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An inspirational memoir about how Jennifer Pastiloff's years of waitressing taught her to seek out unexpected beauty, how deafness taught her to listen fiercely, how being vulnerable allowed her to find love, and how imperfections can lead to a life full of wild happiness.
Centered around the touchstone stories Jen tells in her popular workshops, On Being Human is the story of how a starved person grew into the exuberant woman she was meant to be all along by battling the demons within and winning.
Jen did not intend to become a yoga teacher, but when she was given the opportunity to host her own retreats, she left her thirteen-year waitressing job and said “yes,” despite crippling fears of her inexperience and her own potential. After years of feeling depressed, anxious, and hopeless, in a life that seemed to have no escape, she healed her own heart by caring for others. She has learned to fiercely listen despite being nearly deaf, to banish shame attached to a body mass index, and to rebuild a family after the debilitating loss of her father when she was eight. Through her journey, Jen conveys the experience most of us are missing in our lives: being heard and being told, “I got you.”
Exuberant, triumphantly messy, and brave, On Being Human is a celebration of happiness and self-realization over darkness and doubt. Her complicated yet imperfectly perfect life path is an inspiration to live outside the box and to reject the all-too-common belief of “I am not enough.” Jen will help readers find, accept, and embrace their own vulnerability, bravery, and humanness.
Jennifer Pastiloff travels the world with her unique workshop On Being Human, a hybrid of yoga-related movement, writing, sharing aloud, letting the snot fly, and the occasional dance party. She has been featured on Good Morning America, New York Magazine, Health Magazine, CBS News, and others for her unique style of teaching, which she has taught to thousands of women in sold-out workshops all over the world. Jen is also the guest speaker at Canyon Ranch and Miraval Resorts, and she leads Writing and The Body workshops with author Lidia Yuknavitch, as well as retreats with Emily Rapp Black. Founder of the online magazine The Manifest Station, when Jen is not traveling she is based in Los Angeles with her husband and son and a cup of coffee, but her heart is still in Philadelphia, where she was born.
Praise for On Being Human
“With harrowing vulnerability and badass candor, Jen Pastiloff has written a gritty and passionate memoir.”
“A powerful account of hearing loss and learning to communicate in a new way—through yoga, gratitude and radical honesty.”
“This memoir details the author’s life journey with refreshing honesty, outlining the path she took to (finally) start a fulfilling career and build a family after struggling with hearing loss and the death of her father. This is definitely worth reading if you’re in need of a bit of inspiration this summer.”
“In this candid memoir, Manifest-Station blogger Pastiloff transforms from a troubled restaurant server at a celebrity haunt in Santa Monica, Calif., into a yoga teacher and maven for self-discovery. . .Readers feeling stuck in their lives will devour this inspiring story of a woman finding her way.”
“This is an openhearted, therapeutic journey that’s perhaps a little like one of Pastiloff’s workshops in book form.”
“Read this fucking book. Jen is very much part of the light and the balance that is needed in this world right now. I don’t even know her but I love her.
Read this book!”
“On Being Human is beautiful and tender, profound and absorbing. I never wanted to put it down. This is a book friends will tell friends they have to read for years to come. It’s an important, enthralling debut.”
“A memoir of pur love. When Jen says “I got you,” she’s also saying we’ve all got each other.”
“On Being Human—is heartbreaking and triumphant. And it has plenty to teach us about listening, forgiving, and ultimately, finding peace. ”
“Centered around touchstone stories that she shares in her workshops, Pastiloff tells the story about how one can battle their own demons to grow into the person they were always meant to be.”
“This book actually changed my life.”
“In On Being Human, Jennifer Pastiloff shares the story of how she left her 13-year waitressing job to become a yoga teacher, despite her fears about her inexperience. These days, she’s a widely-regarded and beloved speaker, and in her memoir, she tracks her inspirational journey from a life of depression, anxiety, and hopelessness to one of contentment, gratitude, and bravery.”