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karen salmansohn

Inspiration, Manifestation Retreats, Manifestation Workshops, manifesting

What I Learned From An 8 Year Old.

February 29, 2012

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By Jen Pastiloff.

This past weekend I taught my first workshops in Austin, Texas.

It went incredibly well. Here is the blog about that and my love letter to Austin.

I have been holding a Twitter contest with my friend Karen Salmansohn. It goes like this: Whoever tweets us the most what inspires them, wins. They also have to use the hashtag #manifest.

It’s been a little life changing to see what everyone has been tweeting to us.

It’s a win-win contest. The actual prize is a spot at my May Manifestation retreat to Ojai and a book by Karen (notsalmon.com).

So two people are in the lead for the contest. One woman lives in San Antonio and has a family and one is a college student who lives in Santa Barbara. I look forward to their hourly tweets. It’s a bit of an addiction. They keep me going throughout my day. Here are a few examples of their tweets.

@CarolJackson365 Inspired by kick ass cool contests that make me a better person. Thank you @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

The sun rising on unfamiliar horizons inspires me to replace concept with reality. #manifest @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen

Inspired by chats w/strangers that fill heart w/joy. Funny how lovely folks r when u let them b them @ManifestYogaJen @Notsalmon#manifest

Inspired by london and the oneness and connection of different cultures. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

inspiration is a cheeky pub waitress who gives you hell when you order a diet coke. such a delight! @ManifestYogaJen @Notsalmon

Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us-Pema chodron. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen#manifest

@KthrnGee The past couple of years I’ve been SO inspired by those who are AWAKE..if you know what I mean 😉 @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen#manifest

Inspiration makes my heart beat faster, it excites and motivates action for a better self. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

8yrs ago I was pressured to be in a gang. Crazy, right? Inspired by how far I’ve come. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

Lately, friendships have inspired me to stay away from those who add little value to my life. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

I choose to be inspired by the beauty of everyday life. I also choose love & wisdom. What do u choose? @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

People who are cold towards me inspire me to be kind. Love is a human need. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen #manifest

What would you do if your toddler told you she’s too fat? Love your INNER child; this inspires me. @Notsalmon @ManifestYogaJen#manifest

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

Carol is the mom who lives in San Antonio and Katherine is 21 and in college.

Carol shows up to my workshop in Austin. Get this: with her 8 year old daughter! Naturally at first I am thinking: Oh Shit!

Because yes, I say Shit a lot and I was a bit afraid I would have to censor myself.

Boy was I wrong!

(As a side note: Carol lives in San Antonio. She drove all the way to Austin. How did she find me in the first place? From my articles on Positively Positive. That my friends, is the power of social media. )

So Carol walks in with her daughter wearing my “What Are You Manifesting” tee which she had ordered last month. Her daughter gives me a gift. Two books about poetry. Because she told her 8 year old that I love poems.

(As a side note. Dear Universe, Thank you for sending me these people. There. Are. No. Accidents.)

I immediately ask Carol if she won the Twitter contest (as I knew at that time she was tied with sweet young Katherine) would she be able to fly out to California and get away? She said ” Oh, let someone else win. I have gotten more out of this then you will ever ever know.”

To say I was touched would be an understatement.

The people you need to meet always show up when you need them. I feel that way about them and I am sure they feel that way about me. Bam!

I needed to meet someone who was participating so fully in their life. Who was raising a child in this way. Who was so willing to be attentive and present and inspired.

And did I ever need to meet this kid of hers.

By the way, the 8 year old? Her name was Jen, too.

So at one point I ask the group to write a letter to their 16 year old selves. (Everyone had journals in the class. It’s a big part of the Manifestation workshop.)

I felt bad because Jen was only 8 so I said to her ” Jen, you can write a letter to your 5 year old self, ok?”

She wrote ” Dear 5 year old self…. being 8 is awesome!”

At one point everyone was in child’s pose. I was reciting one of my favorite quotes:

“If you knew who walked beside you at all times, on the path that you have chosen, you could never experience fear or doubt again.”

