. Here’s why: All the Law of Attraction truly states is that like attracts like, meaning that if you focus on the negative, you will attract more negativity into your life; and alternatively if you focus on the positive, you will attract more positivity into your life. It does not allow you to focus on one specific thing that you really want and then allow that thing to come to you, all wrapped up in a pretty bow. No siree! And the reason is because that thing which you may be trying to manifest may in fact not be meant for you. You may be trying to manifest the return of an old lover. But if there is another lover in your future that you are meant to find, that is a better fit for you, the Universe is never going to allow the return of the old lover. The same is true of the dream job. I use my own life for this example. I was trying to manifest success in the .com world, but instead the Universe pulled one of its famous tricks on me and got me fired and now on the path to being a writer. We often do not know what is best for us, therefore the Law of Attraction is not as simple as we focus on something that we really want and then we get it.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to the main point, that our thoughts do have power. You don’t just have to believe me and my experiences about the power of thought. In this age when we as human beings are starting to become more aware of our consciousness and its power, quantum physics is no longer an occult subject for the airy-fairy hippies.  It has now moved to the forefront of major research institutions like Stanford, Harvard and Princeton. There have been loads of scientific studies performed about the power of the mind. As Lynne McTaggart points out in her book The Intention Experiment, the most comprehensive body of research has been amassed by William Braud, a psychologist and the research director of the Mind Science Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, and later, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. If you wish to learn more about the science of the mind, I recommend Lynne’s book as well as works published by the scientists on her team. In recent years I have also seen a plethora of articles published in major scientific journals about the power of meditation to actually change the chemistry of the brain. It is no longer just a fanciful theory. Modern science has finally caught up to the ideas that ancient mystics, scientists and philosophers have known for centuries: our thoughts do have power.

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make our world.”
~Buddha~

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.” 
~Marcus Aurelius~

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings
can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”
~William James~

“Outer changes always begin with an inner change of attitude.”
~Albert Einstein~

 

 

 

Ok, so if it’s true that our thoughts can change our lives, how then do we implement that? I’ve discovered that the reason why so many people discount the teachings of The Secret is because they think “if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.” We all know that when we are stuck in that dark and negative place, it can be extremely difficult to change our thoughts to something positive. It is our human nature that when we feel miserable and defeated, that just like the person I mentioned in the beginning, all too often we feel that nothing could ever improve our situation. We dwell on the negative. And in that situation the Law of Attraction IS actually working, but it is working on the negative side and against your favor. You are a magnet for more negativity to come into your life. To get it to work IN your favor, you have to change your thoughts. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is wrong to believe that it does not work. It takes a truly committed Spiritual Warrior to force themselves to change their thoughts, even when they are at their darkest. There’s the old saying “fake it ’till you make it.” This couldn’t be more true when it comes to changing your thoughts. I’ve learned that even if you are feeling down in the dumps, if you can force yourself to focus on the positive, you can change your life. This is exactly what I have done in my own life. Because I have had such radically life-altering success by practicing the Law of Attraction and by choosing to focus on the positive, I want to share with you exactly how I did it.

Many of you who have read my prior pieces know that I have lived through what I can only aptly describe as a “dark night of the  soul” in recent years. There were many times when I did not want to get out of bed, when I felt completely alone, abandoned and unloved, when I felt that things couldn’t get any darker. I had reached my rock bottom. It was during that time that I began to study and practice the Law of Attraction, really as an act of desperation. I took a course about the Law of Attraction and I learned about the concept of a Gratitude Journal, a concept with which I’m sure many of you are familiar. By writing down that for which we are grateful, we are focusing our thoughts, our energies on the positive. I took this lesson one step further.

 

Every night before I would go to bed, I would make two lists: 1. First I would make a list of ALL of the good things that happened that day, no matter how small, no matter how seemingly insignificant. Even if it was something as small as the store clerk smiled at me, I wrote it down. I searched through my memory banks trying to find any possible positive thing that occurred in that day, and I wrote them all down. 2. Secondly, I would make a list of all that I was grateful for in that day. Some things would remain constant, others would change from day to day. But by writing these two lists, everyday, by actually writing down the words, I was giving them more power and energy. By forcing myself to focus on the positive, even though I felt deep sadness, I was beginning to shift my energetic vibration, and the energy in my life began to shift. I began to attract more positivity and magic into my life. As I forced myself to do these exercises everyday for months on end, I began to notice that more and more unexpected and beautiful things began flowing into my life. And the positive energy compounded upon itself. The longer I did it, the more powerful the energy became, and the more magical synchronicity came into my life.

I have shared these exercises with each beautiful soul that has reached out to me from a place of darkness asking for help. And one person after the next has told me that by doing these simple exercises, they too have started to see positive shifts in their lives. I am never surprised by this of course, because I know for myself that it truly works. So what’s the REAL Secret then? It is not simply to focus on a specific, tangible thing that you want in your life. It is instead to focus on every positive, beautiful thing that occurs in your day, to force yourself to change your negative thoughts instead to positive ones. It is to view the glass as half full, always. The REAL Secret is to continue focusing on the positive and then to simply allow, to be open to whatever beauty may come, and not pigeon-hole yourself into a specific outcome. If you do this, every day, if you truly make a conscious effort to look for the good in each day, to write it down and focus on it, I promise you that you too will change your life for the better.

 
https://theawakenedlife.wordpress.com/
Jeannie Page is a reformed .com management professional who is making a shift in her life, a shift to follow her bliss, to get into alignment and to be a force for good in the world. Blogging at The Awakened Life. Jeannie, and details about her current book project, can be found on Facebook hereand on Twitter at @jeannienpage. Jeannie’s Spanish Facebook page can be found here. Jeannie is also the Spanish Language Editor for Elephant Journal. Click here for the Elephant Journal en Español Facebook page.
manifesting, Wayne Dyer

Hanging with Wayne Dyer in Atlanta.

