Meet the Surya World Team
Julie Fernandez
Originally from Touraine in central France, Julie Fernandez began practicing yoga in 2017, through Iyengar yoga classes that gave her a solid foundation in postural practice. Two years later, she discovered Suryashtanga and devoted herself to it fully. This practice allowed her to develop and refine her technique, and has since accompanied her in deepening her bodily awareness, as well as in the practice of Pranayama, meditation and internal Chinese arts.
An archer and a scuba diver, Julie finds in these two disciplines, each in its own way nurturing her concentration and her relationship to breath, a direct echo of her yoga practice.
Passionate about Asia for as long as she can remember, and having lived in China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Colombia, Julie studied Chinese and Japanese Language and Civilisation, followed by a master’s degree in International Relations at Inalco in Paris.
After several years working in the corporate world, it was ultimately in India, alongside Surya, that she found a new gateway into the Asia she so loves, one she continues to explore every year with the collective, encountering the living lineages of these sublime traditions.
She met Surya in September 2019 and completed teacher training between 2020 and 2021, guided by the teaching team and coached by Léa in Tours, as well as by Stéphane Chollet himself, founder of Surya and of its method. She immediately joined the collective’s internal study circles. Now based in Auvergne and a young mother of two, she continues her practice, her studies and her involvement within the group, notably taking part in organising Surya’s retreats abroad, through the Sunrays company.
Lively, empathetic and driven, she loves nourishing her practice with study and reflection, giving it deeper meaning. It is with real joy that she finds, little by little, answers to her questions through the collective’s countless exchanges and through its founder. What she loves most about Surya is the sheer diversity of projects that allow the group to move forward together toward greater wellbeing, while also making a difference through social and environmental action. She firmly believes there is light within each of us, and that we have the power to help it grow and to share it — something the world needs now more than ever.