― Wayne W. Dyer

No one budged from child’s pose except 8 year old Jen.

She got up to pick up a pen and write down what I was saying!

I needed to meet this little angel to be reminded what is possible and to be inspired again.

To allow myself to be surprised.

She asked her mom after they got back to San Antonio if, for her birthday in July, she could have a yoga lesson by me.

I learned from an 8 year old: how to be brave, how to ask for what you want, how to pay attention, how to listen, how to laugh, how to do a fierce backbend, how to show love, how to be okay with the fact that you might be the only one in the room who doesn’t understand something and conversely how to be the only one in the room who DOES understand something.

So here is a letter to my 8 year old self, which is the age I somehow feel I stopped growing. It’s when my dad died. (Maybe that little Jen was a version of me. I have to make sure I didn’t imagine her.)

Dear 8 year old me:

Being 37 is awesome! I know you don’t believe me now because life sucks since your daddy died but it will be ok. You will fall in love and you will go out and inspire people with dance parties and twitter contests and you will meet little girls who will show you what it means to be fearless. You will never get over that little piece of sadness, that part of you that died when your dad died but you will indeed transform that into a whole lotta love. You will make up for all that frowning you do now when you are 37. You will remember who you really are. I’m here waiting for you.

Oh, and that noise in your head? Get used to it. It’s called tinnitus.

My Manifestation Workshop. Me, Carol from San Antonio and her 8 year old daughter Jen. Black Swan Yoga, Austin Texas.

Thank you mini Jen for showing up Saturday and showing me what it means to be inspired and committed and fearless. That’s what an 8 year old looks like to me.
 All of Jen Pastiloff’s events listed here.
Join Jen Pastiloff in Tuscany for her annual Manifestation Retreat. Click the sunflowers!

Join Jen Pastiloff in Tuscany for her annual Manifestation Retreat. Click the sunflowers!

Daily Manifestation Challenge, Owning It!

Keep on Keepin’ on. The DMC.

January 6, 2012

Dear Manifesters, how I have missed you and your comments to the Challenges!

It’s been a while since a Daily Manifestation Challenge (DMC) as I was busy in London and filming Good Morning America and the holidays (oh, life is rough, life is rough).

I hope you have enjoyed the Manifestation Q&A Series so far. It’s only getting more and more exciting. Next month Wayne Dyer is posting on my site. My dream come true! He is the reason I call my company “Manifestation Yoga.” I have manifested one of my biggest dreams in 2011 (GMA) and now this in 2012!

Today’s DMC is based on a status update I posted on my Facebook 2 days ago since it got a lot of attention. Here it is:

“I commend anyone who is “putting themselves out there”. Whatever way you are doing it: Bravo! It is not always easy and often scary and sometimes met with criticism, but trust me…. keep on! keep on! I bow to you.”

Today’s Challenge is this: Can you keep keepin’ on?

In the comment section below tell us in what way you plan to keep on trekking. To keep on going. To never, never , never give up.

As Tom Petty says, “I Won’t Back Down” ( I play this song a lot in my classes.)

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Take nothing personally.

I am going to give you an example.

Here I am putting myself out there daily.

Being very open and honest with people and laughing at myself on a daily basis. Talking about things like loss, my recovery from an eating disorder, my hearing loss etc. And excuse my language, but busting my ass 7 days a week teaching yoga and hustling, as it were. Yes, hustling. Teaching yoga to kids for free who have special needs like Down’s Syndrome, Autism, PWS, Cerebral Palsy etc. Anyway, what I do, how I roll. You get it.

So here I am fully exposed, putting myself out there, taking risks left and right. 

Sometimes falling but always, always getting back up again.

And would you believe there is someone with such a poisonous attitude toward me that they find every single thing I write, no matter what website or magazine, and post horrible hateful things about me? Who sends me mean emails? Who threatens me?

Do I stop writing? Nope. I write more. I write louder.