April 14, 2012

With God all things are possible. 

Wayne talked of this a lot today. Now, I have heard him speak a lot. But today this got me. A chill ran through my body, as it does more and more lately. A sign that I am paying attention to what resonates. Or that more is resonated lately? That I am connecting to things I am meant to be connecting to more often?

All of the above.

And then some.

All. Things. Possible.

So what does that leave out?

NOTHING.

I love this.

I had that feeling today as I sat there in the second row as a guest of the author, my sister Rachel on my side. All the Dyers and Anita Moorjani and her husband wearing my blue Manifestation bracelets. Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX and the world’s youngest billionaire wearing my Manifestation bracelet.

Why?

Because: Anything is possible.

I dreamed this.

Over and over.

This is the life I want.

I want to be inspiring people on the level of Wayne and Anita and Sara. So why should I not be hanging out with them?

I told Wayne about my retreat to Maui next February and asked him if he would come over and talk to my group. He said “Anything is possible. Why not?“

Ha! Wayne at my retreat? Pinch me.

(Who knows what will happen but… anything is possible kids.)

He told a great story today which I loved. He had just led a retreat on a cruise ship and he had asked everyone to go out and stare at the wake from the ship. He asked them to contemplate the wake. ( I feel a poem being inspired here already.)

The wake is the trail the ship leaves behind.

3 questions he told them to ask themselves:

1) What is the wake? Answer: the trail.

2)What is driving the boat? Answer: the PRESENT moment energy being generated is driving the boat. ( Key word: Present. Obviously.)

3) Is it possible for the wake to drive the boat? Answer: NO.

He suggested that most of us live this illusion though. The wake driving the boat! Ha!

I had such a breakthrough today. That kind of aha moment that happens before inspiration sinks in and kicks you in the teeth.

I think it is the poet in me that loves a good metaphor but, wow, is it ever an opportunity to give up your personal history, your crap, your story, when it is put so succinctly. So simply. So truthfully.

Another gem from today: Inspiration is when an idea gets ahold of you.

Motivation is ego driven.

Now that is something to think about.

I’d much rather be inspired.

As I am now in my life.

An idea has gotten a hold of me and I am being channeled. This is the best way, the only way I can truly describe my life these days.

Today Wayne said: writing is not something I do. It is what I am.

How beautiful a sentiment is that?

He talked so much about the “I Am” and I was so happy to be wearing my ” I am” Conscious Ink tattoo ( I gave him some and he went wild for them!)

Wayne talked about Divine Love as never changing, never varying.

There was so much to process today that it will take a few blog posts. Heck, a few years, but I wanted to share with you some inspiration and highlights.

Anita Moorjani, whom has become a friend, got up and spoke. She had a Near Death Experience after having Stage 4 cancer.  She came back because she has work to do. (Thank God she came back!)

Her message, to remind us all to be ourselves, is simple and IMPORTANT. She says more important than being positive is being yourself!

Her book Dying To Be Me has been called, by many, the most important book they have ever read. Wayne is a huge fan of Anita, as am I. She is so incredible, as is this work she is doing. Please take a moment and read my earlier interview with her.

She will change your life. As she says, remember your magnificence.

My dear friend Anita Moorjani. Please buy her book “Dying To Be Me”. It will change your life. Seriously. Go!

As usual my friend Skye sang (Wayne’s daughter.) She added Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love of All which made everyone bawl, of course. Saje Dyer also got up and spoke. She is Wayne’s youngest. Adorable and hilarious. She talked (spontaneously) about how she healed herself at age 5 or 6 with a child’s belief system. It was so beautiful and funny and impromptu. Another Dyer with a big inspiring future in front of her.

Sommer Dyer was also there, who will be guest posting very soon on my blog. Wait until you read this Dyer daughter’s post. She is very special to me.

Sommer Dyer, Saje Dyer, me , my sister Rachel, Skye Dyer

I met Tracy, his eldest and bought a purse from her amazing company Urban Junket. Tracy is gorgeous and funny. It’s like there is something in the water they drink? Tracy creates purses from recycled water bottles. Hello, Awesome!

My sister and I each bought one. Get one. They are cute and support the Earth. Hello, More Awesome!

Lastly, Sara Blakely. The world’s youngest billionaire and founder of Spanx. She got up and said a few words about how Wayne had been a great inspiration to her and was one of the reasons she is so successful. I gave her my blue Manifestation bracelet which you can see in the photos and my Manifesting tee. She was talking to us forever. To say she is cool would be an UNDERSTATEMENT.

The coolest billionaire I ever met.

And she is manifesting, no less.

Bam!

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Wayne and Sara Blakely are so funny! They are showing off their Spanx! ha!

My dad and his other daughters. Hee hee.
Saje, Sommer, Wayne and Skye Dyer.

Tracy Dyer and I. I am holding up my Urban Junket bag. Recycled Water Bottles. Bad-ass!!!

My buddy Skye Dyer and I. She sings so beautifully.

Skye singing on stage with her dad. So moving.

Saje got called up. Surprise!
She was funny and inspiring.
You can heal yourself with LOVE, she says.
This girl rocks so hard.

So here it is:

I am manifesting:

Sara Blakely sponsoring my sister’s One Small Step Walk for Prader Wille Syndrome and doing a q&a on this blog, as Wayne did.

Wayne Dyer definitely coming to my Maui retreat next February. It’s happening folks. I see it. Book early as we will go deep and it will be intimate. (click here to sign up.)

Wayne writing the foreword for my book.

Writing for Oprah.com

 

 

Join me here at @jenpastiloff

Join me here at @jenpastiloff

 

 

manifesting

Post-Oprah Post (From The Sky)

April 2, 2012

Would I wear anything else to be with Oprah?

