In 1969-70, Julie spent a year in the Sivananda Ashram in the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. During this time she practised yoga and meditation, studied, and began teaching yoga. It was then too that she began the study and practice of astrology. Her time at the ashram inspired her life journey, which she sees as creating balance between the heart and the head, spirit and matter, and unity and diversity. She married, raised three sons, has trained and worked as a teacher in the public school system and has also taught astrology for many years. She is currently training with the School of Evolutionary Astrology and in Deep Memory Process.

In 1999, she and her husband, Stewart, formed a business partnership centred around a recently purchased piece of property, unique by its being both secluded and serene, and easily accessible to the lively, rural community of Almonte, and Ottawa, the nation’s capital. It is here that together they developed a yoga studio which now has 5 teachers serving at least 100 students a week for yoga classes, and in addition, provides space for a variety of weekend workshops. Stewart has developed and continues to research methods for growing and providing organic off-season greens that he markets in the community.

Julie’s vision at Spiritmatters continues to grow and evolve in response to her inner work and her interaction with the people and the world around her.

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Paula Vibert

Paula, originally from Portugal, moved to Canada with her Canadian husband and 3 children in 1995. When Paula decided to accompany a friend to a yoga class, she instantly fell in love with the practice. “I felt like I had found both an anchor and a compass for myself and my life”. That deep love and dedication to this ancient practice is still with her and is at the core of her life.

In 2002, she went to Kripalu Yoga Center in Massachussets and became certified as a Kripalu Yoga Teacher. Teaching yoga since then and constantly growing and evolving, and continuing with her yogic studies, in 2007 she graduated as a Professional-Level Kripalu Yoga Teacher.

Meditation has played a key role in her practice and she delves deeper and deeper into the practice and study of Vipassana Meditation. But meditation is not a separate practice, not separate from life. The postures (asanas), the breathing techniques (pranayama), the discipline that a practice like this requires, the meditative aspect of Kripalu Yoga, all lead to one’s inner world, the only place for achieving direct experience, and direct knowledge which in turn are integrated into one’s daily life. Meditation is inner awareness, and it is a journey into one’s own truth and inner peace.

One of Paula’s goals is to demystify meditation, to make it accessible and relevant to every student so that they in turn can experience its benefits in their own lives on a daily basis. Meditation is not time away from life. It is a center from where life springs in a meaningful way.