Stillpoints Podcast
meaningful conversations from the heart of practice with Scott Johnson
Subscribe and never miss an episode!
Every other week we share inspirational and intimate conversations on the interaction of yoga, mindfulness, creativity and life.
Just discovered the podcast?
Get started with four of our most loved episodes
Learning From The Past
Petri Raisanen
Yoga As Service
Lucille Meyer
Yoga As Recovery
Zephyr Wildman
Finding Equanimity
Ty Powers
In this conversation, Dr Mark Williams explains how cognitive therapy and mindfulness can be used to reduce the risk of relapse in people who have experienced depression. Among many rich, personal and insightful stories Mark shares how he developed MBCT after working with Jon Kabat Zinn, the founder of modern day mindfulness practices.
In this deep and rewarding conversation Scott Johnson talks to author, yoga teacher and mystic Gregor Maehle on his life as a seeker in the contemplative and spiritual traditions. Gregor shares how his childhood created the bedrock for a life of spiritual discovery, the outcome being a life embedded within the mystical limbs of yoga and contemplative practice.
In this beautiful conversation Scott talks to Zen teacher, poet and author Peter Levitt about the creative life and how we can all find a way to discover what we are here to share. Peter offers beautiful insights from his fifty five years of practice and study that can help us unveil our own inner wisdom and creativity.
In this inspiring and wide ranging conversation Scott talks to one of Ashtanga Yoga’s most respected, loved and experienced teachers, David Swenson. David has been practicing for 50 years and this conversation leans into that history. We are left with simple but profound insights into how practice can change us.
In this light hearted, fun and inspiring conversation Scott talks to online trainer, author and entrepreneur Jon Yuen on his life as a movement educator. Jon shares how his unique approach to conscious movement evolved, how the body can be controlled through time and the way we can all find our own unique freedom to move.
In this deep conversation Scott Johnson is joined by his good friend Greg Nardi. They talk to Shyam Ranganathan, a field-changing researcher, scholar, author and teacher of philosophy, and an expert in the neglected traditions of Indian moral philosophy. Shyam talks about his life as a philosophy researcher, his work on decolonisation and his translation of the yoga sutra named, Patanjali Yoga Sutra.
In this open and honest conversation Scott talks to Pamela Weiss about her years of Buddha dharma practice and teaching, Pamela shares how her practice helped her come to terms with a diabetes diagnosis from a young age. She also shares how she became the first layperson to receive dharma transmission in the Soto Zen lineage. Pamela talks about her new book, A Bigger Sky. Part memoir, part historical it’s a deep look at how Buddhism can be reoriented through a more inclusive feminine lens.
In this wide-ranging conversation Scott talks to Nadia Gilani, yoga teacher and author of The Yoga Manifesto, on her life of practice and how this was the foundation of her getting to know her body in a new way. She shares what compelled her to write a book on the shadows of yoga but also what we can do with that knowledge. She also talks deeply about the creative process and how we ultimately all have something in us we can create.
In this intimate and moving conversation Scott talks to Ty Powers on his life as a practitioner and teacher of Buddha Dharma and mindfulness meditation. Ty shares how contemplative practice was not only a way to find oneness and a deeper connection to life, but also a way to navigate being African American in a world that sees you differently.
In this beautiful conversation Scott talks to Sarah Powers on her life as a practitioner and teacher of Buddha Dharma and yoga traditions. She shares deeply profound insights that have compelled her to live a life of dedicated practice and unpacks the wonderful teachings that are at the root of her new book, Lit From Within.
In this honest and beautiful conversation Scott talks to Ashtanga Yoga teacher Ty Landrum on his life practicing yoga and how it played a major role in letting go of the deep grief of the loss of his best friend. It also helped him to discover how to relate to the Greek philosophy he had been deeply connected to in his academic life. We are left with how philosophy comes alive through a deep love of language….