Hi. It’s me. Writing to you from the sky. Again. 

Headed home to LA after a whirlwind week back east. (Next Wednesday is Atlanta where I will be with Dr. Wayne Dyer and Anita Moorjani and my sister.)

I postponed my flight and changed departing cities so I could attend Oprah’s LifeClass today in NYC at Radio City Music Hall after I was given tickets by Oprah’s VP!

I cannot wait to fill a room like this! Today at Radio City with Oprah.

I sat with Elise Ballard who also writes for Positively Positive and is a life-force! A gorgeous life-force. She just wrote a best selling book called Epiphany and will soon be doing a guest post on this very blog! We just met but, as she so aptly put it, she no longer meets strangers. Nor do I. Everyone I connect with lately is an old friend.

Isn’t that a beautiful thought? Everyone you meet is an old friend already?

I am so on purpose that there are no accidents anymore.

Out front of Radio City Music Hall, we met up with Positively Positive’s Eric Handler who happens to be on tour with Oprah right now to get our tickets. He was wearing my blue Manifestation bracelet!

Eric Handler who started Positively Positive wears his blue Manifestation bracelet. He's on tour with Oprah right now. I am so honored to be part of the fam and that he wears my band! Manifest baby!

So yea, today was great.

I mean, really really great.

Elise and I had a ball. She had to translate for me a lot but she was a sport about it. Even with my hearing aids and the speakers, it was hard for me. Especially when Deepak Chopra spoke for some reason.

In the last hour my mom’s been emailing me to say how awesome Tony Robbins LifeClass was (his was the later LifeClass and I chose Deepak’s.) I started to feel like I made the wrong choice. A thing I do a lot and am working on.

Second guessing myself and thinking I made the wrong choice.

Yea, that’s my story. Hush. I know.

I watched Oprah’s LifeClass the other day with Iyanla Vanzant and had my heart cracked open. I watched it online with headphones.

And then it hit me. As I sat here on the plane. The reason today did not feel as powerful was because I couldn’t effing hear!

When I watch it online or on tv I can have headphones or use subtitles but today I felt lost and stupid at times.

Breakthrough!

I didn’t make the wrong choice by picking Deepak’s LifeClass. It wasn’t the class. It was ME.

There was this moment at the end when Oprah was giving a speech and she did it twice. One was miked so we could hear and the other was just for the camera so it looked like she was just moving her lips onstage.

The second time she gave the speech, the audience was very quiet. We all just watched her up there as one does when Oprah is in the room. You just watch. And admire.

I turned to Elise and said Wow, this is such a profound moment for me. All 5,000 people in here can feel what it’s like to be me.

You could see Oprah and hear her faintly. Like a whisper. And you could see her arms move, her body language. But you couldn’t really get what she was saying. Not fully. It was as if she had lost her voice or we all had cotton in our ears.

It was an interesting moment and I have never quite had an experience like that.

All of a sudden, after struggling for most of the LifeClass, I didn’t feel so alone.

It was like she did it for me.

My mom just emailed me: Jen, don’t go into your story.

(How cute is my mom? Need to get her blogging soon!)

That came up again today in the LifeClass. The Story.

I am re-writing my story as we speak.

In the sky. In a chair in the sky next to a man who has just told me his whole story.

Stay tuned for my epiphany….

(Thank you Elise Ballard for that idea!)

Elise Ballard and I when Oprah first walked out. Look how happy we are! Check her out on Positively Positive too!

Jessica Ortner of "The Tapping Solution", me, and Serena Dyer (Wayne Dyer's daughter) today in NYC at Oprah's lifeclass

From Today’s LifeClass:

“If you want to be happy, make someone else happy. If you want to find the right person in your life, be the right person. If you want to see change in the world, become the change you want to see.” – Deepak Chopra

“The past is gone. The future is not here now. I am free of both. Right now I choose JOY.” Deepak Chopra‘s prayer for times of crisis.

Eric Handler, the mastermind behind Positively Positive, and I outside of Radio City Music Hall. I adore him

I admire Oprah so much for what she is doing. This LifeClass is really something spectacular. She is a visionary. Truly. What is going down in the LifeClass with all the interactive stuff is mind blowing.

I love seeing social media being used for such inspirational purposes.

To see all these people tweeting whether or not they live with an open heart or about their pain gives me goosebumps of the third kind. Like Close Encounters of the Third Kind but different.

Oprah is as I thought she would be. She is like an old friend. Isn’t that how we all feel? Like we actually know her? She is charismatic and strong and confident, and hot damn, she looked good.

Thank you Oprah and Harpo and Postively Positive for allowing me to be part of that magic today.

The more I live in the NOW, as Deepak spoke about, the more connected I become. The more alive, the more me, the more present. The more Love.

Don’t we all want to be love embodied anyway?

The great irony in what Oprah is doing with all this tweeting and social media is that she is having us actually connect more. She is asking us to look closer.

What has disconnected us is now bringing us closer. Thank you LifeClass.

Inspiration, manifesting

PMM: Pinch Me Moments.

April 1, 2012

I’m writing to you from the Upper East Side. As in New York City.

It’s so good to be back here. I feel more alive. I am awake. Really awake.

Thursday night, as I was teaching in SoHo at Yoga Vida, there was this moment when I caught my reflection in the windows facing Broadway. The buildings across the street and all the sweaty bodies reflected behind me in the reflection, and I thought This is where I am meant to be. I’m home.

I feel very much at home and comfortable on the East Coast.

Those that know me in person know that I am a bit of an anomaly in California.

So, I am here and loving it.

I taught my life affirming Manifestation Workshops in Philadelphia at Dhyana Yoga, my home studio there, and now in NYC at Yoga Vida in Soho and PURE Yoga West on the Upper West Side.

