SYL Practitioner Scott Arnott’s whole life changed by taking the leap. Here’s why… By Scott Arnott We warmly welcome SYL practitioner, Scott Arnott, to the SYL blog. Scott has been part of Stillpoint Yoga London now for three and a half years. Find out more about our Stillpoint Membership. “I’m a grumpy Scotsman, an ex Investment Manager who now runs a commercial Landscape business. Going into the Mysore room was daunting. After all, I’m not twenty five anymore. Surely everyone will notice the greying bloke sweating profusely and not knowing what he’s doing.  Well, maybe they did, b ..read more

We warmly welcome our first guest writer, Jess Ryan Philipps, to the SYL blog. Jess has been part of Stillpoint Yoga London now for a few years. Find out more about our Stillpoint Membership ‘Ashtanga yoga has always felt like home to me.’ Not always a happy home – sometimes broken, fighting, fraught. But at other times solace, peace, safety. It’s a home that I have sometimes run from, and sometimes hidden within. What Ashtanga has taught me is that this place, this feeling of home – this Still Point – it doesn’t come from the magic of being on a rubber mat, of repeating certain posture ..read more

Sharing yoga in the time of coronavirus and landing it in the culture we are practicing in. By Scott Johnson ‘Spirituality must be practiced not just in solitude but also amongst people. Open out to people around you and feel connected. This is the true challenge of spiritual practice.’ Haemin Sunim On 1st January 2012 I had to send probably the most heartbreaking email I’ve ever had to write… It was to the Stillpoint Yoga London community, our newsletter list of around five hundred people, to tell them how – just the day before – their teacher, colleague and friend Ozge Karabiyik had t ..read more

Join us as the story of Stillpoint Yoga London evolves to deeper trainings and teacher education By Scott Johnson ‘Yesterday I was clever so I changed the world, today I am wise so I am changing myself.’ – Rumi A privilege to teach Helping someone to evolve an authentic and personal yoga practice that benefits their lives is what we do here at Stillpoint Yoga London. It’s what we have been doing since we opened in 2009. One which they can learn to lean on as a powerful resource over a life-span. From my perspective as a teacher holding space, assisting someone to develop and enhance a yoga p ..read more

How the past ten years can define the next By Scott Johnson Okay, so it’s not actually the end of the decade… That will be on 31st December 2020. But when we move into a new calendar era, the ’20’s’, it feels like a good time to look back. I also know I’ve already shared a ten year blog this past year, but for this one I wanted to just share memories. Particular memories of mine that have stood out. This particular year feels like a momentous one and there have been some notable changes happening in the Ashtanga yoga community, so the movement into 2020 and beyond feels significant. This mom ..read more

5 ways to stay inspired yourself when helping others By Scott Johnson The world is changing  It can be hard to feel inspired. The news can constantly concern us. The political world, the climate, our online profiles being used against us… The world we find ourselves in 2019 seems fraught, tense, and it can seem so hard to find anything to hold onto. Anything that keeps us grounded. The Buddha told us that the truth of life is suffering. It’s testing us now for sure.  Yet, he also showed us a way out… So we continue We continue because we can perhaps see that in every moment the oppos ..read more

Introducing the Stillpoints Podcast By Scott Johnson To launch the new Stillpoints podcast, Scott shares how yoga comes alive through deep interactions between people over many years… “Sound is dynamic. Speech is dynamic — it is action. To act is to take power, to have power, to be powerful. Mutual communication between speakers and listeners is a powerful act. The power of each speaker is amplified, augmented, by the entrainment of the listeners. The strength of a community is amplified, augmented by its mutual entrainment in speech. This is why utterance is magic. Words do have power. Names ..read more

How We Practise Is How We Move In The World By Scott Johnson “The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction the weight, the weight we carry is love.” – Allen Ginsberg I’ve just talked my eldest son out of his first panic attack. During those moments, I remember when I held him for the first time as he was born 17 years ago. He had looked at me then with those newborn eyes that cannot grasp what they’re reaching for in this new world. Back then, there were no identifiable things he recognised. I was an unknowable image. His eyes now, though ..read more

Remembering 10 Years Of Teaching At SYL By Scott Johnson On 8th March 2019 Stillpoint Yoga London celebrated its 10th birthday. Apart from my marriage to Louise and becoming a father, running Stillpoint has had the greatest effect on me as a person. It has shaped me completely. With all the travelling I do, and retreats and workshops I’ve had the honour of teaching at, it’s this day-to-day work over weeks, months and years that is the most profound for me. I’ve realised teaching yoga is about turning up for someone. Being present again and again so they can trust you’re there for them. Stillpo ..read more

Realising we’re not as different as we might think By Scott Johnson I remember when I was unhappy most of the time. In my late teens and early twenties life felt like a struggle. When I left home at 18 I was suddenly out in the world with nothing to hang on to. I craved reliving my childhood and the security of my formative years in a home with parents. Feeling nurtured. But then I remembered that that environment hadn’t really prepared me for the world I was moving into. Finding liberation Those first few years of leaving home were tough. I didn’t really know who I was or what direction I was ..read more