I know who this person even. Yikes! You might think it makes it a tad more difficult in a sense to “not take it personal”. To keep on. Especially with the knowledge I have.

And yet, that is what I do.

You might ask yourself: Self, how do you not take something personally when someone whom you used to be close with is attacking you for no apparent reason?

And you may have to whip out some self-help books to remember this one fact:

It’s not about you.

Its. Not. About. You.

So today, can you keep keepin’ on? Even if someone is slandering you on the internet? Even if you feel fat or broke? Even if you are tired or heartbroken or your mom just died? Even if you don’t “feel” like keepin’ on?

I know it ain’t easy.

But just do it. I bow to you.

We all bow to you.

This is why I have created this community website, this Daily Challenge. To keep coming back to this site and be reminded that although there may be bumps in the road, and although at times it may seem difficult, you must know this one thing: The Universe has got your back.

The amazing Karen Salmansohn, my greatest muse did this amazing poster. notsalmon.com

You keep me going, Tribe.

You with me?

@ManifestYogaJen

Guest Posts, Q & A Series

Best Selling Author & Oprah Columnist Karen Salmansohn: The Manifestation Q&A Series.

December 24, 2011

Dear Manifesters, I am so honored to bring Karen Salmansohn, one of my greatest inspirations and muses to the Manifestation Q&A. 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.

By now, you have all seen Karen’s posters (NotSalmon) on my blog or my Facebook page. As is Christy Turington, our last guest, and myself, Karen is also a contributor for the incredible Positively Positive website. i decided a few months ago to surround myself with people who inspire me and make me want to write more, dance more, sing more and love more. Her posters and words make me feel good. They make me want to get up on my desk and do a little jig. Sometimes I do just that. 

Karen has a generous spirit and a ” I-don’t-take-myself-too-seriously” attitude which I admire. That is one of my favorite qualities in a person, to be sure. Her joy and humore shines through in all her posters and her books. 

I am also in love with her story. She was very high up in the advertising world and left it all to follow her bliss. Truly, a woman after my own heart.

Please read the following post and fall in love with my friend Karen Salmansohn. It is impossible not to. She is simply irresistible. Yea, like the song.

I have also included links to her books because you will want one.

You’ll see.

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

Karen Salmansohn: I am most proud of my now 16 month old son – my miracle child – as I’m a late in life mom. My son is the kindest and happiest child – always smiling. Already at 16 months, it’s obvious he’s a milk bottle “half full” kinda guy! 🙂 Truly. Someone in my building came up to me the other day and said, “Your son is doing the building a public service. He’s always smiling that big happy smile – and waving hello to everyone – making everyone who sees him so very happy. He always makes my day.” My son truly has the most beautiful spirit. 

And I also have great appreciation for being able to do my passion of writing and designing books and posters which help empower people to live their most fulfilling lives – my brand of what I call “self help for people who wouldn’t be caught dead doing self help.”

Jennifer Pastiloff:  What are your favorite top 5 NotSalmon posters?(include pics.)

Karen Salmansohn: These 5…

Jennifer Pastiloff: What is the greatest lesson have you learned from your son?

Karen Salmansohn: I’ve become aware of how closely linked curiosity and happiness are. My son is always so curious about everything he sees, hears, tastes, touches – and this curiosity keeps him in a constant state of delight and appreciation.

I’ve been reminded how the best way to stop negative thinking is not merely by stopping it. You also have to swap it. You have to do what I call a “stop and swap.” What I mean by this: If my son is crying over something – like how I won’t let him play with my laptop – I can’t simply tell my son, “No you can’t play with mommy’s laptop.” I have to offer him something new to play with – so he can refocus his mind away from the laptop. Without swapping in something new, my son will naturally keep returning to his negative thoughts about how he’s upset he can’t play with my laptop. But as soon as I give my son a fun toy to play with, his mind is refocused and not thinking about my laptop at all. Ditto with us adults. If we’re stuck in a negative mindset – thinking about regrets, worries, fears, resentments – it’s not enough just to tell ourselves we have to stop these negative thoughts. If we don’t have something new to think about in replacement, we will keep going back to them. Hence we have to swap these negative thoughts for positive ones. We adults also have to do a stop and swap – and trade in our negative thoughts for a positive thoughts to latch onto. This is one of the many reasons why I’m a big believer in writing gratitude lists. When you’re having a negative thought, you can stop it and swap it for something you’ve written on your gratitude list – and immediately refocus your attentions onto something which will make you feel happier.