(By life affirming I mean we: sing, dance, journal, laugh, cry, play, go upside down, do partner work, write letters to our younger selves, twist, sweat and create new ideas of who we are. That kind of life affirming.)

I’ve never done this before but last night, as I sat at dinner with Wayne Dyer’s 4 ridiculously amazing and talented daughters, Eric Handler whose baby is Positively Positive and Oprah people, I pinched myself.

I reached under the table and pinched myself.

It hurt.

(I was just checking.)

Here I am in cities that are not where I live, selling out workshops. People are showing up in droves because they have read my words. That is my dream. Holy guacamole! They have read my words and have been so moved or affected that they came to my workshop which cost money. The green kind.

Here I am in the Village having a 5 hour lunch with my muse, the superstar and best selling author Karen Salmansohn, who also writes for Oprah. Telling her I would love to write for Oprah as well. (Wouldn’t you know just a few hours later I am at dinner with Oprah people and they are saying ” You should write for Oprah.com.”) Karen and I couldn’t part ways. Soul sisters is an understatement.

Here I am at a trendy Thai place in the Meat packing District of Manhattan having dinner with these folks and laughing my Pad Thai stuffed face off.

Three years ago I was asking: Egg whites or whole egg?. Chips or salad? More coffee?

Three years ago I was depressed and still did not have my hearing aid so I was half deaf and depressed. Ugh.

I had one of those moments last night where I simply stopped and acknowledged myself.

How often do you do that?

Like really, really acknowledge? Like the kind where you get goosebumps acknowledging?

Like when you get clear on what you have done and the goosebumps come.

Like when you get clear on who you are and the goosebumps come.

Like when you get clear on what you have overcome or broke through and the goosebumps come and never go away.

How often do we stop and acknowledge?

And, as my dear friend Frank Gjata always says: Acknowledge is Power.

(One of my favorite temporary tattoos of his from Conscious Ink.)

Lats night I looked at everyone at the table wearing my blue band. Yes, the misprinted ones that say Man-fest instead of Manifest. I sat across from the top producer at HARPO Studios wearing my blue bracelet as she ate her shrimp.

Skye and Serena Dyer (Wayne Dyer's daughters) wearing their Manifestation Man-festing bracelets.

It was such a chuckle moment.

I love chuckle moments.

When I realize how life works and how sometimes it is just so comical. How easeful. How’s it’s like one big ride.

When they all started toasting me last night I had to laugh at the hilarity of it. Toasting me, Jennifer Pastiloff, for making last night happen, for bringing everyone together.

(Funny because that is what I think of myself as: The Connector. Not the Yoga teacher, but the Connector.)

I have Wayne Dyer, Oprah and Positively Positive all on my vision board next to NYC. I have a picture of Oprah and under it says “Oprah’s Favorite Things” where I taped the words “Manifestation Retreats.”

Hee hee.

So yea, Oprah may not be at my next retreat just yet or saying that it is her favorite thing, but hot damn, her producers are having dinner with me, wearing my bracelets, asking me all about my blog. I’d say it was kind of a chuckle pinch me moment.

A CPMM: Chuckle Pinch Me Moment.

I may change my flight and stay for Oprah’s life class on Monday. My flight is out of Philly so I can be back for my early Equinox class Tuesday morning.

Last night I started to fret. I cannot miss another class. Bla. Bla. I have to get back. Bla bla.

I cannot recall the exact fretting. But it was something along those lines.

Then I thought: Wait a minute, Jennifer Pastiloff, just you wait a minute.

This is your dream, you nincompoop.

You would say no?

What am I afraid of?

Why would I say no?

Here it is. I am going to divulge the fear.

When I am happy I fear that it will be taken away, that I will wake up and be back to working at the Newsroom so I can say ” See, nothing good lasts.”

Eww, pop psychology is so cheesy and predictable.

I refuse to be cheesy and predictable.

My Equinox class will still be there for me if I miss one more to see Oprah.

I deserve to have my dreams come true.

There. I just said that.

Can you say that?

Join me please so I don’t feel like I am alone in a cab on the Avenue of Dreams all by my lonesome.

And guys? Bliss goes with everything.

Wear it all the time.

Serena Dyer, Harriet Seitler (executive VP for Harpo, as in Oprah, studios), and Eric Handler of Positively Positive all wear their Manifestation bracelets. Bam!

Serena tweeting. Follow her at @serenadyer
She is co-writing a book with her dad Wayne Dyer which I cannot wait for!

My most favorite tweet ever came last night from Serena Dyer.

Now, as you know, Wayne Dyer, her father, is my beloved teacher. She tweeted this:

Serena Dyer ‏ @serenadyer

The Dyer’s have adopted an honorary sister @ManifestYogaJen, just call her Sennifer 🙂

manifesting, Q & A Series

The Magical Serena Dyer: The Manifestation Q&A Series.

March 21, 2012

Welcome to The Manifestation Q&A Series. 

I am Jennifer Pastiloff and this series is designed to introduce the world to someone I find incredible. Someone who is manifesting their dreams on a daily basis.

This next guest is an exciting one, not only because she is the daughter of my beloved teacher and mentor Wayne Dyer, but because she happens to be one of the most beautiful, authentic and inspirational women I have come across. Oh, and she is funny. Really funny.

Serena Dyer is the second of Wayne Dyer’s daughters that has been featured on the Manifestation Q&A Series. The first was my friend Skye Dyer, the incredible singer, whom many of you have heard during Wayne’s specials. Wayne Dyer himself has also been featured here. I am working my way, slowly but surely, through the Dyer clan. One “S” name at a time.

And just to be clear on this whole manifesting business I am so fond of: it works.

Wayne Dyer is THE reason I call my company “Manifestation Yoga.”When I started to achieve success as a yoga teacher very early on in my career people would ask how it was that I made such profound changes in my life so quickly. How so many amazing things kept showing up for me, from being on Good Morning America and traveling around the world with sold out retreats/workshops or becoming a writer for Positively Positive. As Wayne says: it is not our job to ask “how” or “when” but to say YES! 

