Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson

About Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson

The Stillpoints Podcast with Scott Johnson brings insightful, inspiring and moving conversation into how contemplative practice has evolved in our modern culture. Scott talks to the many people, yoga/dharma teachers, practitioners, authors and creatives who have inspired him, as director of Stillpoint Yoga London, to see how their practices have landed in the world.

Publisher

Scott Johnson

Category

health & fitness · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Jul 2019

Latest episode

4 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 53 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   4 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   #52 Tara Mitra on How the Yoga Tradition Helps Us Study the Mind

   Host Scott Johnson interviews Tara Mitra, a certified yoga therapist, exploring how the yoga tradition offers a profound framework for studying the mind.

2. 

   10 May 2026

   #51: Wade Oakley on The Long Game of Yoga, Strength and Devotion

   In this wide ranging conversation Scott Johnson talks to Wade Oakley, yoga teacher, strength coach and long-time Ashtanga practitioner, about what it means to sustain a practice across a whole life. Among many honest, personal and thoughtful exchanges, Wade shares how strength training, injury and repeated trips to Mysore have shaped not just his body but his understanding of what devotion to practice really means. Sign up here to receive Scott's weekly Sunday Inspiration Newsletter and receive original philosophy, poems, podcasts and films, photography, plus music to inspire your day. 00:00 Introduction 01:03 When did you know yoga would be part of your life? 03:29 The fish and the hook — on being slowly caught by practice 05:41 What came before yoga — golf, back injury and the gym 09:14 Did yoga heal the shoulder? 10:23 The early years at UVA — yoga, boxing gloves and John Bultman 13:09 Going to India for the first time 15:17 The spiritual side — temples, scepticism and what study does over time 16:26 Practicing with Saraswati — a supercharged window 20:07 How Mysore shifts your sense of what life can look like 22:00 The corporate years — management consulting, biotech and eight trips to Mysore 24:07 Finding your own way through the dogmatic wormhole 26:08 Thinking about longevity — why people stop and how to stay in 29:11 What curiosity in Mysore planted — watching practitioners who could float 31:00 The skiing accident, the knee surgery and what it unlocked 36:03 Learning to feel the body in a new way 38:38 How rehabilitation brought strength work back in 42:48 Building a stronger body and what it changed in backbending 46:18 Safety, surrender and what strength makes possible in practice 48:34 Is the practice still a sadhana? 52:49 Yoga, strength culture and keeping the yoga as the yoga 55:13 The sledgehammer — finding the right tool for the right nail 57:34 When practice becomes less physical and more spacious 01:03:56 What Wade would leave people with — turn towards the friction About Wade Oakley Wade Oakley began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 2012 at the University of Virginia under Certified teacher John Bultman. He went on to study directly with R. Sharath Jois in Mysore, India across many extended trips, receiving Level 2 Authorization in 2018 and learning Advanced B before Sharath's passing. In honour of his late teacher, Wade strives to practice and teach in the spirit and tradition Sharath conveyed in Mysore and around the world. As a teacher, Wade seeks to instil curiosity and a sense of personal ownership in each student's yoga journey. His own path has led him into deep exploration beyond the mat, across strength training, injury prevention, nutrition and recovery, areas he sees not as departures from practice but as ways of expanding what practice can hold. He believes an Ashtanga yoga practice can be a boundlessly enriching part of anyone's life. "Wade is someone who I really connected to when we met last year after recording the Sharath podcasts. We really connected and I loved his approach to longevity in yoga. What I appreciate most is his honesty. He's not selling a system. He's sharing what he's actually found, in his body, over years of real practice and work. If longevity in practice matters to you, I think this conversation will resonate." Scott Johnson, 2025

3. 

   29 Sept 2025

   #50: Memories of Sharath - Episode 5 - Shraddha Jois

   Episode 5: Shraddha Jois on the life of her father, Sharath. In the final episode of Memories of Sharath, we hear from someone who knew Sharath Jois more deeply than any student ever could: his daughter, Shraddha. Speaking with quiet strength and heartfelt clarity, Shraddha reflects on growing up in the Jois household, surrounded by yoga, devotion, and community. She shares the moment she chose the path of yoga for herself, and how that choice transformed her bond with her father, from a playful, loving dad to spiritual teacher and guide. With stories of long car rides, private lessons, family dinners, and his unmistakable sense of humour, Shraddha offers a rare and tender portrait of the man behind the lineage. It’s an intimate conversation about love, legacy, and the quiet power of presence. As the Memories of Sharath series comes to a close, this episode offers a final glimpse, through the eyes of a daughter, into the life of a teacher who shaped a global tradition and touched countless lives, starting with his own family. If you’re joining for the first time, you can listen to Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 and Episode 4 to begin the journey. Subscribe, Listen, and Remember Sharath Jois’s legacy is woven through these voices in the stillness, in the laughter, and in the ways we continue to return to our practice. As we remember him, we stay connected to what matters most: love, presence, and the quiet strength of community. The Sunday Inspiration Email Receive a gentle email every Sunday to inspire your day. Since 2017 Scott Johnson has shared the 'Stillpoint Sunday Inspiration Email' every week. He shares simple yoga philosophy, music he's listening to, short films he's watched, People of Yoga film & photography portraits and his poetry. If this is something you'd like to receive you can sign up here...

Inside a recent episode

#52 Tara Mitra on How the Yoga Tradition Helps Us Study the Mind

Published 4 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] How do I take that information and what do I do with it? That is the important part. So in order to do so, then it means that I need to have a teacher so they can mirror back. You definitely need an asana practice, pranayama practice, slowly start moving into pratehara practices. These are all grounding. I'm not able to see anything if I'm constantly in this. And most of us are living in the modern world, and the modern world is very distracting where we're constantly being pulled down. So everywhere we look, there's more and more information that's dragging us. So how do I find these moments? […]

Who has been a guest on Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Tara Mitra
• Karen Cairns
• Taylor Hunt
• Joseph Armstrong
• Edgar Navarro

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

114,123

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

30 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

36 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

31

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

51

Contact Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Stillpoints: A Podcast with Scott Johnson