By Caitlin Rothermel
There is something we can probably all agree on. Even right now. It’s something you may or may not think about.
You want to take care of your nervous system. You want to be able to calm it down. You don’t want it running on high all the time. You may be running on high all the time if – more often than not – you feel tense or on edge.
It happens more easily the older you get, and it takes a progressively greater toll.
Fortunately, here on Vashon Island, we have a number of spaces where you can slow down and let your body learn to rest. One is Stillpoint Studio, a community yoga center at the corner of Vashon Village.
Abby Lawson, the owner of Stillpoint and a longtime Vashon resident, first came to the studio as both a student and teacher, when it was still Claro. The transition happened quickly. “The owner pulled me out for a coffee one day to let me know she was selling the business,” Abby said. “And then within a week, we made a decision that I would be the one to buy the studio.”
Stillpoint offers several types of yoga classes, to meet different preferences – Hatha, Morning Fire, Restorative, and Vinyasa (see graphic for details). According to Abby, some people come looking for a workout, while others prefer something slower and more restorative.
At Stillpoint, the goal is to create a calm, welcoming space where people can slow down and feel supported. Having a range of classes under one roof offers variety and consistency, particularly for students looking for a range of instruction within one booking system. Abby said, “We’re one unified platform, with a range of classes and a range of teachers.”
Abby sees yoga as both physical and calming – a way to slow and focus the breath, restore the nervous system, and pay attention to what’s right here now in front of you. She described one simple pose – Tadasana, or mountain pose – standing with both feet planted on the ground, to illustrate that yoga doesn’t only have to happen on the mat: “Just standing with your two feet on the ground … we can touch [that pose] while waiting in the line … while our family member is having a meltdown. We’re here doing it in class, but this one you can use when you’re off the mat.”
In addition to yoga classes, Stillpoint hosts monthly and seasonal events, including sound baths, sensory meditations, breathwork, Reiki, and qigong. For example, the studio hosts a quarterly sensory meditation led by sound practitioner Diana Garrett. This event mixes sounds and scents – like teas, chocolates, or raspberries – small sensory cues meant to gently wake up the body before participants settle in for a longer, quiet meditation. All accompanied by a soft sound bath.
Community building is part of Abby’s background and shapes how she runs Stillpoint. “We want to get to know people and we want to be part of their lives.” She described “playing the weaver” by introducing people to each other and encouraging conversation after class. Access also matters, so the studio has free community classes, a free kids’ program, tiered memberships, and sliding-scale pricing.
It was important to know for myself, so I went to Restorative Yoga, also known as “lay-down” yoga. I went on maybe the perfect day. A couple of hours earlier, I’d had a stressful dental procedure, and my nervous system was definitely activated. I was wary about doing anything that night, but knew this would be slow and easy.
What we did: some very straightforward but powerful breathing practices, plus a few supported positions with blocks. Beyond that, absolutely no yoga pressure. I won’t get into the details. But it was lovely, and I left with more energy than I came in with.
Afterwards, it felt like my feet were planted more firmly on the ground. I could look around and actually see the people around me instead of feeling a little trapped inside myself, buzzing like a live wire. More like a centered observer of my own life again.
In other words, I got a bit of a still point.
Here is how Abby explained how the studio got its name: “The name Stillpoint is speaking to wanting to be this kind of calm in the storm of the day-to-day on the Island – that there is a moment of serenity here inside of the studio, but also ultimately there’s this peacefulness that resides under the kind of scattered layer of the mind too, and that yoga and meditation or even just coming and being in community and chatting can help us to find that.”