That is just what I did.

I do not think all of this happened because of Wayne Dyer but I do know that he was the most powerful teacher I could have ever prayed for. (And, to be clear, I did pray for a teacher.)

He showed up in my life exactly when I needed him to, as the teacher will do when the student is ready.

To see how incredible his daughters are is truly a testament that he walked the talk. That he lived the life he spoke of.

Serena is currently busy writing a book, traveling the world, cooking her butt off, running an anti-child trafficking site and laughing at herself. The last one just might be my favorite. 

Not only is she stunning, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously. (One of my favorite qualities in a person.) She was lucky enough to grow with spiritual parents who taught her and her siblings that: “they are unique little creations of God, perfect exactly as they are, no matter what, and no one can take that from them. My parents raised us on this principle and I am so grateful they did.”

Her answers are profound and funny, hilarious and humble. I cannot wait to read her book and sit down to the meal she has made for me. (Serena, did you read that last bit? I’ll bring the vino.)

I almost want to put her in my pocket and keep her for myself, but, I won’t be so selfish. World: here is the amazing Serena Dyer….

Jennifer Pastiloff: What are you most proud to have manifested in your life?

Serena Dyer: Travel. I regularly daydream about places I would like to go and experiences in foreign lands that I would like to have and even though I don’t usually know how I am going to pay for the trip or how I am going to get there, it always works out. I am constantly baffled how everything falls into place so easily. I have been to 30 countries so far and I don’t plan to stop traveling anytime soon!

 

 

Jennifer Pastiloff:  Not -For -Sale.org. Can you share with us a bit how this was born and how you became so passionate about this subject of child trafficking?

Serena Dyer: I was an undergrad at the University of Miami studying religion and human rights. I came across a statistic that said “there are more people enslaved today than there were at the height of the Atlantic slave trade.” I considered myself to be a well-informd and conscientious young woman and I couldn’t figure out how there could be more people in slavery today if it wasn’t in the news everyday. I kept wondering, “if this is true, why don’t more people know about it. Why am I not learning about this in school?”

So I began a long journey to discover as much as I could about modern day slavery and what I found is that although it has a new name, human trafficking is essentially the same thing as slavery and not only is it an enormous problem in our world today, but it is increasingly on the rise.

I have always had a desire to serve others in the ways that I knew how and so I decided to start a non-profit organization that uses advocacy and education to spread awareness about this horrific practice. My organization, www.not-for-sale.org is in the beginning stages but I am proud of our web-presence and some of the ideas we have begun to generate.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What is your favorite part about traveling?

Serena Dyer: My favorite part about traveling is that I not only get to learn something about humanity and the world, I also get to learn something new about myself. I love new things and change and traveling, for me, is better than opening a present on Christmas morning. Waking up in a foreign place and having the whole day to just immerse yourself in a new culture is really exhilerating and energizing for me.

Jennifer Pastiloff: Tell us a bit about your love of cooking.

Serena Dyer: I love to cook because I love to eat! I like taking a whole countertop filled with ingredients and turning them into a delicious meal for everyone to share. I cook about 4 or 5 nights a week for my boyfriend!

Jennifer Pastiloff: What is the greatest lesson you have learned from running your anti-child trafficking site?

Serena Dyer: Since I am in the beginning stages of the site I am still learning a lot but basically that things take time and you have to be patient with the process and with others if you want to see really good results.

Jennifer Pastiloff: From your father, Wayne Dyer?

Serena Dyer: The greatest gift I have learned from my dad is that I was born with a little piece of God inside of me and that little piece of God connects me with everyone and everything. It is God that is looking out from behind my eyes, from all of our eyes, and knowing that I feel perfect, I feel safe and I feel incredibly loved.

Also, that if there is anything I want to manifest into my life I just have to align my thoughts and energy with it in order to become it, because you attract who you are, not what you want.

Jennifer Pastiloff: From the process of writing a book?

Serena Dyer: To be patient with myself, to accept myself as I am and not be so hard on myself.

Jennifer Pastiloff: From having 7 siblings?

Serena Dyer: You are never as cool as you think. (note from Jen: This girl is hilarious!)

Jennifer Pastiloff: From traveling?

Serena Dyer: Have an open mind to everyone and everything you meet. Just because something isn’t familiar to you, or makes sense to you, does not make it wrong or bad.

Also, don’t go to foreign countries expecting to get scrambled eggs and bacon the way we can get it in America… in fact, just don’t order scrambled eggs at all cause you will never get what you expect. Or iced coffee for that matter.

Jennifer Pastiloff: From cooking?

Serena Dyer: Sometimes when things don’t turn out they way they looked online, you didn’t fail.. they just used photoshop.

Jennifer Pastiloff: Gratitude is the greatest force In my life. Most of my classes are set to this theme. If you could say thank you right now, who would it be to?

Serena Dyer: My parents. Every week I see a story of another kid that committed suicide because of bullying. Every week I am reminded that kids weren’t taught that they are unique little creations of God, perfect exactly as they are, no matter what, and no one can take that from them. My parents raised us on this principle and I am so grateful they did.

Jennifer Pastiloff: When was the last time you laughed at yourself?

Serena Dyer: I crack myself up all day long and usually I laugh out loud and people look at me funny. About an hour ago I just saw paparazzi jump out to photograph this actress and there was a split second that I thought they were photographing me and afterwards when I realized that I actually thought that I laughed really hard- and almost tweeted it but then realized other people might not find it as funny as I did!

Jennifer Pastiloff: Who/what inspires you most?

