Yogi in the Community: Tracee Stanley

This week’s Yogi in the Community is Tracee Stanley!!! As you can see by her brilliant smile, this woman exudes light! Not only does this Yogi shine on the outside, her internal energy fuels and supports the ways in which she participates in her community and World. I am so excited to showcase this Left Coast Yogi who stays true to her love for yoga through her practice and teachings. Please take a few minutes to be inspired!!!

Name:Tracee Stanley ERYT

Location: Topanga Caynon, California

Hometown: Huntington, NY

Why do you practice yoga? I practice yoga because I recognize that the practice has the power to change my internal energy and that shift in energy radiates outward into all aspects of my life. As a film producer I sometimes work long hours and I am always putting out fires; its yoga that keeps me grounded.

tracee_1 — “Yoga inspires everything I do”

My asana practice keeps my body flexible and strong, but it is my meditation practice that has the most profound effect on how centered and present I am throughout the day. I use the deep relaxation technique of yoga nidra a few times a week to rejuvenate and to prepare for a good nights sleep if I’ve had a hectic day. Yoga has so many tools to help us in all area’s of our life, that’s is why I love this practice!

What are some of the challenges you have encountered as a yoga student? What would you recommend for those folks trying yoga for the first time?

Some of the obstacles that I hear from people about trying yoga is that they are not flexible enough, they are too old to start,or they need to lose weight first because getting on the floor is uncomfortable. My oldest student was 75 when he started. I’ve taught people in wheelchairs and people who were facing series challenges with excess weight. These people all had one thing in common–they could breathe. If you can breathe you can do yoga. A lot of the images we see in magazines of yogi’s are of thin,young,very flexible and usually white women. This can be discouraging for a lot of people because they wind up feeling that yoga is not for them. Finding the right teacher who is teaching the appropriate yoga for you is the first step to having an amazing start to your yoga journey. But you might have to try a few classes or studio’s before you find the right one for you. With different styles like chair yoga, restorative yoga, bhakti yoga, meditation and breathing classes; there really is something for everyone.

How has yoga influenced the way you participate in the World?

Yoga inspires everything I do. It encourages me to seek out like-minded people to hang out with and do business with. It propelled me to start my own film production company that is dedicated to producing transformational films and media. It influenced the fact that I choose to live in a small community surrounded by nature, close to ocean in the mountains but still close enough to the city to remain engaged in the world when I want or need to be. It effects how I interact with people in my life, whether it is my boyfriend, my business partner, or the person I just got into a fender bender with. But mostly yoga inspires me to strive to be my best self, to not be reactive, or judgmental, to not withhold love, to inspire by example and to truly try to know and accept myself. Knowing that I wont always get it right and to be able to own it when I don’t.