Jennifer Pastiloff: How was NotSalmon born? I believe I read that you came from an advertising background. I am inspired daily by you, and so are all my readers, and we would love to know how you manifested this dream into what it is today?

Karen Salmansohn: Yes, I used to be in advertising – but I always wanted to be a writer. I was a senior VP and creative director at the age of 27 – and I won a CLIO my first year in the business. I worked with the big guy agencies like J. Walter Thompson, Young and Rubicam and McCann-Erickson. I kept threatening to quit to write books, and my parents would say, “How can you quit now – when you’re doing so well?” But the truth is, if I were doing lousy, I probably would have stayed to prove something to myself. But I figured if I could do well at something I didn’t like so much, I’d do far better at something I was passionate about – and I was passionate about books. And so I quit and didn’t tell my parents for a few weeks. I just didn’t want them to keep talking me out of quitting. I developed what I call “Mr Magoo Vision.” You remember how the near blind Mr Magoo cartoon character never noticed all the cars honking as he crossed the street? He focused on MUST GET TO OTHER SIDE OF STREET. That was me when I left advertising. I stayed focused on MUST GET PUBLISHED and tried not to notice all the honking naysayers. To keep my intentions strong, every time I passed a book store I’d head to the shelf where all the authors who’s last names began with “S” were. I envisioned my book on the shelf next to them. I was excited to see I’d be in good company. My last name in Salmansohn. I’d be a neighbor to Salinger. My first published book was a novel – which I sold to St. Martin’s Press to be book – and then got optioned by Miramax to be a movie starring Marissa Tomei. I wrote the screenplay – but alas it was never greenlit to be filmed. But you never know… 🙂

Jennifer Pastiloff: What are you most inspired by? Where does the daily source of inspiration for your posters come from?

Karen Salmansohn: A lot of what I write is inspired from my own life – the challenges I’m dealing with – and trying to gain insight about. I love writing. I’ve been writing in journals since I was 12 years old – and for me writing has always been cathartic and therapeutic. For me a journal is like a Ouija board. I sit down in front of it with no clues as to what I’m going to be writing, then start writing, until then suddenly I realize, “Ohhhhh, so that’s what I’m thinking.” Basically, I not only write about what I know – I write about what I didn’t know that I knew until I started to write! I’m joking – but I’m serious.

As far as my posters, I started to design them each morning after my son was born, because I no longer had the time and concentration to write pages of concentrated thoughts with a baby in the house. I now had diaper changes and Mickey Mouse Hot Diggety Dog dances to do. I found it was easier to start designing a poster – be interrupted by my little dude – then return to finish this poster – than it was to start/stop/start/stop writing cohesive paragraphs of thought. And so I started to create these posters in replacement for my morning writings.

 When I’m designing my posters, I usually have Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse playing on the TV in the background as I work. Sometimes I wonder if the playful creativity and music from these terrific shows is somehow contributing to my creative process. I also take breaks in designing a morning poster to play with my son – and perhaps this loosens up my creative thinking.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What do you do when you feel stuck?

Karen Salmansohn: I meet a friend. I read a book. I see a movie. I drink too much coffee. I look at videos on youtube. I go for a walk. I dance with my son to all kinds of music. I drink too much coffee. I play on Facebook. I re-organize my closets. I drink too much coffee.

Jennifer Pastiloff: What are you up to now? Is there another book on the way? Where can we find more of Not Salmon?

