42. Raffaello Manacorda on Tantra, Daoism, alternative community living, and ISTA

Raffaello Manacorda is an international Tantra teacher and practitioner. He has been practising Tantra for more than 15 years and has undergone intensive training in several styles of Yoga. After completing an MA in Philosophy, Raffaello decided to spend more than twelve years living in alternative communities and experimenting with radically alternative lifestyles. It was in these wild years that he first encountered Tantra, the "rebel way to Spirit". This encounter developed into a life-long practice, first on a solo journey, then studying Tantra and Yoga in some of the best worldwide schools. Raffaello serves as lead faculty in ISTA, the International School of Temple Arts, and teaches and lectures worldwide. He is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Wisdom Studies at Ubiquity University (California). Raffaello is the co-creator of the ISTA Practitioner Training (PT), ISTA’s program for coaches and practitioners in the field of conscious sexuality. Raffaello discusses his path to spiritual awakening, through living in squats and alternative communities in Rome during the techno movement and on to Barcelona and later Kho Phangan where he discovered Tantra. He talks about love, passion and intimacy, as well as non-monogamy, polyamory, and navigating societal pressures and heartbreak in open relating. Raffaello reflects on his journey to Yoga, Tantra, Daoism and other spiritual practices, and his current endeavours as an ISTA teacher and practitioner.