Jennifer Pastiloff is well known amongst west-side yogis for her classes at Yoga Co, Equinox, Fred Segal Santa Monica, and Lululemon, as well as her ongoing Manifestation Retreats in Ojai. But when Pastiloff's four-year-old nephew Blaise, who has autism, was recently diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome, she and sister Rachel began a new venture, Gifts And Miracles Everyday (G.A.M.E.) Yoga to give free yoga classes to children with disabilities. Prader-Willi Syndrome is a disorder of the fifteenth chromosome that can result cognitive impairment, an extremely slow metabolism, and chronic feelings of hunger that often lead to life-threatening obesity and other health problems.
Upon hearing of Blaise's diagnosis, Pastiloff remembers, "I noticed my nephew would copy me with yoga, and I had previously worked giving free classes for cancer survivors. So I decided I wanted to give back and thought, 'what could I do?'" Pastiloff is starting small and currently works with children who have Down syndrome and autism, as well one child who is blind. She teaches on Saturdays at 12:30pm in rooms donated by Santa Monica studio Yoga Co, and she is assembling a team to expand her class schedule.
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