Karen Salmansohn: I love writing and designing books – and am excited to have a new one coming out next year called INSTANT HAPPY – published by the same pub house as my best selling HOW TO BE HAPPY DAMMIT. The mission for this book is to create an instant peptalk for people dealing with challenging times – in the same way my BOUNCE BACK BOOK offered support.

I’m also psyched to now be offering new ebooks on my site — like my newly released BUSINESS LESSONS OF A SWIMMING COCKTAIL WAITRESS and PRINCE HARMING SYNDROME. Plus I’m excited about my new shop at my site – which offers a line of goods which inspire people to feel and do good – like inspiring, tees, totes, clocks, coffee mugs, etc. (I’m drinking coffee out of my NICE GUYS ARE THE SEXIEST coffee mug right now!) Plus, my website presently offers all kinds of FREEBIE screensavers and ecards – which I’ll be continuing to be updating.

 Basically, I invite everyone to come visit my site notsalmon.com to find more stuff – and find out more about my stuff. 🙂

Jennifer Pastiloff: My favorite things in a person are a sense of humor and gratitude. You possess both, obviously. If you could say thank you right now, who would it be to?

Karen Salmansohn: Well, first – love to thank you for all your kind comments – and inviting me to come play with you and be on your wonderful site! I think you’re terrific – and am thankful that the wacky world of social media connected us.Next up, I’d thank coffee – for making finding time to do everything I need to do in a day possible. Next up I’d thank my wonderful and supportive partner Howard – my human caffeine. 🙂

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Follow Karen on Facebook too!

Daily Manifestation Challenge

Coulda Woulda Shoulda. The DMC.

November 25, 2011

Coulda Woulda Shoulda.

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Blah Blah.

Happy Black Friday.

Bah, humbug! I like blue or red. Or magenta.

Magenta Friday! And a Happy One To Ya! I hope you are still feeling grateful and thankful and full of food.

Another brilliant poster from my friend and source of inspiration Karen Salmansohn of notsalmon.com

I wasn’t going to do a DMC today (Daily Manifestation Challenge in case you hadn’t caught on yet) but I fell upon Karen’s poster and I thought: this is too good to pass up.

I used to spend much of my life saying: I should have….. I wish I would have……. I wish I hadn’t….. I could have………

Oh? You want me to fill in the sentences?

Ok. I am down with being very honest these days.

Here is what I used to say. A lot. Old tapes, if you will.

I should have stayed in NYC and not moved to LA. I probably would be a famous writer and wear turtle necks and live in a cute apartment in the West Village and my life would be perfect.

I wish I would have realized how beautiful I was when I was younger instead of hating myself so much.

I wish I hadn’t said “I hate you” to my father right before he died. Those were the last words we spoke. Maybe he wouldn’t have died?

I could have probably been a successful actress if I had just wanted it more, or been prettier or tried harder or been skinnier or……..

Being honest is so scary but feels so good. So refreshing!

I no longer say these things. Not in my head. Not out loud. Never. (Well, mostly never. Sticking with the honesty thing here.)

I decided at some point to shift my thoughts and my beliefs and live in the present. It’s nice here. I think i will stay awhile.

For a lot of my life I lived in 1983 even when it was 2003. Sound familiar? I allowed myself to be immobilized by the past. Now that is way scarier than being honest, folks. I

Dear Manifesters, I changed my whole life by changing my thoughts and taking action in the NOW. Yes, once in a while I longingly look toward my past and wish I had done it different. Then I wake the heck up. I mean, I wouldn’t be my Manifesting Self if I hadn’t gone through exactly what I had gone through. If I hadn’t done it exactly like that. There is no “it should have been this instead of that.” There is only that. It is impossible to think there could have been a this. This or That. 

Choose one and move one.

No more Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. Blah Blah. Seriously Manifesters, can you add your comment below? Write down where you have either made a shift and are no longer living in the ” shoulda woulda coulda” mindset or where you are going to start today?

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“The Choice Is Yours! You can get with this or you can get with that. I think you’ll get with this, for this is where it’s at!”