Serena Dyer: Children inspire me the most. They are present, they are in awe of everything they see, they seek adventure and they are always learning and expanding. Children just want to love and be loved and when you are loved by a child, you really come alive. I have 8 nieces and nephews and I spend a ton of time with them and I always feel so present and aware when I am with them.

Jennifer Pastiloff: Who has been your greatest teacher?

Serena Dyer: I am not sure yet, at the end of my life I may have an answer but right now there are about 12 people vying for first place.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What is your favorite part about traveling with your dad?

Serena Dyer: Watching him do what he loves to do and seeing the reactions of people whose lives he has touched.

Jennifer Pastiloff: Some words Serena lives by?

Serena Dyer: Arrange whatever pieces come your way- Virginia Woolf

Jennifer Pastiloff: Can you share with us about the book you are writing?

Serena Dyer: I am writing a book about being raised with spiritual parents, from the perspective of the child (me). People always ask my brothers and sisters and I what it was like to be raised by Wayne Dyer and so I am telling them- and let me tell you, it was weird. Haha only kidding!

Jennifer Pastiloff: Who would be your dream person to do a Foreword for your book?

Serena Dyer: My dad is doing it, I never even thought about someone else!! 

Jennifer Pastiloff: How can we get involved in helping to stop child trafficking?

Serena Dyer: You can go on www.not-for-sale.org and sign up for an e-alert that will let you know when a new bill or law is being passed that might need your support.

Also, the Somaly-mam foundation is incredible and the work they are doing all over the world would literally blow your mind. Somaly-mam builds shelters for girls in foreign places to escape to if they are being forced into prostitution or sexual slavery. Somaly-mam is a survivor and every penny donated goes toward helping the girls she rescues, some who are as young as 4.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What is one message you would pass on right now to someone looking to manifest their best selves?

Serena Dyer: Offer to the world what it is you want to attract. If you want love then offer love to everyone you meet. In other words, become what it is that you feel is missing in your life.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What brings you the most joy? Your joy list….

Serena Dyer:  My family

My boyfriend Matt

My best friend Lauren

My nieces and nephews (which are family but they deserve their own category cause they are so f’ing cute)

My friends

Traveling

Cooking

Reading

Talking

Great dinner with friends and great wine

Feeling successful and knowing i am doing great work

The little voice inside of me that says thank you to all of my food and God bless you to people I walk by that look like they need an extra blessing

Jennifer Pastiloff: I do an exercise in my class called “I am-ness.” Finish the sentence I am _______________.

Serena Dyer:  I am divine love, I am. (I say this at night before bed).

Jennifer Pastiloff: Where can we find more of Serena Dyer?

Serena Dyer:  serenadyer.com

twitter.com/serenadyer

facebook.com/serena.dyer1

stop-child-trafficking.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jen’s “rules”:

1. Be Kind.

2. Have a sense of humor especially when it comes to yourself

3. Write poems, even if only in your head

4. Sing out loud, even if badly

5. Dance

6. If you don’t have anything nice to say… you know the deal

7. Find things to be in awe of

8. Be grateful for what you have right now .

9. Watch Modern Family, read Wayne Dyer, and end every complaint with “ But I’m so blessed.”

10. Duh, do yoga

11. Don’t worry. Everyone on Facebook seems like they have happier and funner lives. They don’t.

12. Tell someone you love that you love them. Right now.

13.. Take more pictures.

14. Forgive yourself for not being perfect. no such thing.

15. Thank the Universe in Advance

**********

Jennifer Pastiloff is the founder of The Manifest-Station. Her work has been featured on The Rumpus, The Nervous Breakdown, Jezebel, Salon, and more. Jen leads her signature Manifestation Retreats & Workshops all over the world. The next retreat is to Ojai, Calif over Labor Day. Check out jenniferpastiloff.com for all retreat listings and workshops to attend one in a city near you. Next up: Seattle, London, Atlanta, South Dakota, NYC, Dallas, Tucson & The Berkshires (guest speaker Canyon Ranch.) She tweets/instagrams at @jenpastiloff.

manifesting

Be. Amazed. Now.

March 21, 2012

Take a picture of your face and remember

That in many years  you will be amazed at how gorgeous you were.

Be amazed now.

~excerpt from a poem I wrote called “How To Make a Life” 
Honored that my friend, muse and partner in crime has created this poster with my words. Stay tuned for Karen Salmansohn and my newest project: Man-festing!
More on karen at www.notsalmon.com
Feel free to share this poster, and, remember, whatever you do, be amazed. Now.
Yes, right this very moment.
**************************
Jennifer Pastiloff will be teaching at the Tadasana International Yoga & Music Festival over Earth Day weekend on the beach in Santa Monica, CA, April 20– 22. Click here to check out the festival website and purchase tickets. Enter the code Pastiloff for a $50 discount! (Please note that discount codes expire April 1).
manifesting

Man-Festing!

March 21, 2012
My biggest and most well known rule in my class is:

If you fall you must laugh.

I have these bracelets. You probably have one. They are cobalt blue and they say: What Are You Manifesting? on one side. The other, and more important, from a business standpoint-side: Manifestationyoga.com.

The inside says: Manifesting Your Life, One Laugh at a Time.

So, yea, I have these bracelets.

I ordered 400 of said bracelets for my upcoming east coast tour. (Like I’m Prince. On tour and all.)

I opened up the bag on Wednesday to put one on and nearly fainted. Not from the chemical smell of 400 rubber bands, although that was bad. Very bad.

No. Because they said: Man Festationyoga.com.

Man festation?

Am I being infested with men? WTF!!!

Where is my “I”????

It’s crucial!

Ok, so here is my confession:

I did not, in any way, shape or form, laugh when I fell.

I kicked the door in and threw the 400 bracelets across the room and ended up missing Annie Carpenter’s yoga class.

What am I going to do with 400 Man Fests? I yelled at my front door as I kicked it in.

Why couldn’t they forget the question mark or the word What or You?

