I learned about Tracee Stanley from Gail Parker. These are both names I hope you now know as you follow the conversations on this podcast and as we dive into what yoga lineage is and why or whether it matters. Tracee is the first teacher I’ve talked to who has come from the Himalayan Yoga tradition. I’m glad she’s the first and I am looking forward to more greats from that school. Tracee is an author, Tantrika, teacher and, as she underscored in our talk, a listener. She also strikes me as a nature goddess, as the images on her site show, and as she describes nature as the source of so much of her inspiration.
We talked about her experience identifying as a post-lineage teacher and how she dips in and out of teachings from elders and wisdom practices that continue to connect her to the experience of remembering. We talked about the “industrial overculture” that doesn’t want you to find your true self, because that wouldn’t be such a productive discovery, probably. She wrote her first book, Radiant Rest, from her “yoga nidra nest,” and her upcoming book, The Luminous Self, is a summary of many practices she has learned, taught, and witnessed in her decades of teaching. Enjoy!
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Terms and references:
3. Radiant Rest, by Tracee Stanley
4. Beryl Bender on The Weeks Well
6. Tantric meditation: an energetic-based meditation based on Tantra, an esoteric yoga tradition
7. Kundalini Yoga: a type of yoga that involves chanting, singing, breathing exercises, and repetitive poses
8. Hatha Yoga: the physical aspect of yoga practice, including postures, breathing techniques, seals, locks, and cleansing practices
9. Yoga sutras of Patanjali, translated by Mukunda Stiles
11. Koshas: the energetic layers, or sheaths, of the body
13. Rod Stryker
14. Doug Keller on The Weeks Well
15. Post-Lineage Yoga, by Theo Wildcroft
16. Gary Kraftsow
17. Rishis/rishikas: an accomplished and enlightened person; Rishika was a tribe in Central Asia and South Asia mentioned in Hindu and Sanskrit texts
18. Yoga nidra: also called yogic sleep, it is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, typically induced by a guided meditation
20. Yoga Sutra 1:36 (from Swami Satchidananda' translation): "Or by concentrating on the supreme, ever-blissful Light within."
21. Gail Parker on The Weeks Well
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Episode credits:
Original music by Kim's band Governess.
Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks.
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