In this heartfelt and intimate conversation Scott talks to podcaster and yoga educator J. Brown on his life as a practitioner and teacher of yoga. J shares how when the real essence of yoga teaching came to him, how he connects to teacher training, how conversations can be enlightening and confronting and finally, how the death of his mother is the thread that runs through all that he does…
Scott talks to Ashtanga yoga teacher and co-founder of the Miami Life Centre Tim Feldmann about the past, present and future of teaching Ashtanga yoga. In this nuanced and meaningful conversation, Tim and Scott discuss dancing as a spiritual practise, movement as a healing modality, and the teacher’s role as a vessel for knowledge.
In this inspiring conversation Scott talks to dharma teacher Frank Jude Boccio on his life and teachings. Frank shares how his life had been moulded from early on as deeply connected and how that compelled him to a life studying the dharma. He shares how Buddhism, yoga asana and mindfulness are deep related and can be a way of truly understanding the present moment.
Scott talks to Lucille Meyer about her powerful work as an activist (in South Africa in the 1990’s), yoga teacher and CEO of Chrysalis academy, one of the largest youth service organisations in South Africa. Lucille has overseen the transformation of thousands of young men and women using the tools of yoga and mindfulness.
Scott and dharma teacher Martin Aylward talk openly about Martin’s life and how meditation and mindfulness practice can transform our lives. Martin talks about how leading a dharmic life is one of the most beautiful things we can do and how we can meet ourselves differently in all the layers of life we lead.
Scott talks to Petri Raisanen on his life as yoga teacher and practitioner of Ashtanga yoga. Petri talks candidly about his time spent in Mysore, how he moved away from the abusive adjustment culture there and paved his own way forward, based on his own energy work. He also talks about his current work, with his wife Wambui, on creating equity in yoga spaces.
Scott talks to colleague Josefin Wikström about her incredible work over the years delivering yoga in prisons and to those with complex trauma. Josefin is a deeply passionate and profound yoga teacher, never resting on her laurels and dedicating herself to her craft so she can be the best for those she meets through her work.
Scott talks to colleague and Ashtanga yoga teacher Taylor Hunt about his recovery from addiction. This is a powerful conversation that is honest and open in how yoga continues to help Taylor with is sobriety and recovery. Scott also shares intimate details of his own recovery from growing upper in an alcoholic family.
Scott talks to senior Ashtanga Yoga teachers Prem and Radha Carlisi about their friendship since 2008. Prem and Radha run Ashtanga Yoga Bali, one of the most well known Ashtanga Yoga shala’s in Asia. It’s a beautifully open and moving conversation on how their relationship has navigated tragedy and life.
Scott and Greg have a deeply open and honest conversation on the evolution of yoga in Greg’s life. They have been close friends since 2013 and share in a moving conversation on how the devotional aspect of yoga became a central part of Greg’s life and how Greg has shifted direction since he left KPJAYI.
Scott talks to Zephyr Wildman, one of London’s most highly regarded yoga teachers, on her life of yoga practice. Zephyr shares a deeply moving account of how yoga has helped her in recovery, how she dealt with the loss of her partner and how she now advocates for yoga as a tool for recovery and addiction.
Scott talks to Caroline Taylor, a long term SYL practitioner, about how she has navigated her yoga practice and her relationship to her body since the time she started in 2012. Caroline’s story is one of courage and she talks openly about how commitment to practice helped her overcome her challenges.
Meet your host
Scott Johnson has been teaching yoga since 2004. He is director and co-founder of Stillpoint Yoga (founded in 2009) and has run self-practice Ashtanga yoga classes at Stillpoint Yoga London each weekday morning since 2009. In that time he has supported thousands of practitioners (including yoga teachers) in developing an inspiring, long-term and safe yoga practice.
Over the years Stillpoint has become one of the most well respected yoga studios in London. Stillpoint also runs highly successful trainings and workshops with some of the most respected teachers in the field of Ashtanga yoga.
Scott has been teaching Ashtanga yoga and mindfulness workshops and retreats nationally and internationally for over 10 years.