No. It had to be my website address.

Of course it did.

Now, when people go to find me at Man-festation yoga.com they will most likely end up at a porn site.

I can see this is where my opportunity to laugh was. I am laughing now but I can assure you when it happened, I was not laughing.

I realized the err in my ways quite quickly and brought one of the bags to class. I have 4 bags of 400, mind you.

The theme of class this week is kindness.

I told my students the story and gave them each a bracelet to remind them of 3 things.

1.) To not take life so seriously.

2.) As a reminder to be kind and hopefully to buy the cup of coffee for the person in line behind you at the coffee shop.

3.) To Man-fest, of course.

I write about it on Facebook and all the ladies want one.

 I will get a man with it? Give me 5!

I now have 79 requests for Man-festation bracelets!

FYI: I called company and they said they would get me new ones as fast as they could. Hopefully by my flight Monday night or else it looks like I will be adding an “I” between the words Man and Fest to 400 blue bands with a black Sharpie on the plane.

Jokes aside, I see how I overreacted in the moment. 

I’m still working on it, folks. Sigh.

I got over it pretty fast, but next time, God-willing there is no next time, I won’t kick my door in, miss yoga and throw a bag of 400 smelly blue rubber bracelets down the stairs.

So, in honor of having a sense of humor, please tell me what you think Man-festing is below……

*******************************************

Below are some excerpts from an amazing email I received last night from a student in one of my Man-Festing classes yesterday:

 The beautiful thing about the Universe is there are never misTAKES . . .only misGIVES.

Jen, this entire situation with the bands is it is perfect. One of the things I value most about your classes, is you truly teach people to laugh at themselves, lighten up & simply have fun . . .yet you do a beautiful job of weaving in the sacred spirit of yoga . . .you bring such a lovely balance of ying & yang energy to the table.

What is most interesting is did you notice what was letter left off the bands? “I”. You are all about the WE Jen . . .more than most people on this planet – everything you stand for & downward dog for ; ) is based on love . . .WEllness has “WE” in it . . .Illness has “I” in it . . . you are a champion for speaking with kindness to ourselves – thinking well – BEING well. So isn’t it it very interesting of all the letters that could be missing on your bands – it just “happened to be the ‘I’.

 Your bands ask “What are you manifesting?” What you manifested was 800 bands instead of 400 – that is one mother fucking powerful manifestor! What you manifested was support and unexpected gifts . . .what you manifested was a gentle reminder that what your ego perceives as imperfection is actually perfect!

Jennifer Pastiloff will be teaching at the Tadasana International Yoga & Music Festival over Earth Day weekend on the beach in Santa Monica, CA, April 20– 22. Click here to check out the festival website and purchase tickets. Enter the code Pastiloff for a $50 discount! (Please note that discount codes expire April 1).
Inspiration, manifesting, Owning It!

Speeding.

March 15, 2012

Yesterday as I was on my way to have a coaching session with the incomparable Frank Gjata I got pulled over.

“FOLLOWING OUR BLISS IS THE DESTINATION.”

– Frank Gjata

The cop didn’t like that when I told him that was my destination and thus explained why I had been speeding.

Where you going? Bliss! I’m in a hurry to get there, Officer. Please!

Ok, I didn’t really say that. I did beg and cry. A lot. It didn’t work. I got the speeding ticket.

Frank offers what he calls “Life Changing Moments” Sessions.

Imagine the irony that I am on my way to my very own life changing moment sesh and I get pulled over by a cop on a bike. It felt ironic to me.

Why?

Because I got the metaphor before Frank and I even began to dive into it.

Frank is the creator of Conscious Ink and Manifestation Tattoos and I am surprised he hasn’t come up with one yet that says “You are going past the speed limit.”

(Frank read: please create that tattoo, my friend?)

I am always speeding. It’s true.

Just look at my Facebook. Or Twitter. I am always getting asked “How do you do all you do? How do you keep up?”

A secret? I don’t!

I miss appointments and I forget. I double book. I get speeding tickets. Doh!

Yesterday’s ticket came at a perfect time. A life changing moment ( thanks Frank). Last week, one of my dearest friends, Steve Bridges passed away, as you may have read in earlier posts, and it was like a bucket of ice cold water poured over the body of my life.

I got very cold and very awake and very alive.

I also realized I no longer wanted to speed through.

Well, apparently I didn’t realize it fully because yesterday’s ticket was a gentle reminder that I had not committed to slowing the f*ck down.

I have committed to slowing down but I have not yet committed to giving up cursing. (Sorry folks with sensitive ears.)

I made some huge shifts yesterday which I am still processing but I will say this: I needed to get that ticket. I need to frame it and use it as a reminder that I can take my time. That I can breathe. That I can be present.

There it is.

Be present.

Frank asked me a question no one has ever asked me before.

In case you didn’t know I have profound hearing loss.

He asked me what part of my “not being able to hear” keeps me “from not being here”?

I wanted to leave when he asked me this. I had a realization that for as much as I talk about vulnerability, I didn’t like to be vulnerable. Damn you, Frank!

Yet I stayed. I won’t share all that we talked about but I will share that I think you need to get your arse over to see him. (Please do not speed.)

I will share that yes, yes it was a life changing moment and like his tattoo says that I wear on my forearm: There are no accidents.

Speeding ticket an accident? Nah.

A gentle reminder that I deserve to be fully here and that I am doing a disservice to others otherwise? Pretty much.

Is the ticket annoying and a waste of money? Maybe.

But maybe not.

Maybe, if I really follow-through on my break-through I will realize that although it cost me $400 or whatever a speeding ticket goes for these days, it will have gained me my life.

I may not be able to hear perfectly but I can be here perfectly.

Thank you Frank.