( you hear this song a lot if you come  to my yoga classes!)

Manifesting Your Life,

One Laugh at a Time,

jen (@manifestyogajen on twitter)

Uncategorized

Daily Manifestation Challenge. Are you in?

October 9, 2011

As I start to write my book. Wow, I just reread that sentence: As I start to write my book. Or that fragment of a sentence, which is how I prefer to write. I just reread it, and it hit me… I am writing a book! Get ready world!

As I go through this journey I am going to send out weekly and daily challenges. They will help me as much as they may (or may not) be helping you. I would love people to take the challenges on and comment on what is coming up or how it’s going.

Today’s:

Karen Salmonsohn's art. She is a role model to me.

Join me in the Manifestation Challenge! I am committed to releasing the thought ” I am tired.” I constantly say it in my mind, even when I may not be really tired at all. I literally wake up and blurt it out before I know if I am truly exhausted. It’s like a broken record. After a while, I start to believe it. And you know what? If you say it aloud, which I do often… NO ONE CARES! No one gives a flying rat’s a** ( rhymes with grass) if you slept your full 8 hours. I am fully awake, alive and inspired!

I am also releasing the negative thought that I don’t have enough money or I will somehow run out soon enough and end up in a box on the street. That there isn’t enough. Sentence fragment again, I know. It’s how. I speak. With pause. Anything I need is on it’s way. I have an abundance of wealth, financially and otherwise.

Will you join me in the challenge? What thought can you release that is no longer serving you? What are you repeating over and over in your mind like a dingy old broken record from the 80’s? What can you replace it with? What mind virus can you kick to the curb? Which new thought can you place in the vacant apartment where the old negative one used to dwell?

Place your comments below and let me know how it is going. I support you fully. I am on this journey as well, learning how to be the best Jen I can be. You be the best whatever your name is. Unless your name is Jen, then you too can be the best Jen you can be.

Good luck. It may be bumpy but buckle your seatbelt, grab a glass of wine and never, ever stop doing yoga. (Try not to drink the wine and do the yoga at the same time though. Wine AFTER yoga. Repeat.)

Forgiveness, Inspiration

Perfect.

July 26, 2011

Perfect: being entirely without fault or defect : flawless <a perfect diamond>

Then she told me something that her 6 year old son Will said and I realized the err of my ways. It is brilliant and I will now steal it and use it in class. Quoting Sir Will, of course.

He’s just learned the word ‘extinct’ at school. He comes in and says :

“Mom, why isn’t the word ‘perfect’ extinct since nothing is perfect?”

My point exactly, Will! Why hadn’t I said this yet? ( Because often 6 year olds are smarter, more observant and more honest.)

He made this deduction himself after the constant reminder from his mom that no one is perfect.

As I often say in class: Perfect people are boring people.

I even said it on Good Morning America! ( Aren’t they though?)

All jokes aside, at some point I forgave myself for not being perfect. For many years, I struggled with an eating disorder and the feeling that I had to be/look perfect. This nearly killed me, in many ways. I still struggle with this in yoga class at times, I won’t lie to you. We all do. But it’s a silly notion, this extinct idea. I am committed to not being perfect. Conforming absolutely? Who wants that? Excellent beyond improvement? Blergh.

To be clear, we are perfect. Perfectly imperfect. I can’t hear well. That’s ok. My nephew has Prader Willi Syndrome and Autism and he is perfect as he is.

It’s this idea of perfection as something outside of ourselves. As something better than ourselves. As something someone else has decided. The idea of perfect as something unattainable.

I believe it is most certainly inside each and every one of us already. But let’s unite and give up this notion that it isn’t.

A child’s laugh is perfect. A sunset blue and purple as a bruise is perfect. A good cup of coffee can damn well be perfect.

Check out this poster one of my dearest friends Karen Salmansohn made. (Yes, the unstoppable bestselling author)

In the comment section below please answer: Where in your own life can you stop trying to be perfect?