When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Yoga Bear chose me.
For quite some time, I had been talking about wanting to get involved in charity work. Talking about it and actually doing it are very different things.
When my nephew Blaise was born three years ago with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a very rare genetic disorder with many symptoms, one of which is a feeling of constant starvation (people with this disorder never feel full and can literally eat themselves to death), I fell into a deep depression. “When in doubt, focus out,” I kept repeating, to myself, knowing that I needed to shift the focus from myself and my own sadness. I remembered my teacher Wayne Dyer’s question “How may I serve?”
The Yoga Bear postcard was sitting at Liberation Yoga, a studio in Hollywood where I teach. It was love at first sight. The little bear on the postcard called my name.
“Jen! Over here. Pick me up!” I did.
The rest is history, as they say.
Yoga Bear is a nonprofit organization created by Halle Tecco that provides free Yoga to post-treatment cancer survivors. Unfortunately, we all know someone who has been affected by cancer. I loved the universality of Yoga Bear. Neither Yoga nor Yoga Bear is discriminatory. Sadly, cancer isn’t discriminatory either, which is one of the prime reasons I feel it’s a great idea to be an advocate for cancer research, preventive medicine and nonprofits supporting people.
When I offered to give private Yoga sessions to those in need, I was initially paired with a woman only a few years older than myself, who had battled and survived breast cancer. This in itself was a wake-up call for me. My age? Breast cancer?
She had lost her job, was living back at home with her family, was deeply in debt due to the medical bills and was also coping with tremendous depression. She was unable to cry or release any of the emotional pain she was holding onto. She was numb. I resonated with her immediately.
I have always known that I wanted to be a healer of some sort, whether through my poetry, my touch or my words. I have a hearing problem, which leaves me highly attuned to my other senses and to other people. When I met this woman, I knew that I was on the right path. I had something to offer: My love.
I invited her to attend all of my Yoga classes for free and I watched her transformation over the months. She started to blossom. Finally, one day, during savasana (final relaxation), she started weeping. She finally started to let go of the cancer, the chemo, the sadness. It was just the beginning but from that point on I watched as Yoga helped her release what was no longer serving her and begin anew. As she began to soften her muscles, her brain began to soften and the protective shell began to crack. She began to know herself again through the Yoga, not as a cancer patient, but as a survivor. She started laughing more, she lost weight, she became more social; she began to love her body again.
I was inspired to do more – If I could be there for one person, imagine what an army of us could do?
Yoga Bear: Survivor Island
In November, 2009, I planned and, with the help of other volunteers, hosted a fundraiser at Yogaco in Santa Monica for Yoga Bear, “Yoga Bear: Survivor Island.” It was inspiring to see the outpouring of support from people who donated prizes, purchased raffle tickets, gave massages, practiced Yoga, laughed, sang, listed to music and came together in community. We raised more than three thousand dollars to support local Yoga Bear efforts, but even more significant, at least for me, was that hundreds of people now knew about Yoga Bear. I wanted Yoga Bear to become a household name, so that people would know if there were a cancer survivor they had somewhere to go, somewhere to come home.
Yoga Bear showed me my purpose in life: To serve. When we give back, a magical internal shift occurs. We feel deeply connected to our purpose, to humanity. When I saw how many lives we were touching, it renewed my commitment to teaching Yoga – and to giving of my heart and time to those who needed my efforts. (My February, 2010, wedding, also held at Yogaco, accepted donations to Haiti relief in lieu of gifts.) The omnipresent magic of Yoga is apparent and makes a difference. We are always presented with opportunities to help.
Get Involved
Yoga Bear is always looking for studios willing to donate series of classes to gift to a cancer survivor. Yoga Bear matches an individual with a studio or teacher. Please emailHalle@yogabear.org or jennifer@yogabear.org if you want to get involved or donate in some way. If you are a survivor, visit Yoga Bear to create a free profile at: yogabear.org.
Yogapalooza
June 6 is National Cancer Survivors Day. In honor, Yoga Bear is hosting Yogapalooza, a fundraiser to support transformation to be held at YogaWorks Southbay. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: yogabear.org.
Jennifer Pastiloff is an NYU graduate from Philadelphia who teaches in Santa Monica, California. She is a volunteer for Yoga bear, and an advocate for Prader Willi research. She teaches at Yogaco and other studios around town, leads retreats worldwide and teacher trainings at Yogaco. jenniferpastiloff.com.