***So here is my question for YOU: Where, in your own life, can you stop speeding?***
I am excited to announce that I am an ambassador to the Ink.
I love being an ambassador for the amazing Manifestation tattoos! I am pleased to announce also that Frank will be a part of my Manifestation retreat May 4-6 and each retreat attendee will get a tattoo at the start of the weekend. It is sure to be amazing! Sign up here. www.jenniferpastiloff.com ( at the time of this writing there are 6 spots left)

Jennifer Pastiloff will be teaching at the Tadasana International Yoga & Music Festival over Earth Day weekend on the beach in Santa Monica, CA, April 20– 22. Click here to check out the festival website and purchase tickets. Enter the code Pastiloff for a $50 discount! (Please note that discount codes expire April 1.)

manifesting, Steve Bridges

What The Heck Does It Mean “To Manifest”?

March 8, 2012

What Are You Manifesting?

Manifesting, according to Jen Pastiloff means: Making Sh*t Happen! 

If you want to have something show up in your life you must first be able to imagine it. For a long time, this wasn’t an option for me. I simply could not un-see myself as: stuck, unworthy, lost, a non-working actress, “just” a waitress, a failure, among other non-fabulous things.

It’s like when you feel happy. It seems that you’ve always been happy and that you will always be happy. We also feel this way when we are sad, lonely, depressed, scared, heartbroken. I felt like I would always feel lonely, scared, depressed, lost and like a really bad waitress who spilled things on people. (How I lasted 13 years is truly beyond me.)

And then one day I didn’t feel that way anymore.

After 13 years of working in the same Los Angeles restaurant I decided to take a yoga teacher training with Annie Carpenter after coming to terms with the fact that yoga was keeping me from being hospitalized for depression daily. To make a long story short, I found my calling. I taught my first yoga class and can safely say, I knew I had a gift.

Was teaching yoga my gift? Not necessarily. It was what I always knew was my gift, even as a child: I could connect with people. I could provide a space for people to heal with my touch or my words or my humor or my music or my eyes. It didn’t matter to me, per se. What mattered is that I found something I wanted to do and I found an avenue to do it. After years of walking down the wrong street, I found a different avenue and I started to sprint.

Shortly after I taught my first class I was able to quit my waitressing job. I can only attribute my success to finally connecting to my purpose and finding what I was meant to be doing with my life. Finally allowing myself to imagine what was possible.

I started to believe in myself. I started to take risks. I smiled more. I got into a healthy relationship (now my husband), I healed from an eating disorder. I accepted my hearing loss. I admitted I actually had no desire to be an actress. Gasp! I changed my thoughts. I finally was able to say  I love what I do and I do what I love.

I decided to call my company Manifestation Yoga after listening to my teacher Wayne Dyer talk about manifesting at length. After years of having negative tapes run the show in my brain, I made room for new thoughts. Those new thoughts allowed me to take action, where before I felt stuck and incapable of moving. I realized that I had manifested the life I always wanted but had never allowed myself to imagine before.

Manifesting is not about sitting in a corner and wishing for something and then having it appear like some kind of fairy tale. Although that would be nice. It is a lot of work indeed. But before the work, there must be the thought. There must be imagination.

Even Einstein says that imagination is more important than knowledge. I started to use my imagination. I changed what my old tape, or mantra, was, as I call it in my classes nowadays. It used to be: I am nothing. I changed it to: I am powerful. I am on purpose. I am a successful yoga teacher and writer. I am a healer.  I am an inspirer ( I think I made that last word up.)

In my workshops I have people do an exercise called “ I am-ness.” (Pretty sure I made that word up, as well.) They get a partner and tell that person their own I am-ness. I ask them to finish the sentence I am ______. It cannot be I am hungry or I am broke or I am tired etc. (I knew from experience that these I Am’s didn’t get you very far.) I ask them: Who would you be if nobody told you who you were?

They then answer that powerful question and fill in the blank after I am, sharing it with their partner. This, of course, is according to their own imagination. After each has declared who they are, they stare into each other’s eyes for three solid minutes with no talking. They simply sit and witness the “I am” within themselves and in turn, in the other person. It takes not only imagination to declare the new “ I am”but a willingness. To sit and let someone look into your eyes for that long, especially after you have declared this I am, takes courage.

Some laugh and some cry and some squirm. Most have a profound revelation about what is possible when they decide to imagine who they are and declare it as their own truth. They then watch someone witness them in that very truth.

I will leave you with this: One of my dearest friends and students, Steve Bridges, died suddenly on Saturday in his sleep. He was with me in Mexico in February for my last and most profound retreat. After his death, the other retreat attendees started writing him posthumous letters. One said this:

You have profoundly affected my life. Especially when I stared into your eyes for three amazing minutes during yoga, and what I wrote down afterwards was: Steve= powerful, being, creator of love, confidence, kindness, strong. Power… I felt my power in his. The next day I said to you “ Steve, All I saw was power. It was amazing. I saw no fear.” And you looked at me with those brilliant blues and kindly said “Thank you”.

This is what manifesting is. Looking into someone’s eyes, especially your own, and declaring who you are. It is being with that truth. It is acting from that truth, and no matter what, and no matter who tells you different, absolutely living from thatassumption of who you are.

I use Steve Bridges as an example, not to make you sad about his passing, but to see what he was able to accomplish. He not only conveyed that he was powerful and a creator of love, but he allowed someone else to be in their own power. That is what a manifester does. And notice what he said in response. He said Thank you.

Imagination, action and gratitude. That’s it.

So I ask you: What are you manifesting?

Our beloved Steve Bridges. RIP.

Jennifer Pastiloff will be teaching at the Tadasana International Yoga & Music Festival over Earth Day weekend on the beach in Santa Monica, CA, April 20– 22. Click here to check out the festival website and purchase tickets. Enter the code Pastiloff for a $50 discount! (Please note that discount codes expire April 1.)