The Mettā View weaves together stories, lessons, and reflections from the varied areas of my work—business development, conscious communication, coaching, mindfulness, and strategy—while offering a mindful lens that invites new perspectives and insights. It’s a gift from my heart-mind to you, dear reader. May it bring you inspiration and invite moments of reflection and connection. About me? Formerly a business fashion executive for Christian Louboutin, I'm now an entrepreneur, mindfulness coach, podcaster & writer. Weekly I share the Mettā View, but you can also find me on Out of the Clouds, a podcast at the crossroad between business and mindfulness. For meditation offering, head over to Insight Timer.
A tender journey into presence
Published about 22 hours ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader,
I vividly remember when I first came across Julia's work. It was summer 2020, and I was on the phone to Hanna Fiedler, the designer and founder of her namesake brand. She had sent me her lookbook images so I could get a sense of her latest collection. My analytical mind first appraised the images for the garments — their cut, style, and so on. "Lovely," I said, or something along those lines.
But moments later, I asked: "Who took those photographs?"
My eyes were glued to a couple of the pictures. Set in a quiet, deep blue lake, a girl was standing on a rock wearing one of Hanna's summer dresses. Let's be clear, I loved the dress (still do!), but I was mesmerised by the image itself. Part modern mermaid, part lookbook? (You tell me, images are below)
"A friend of mine," Hanna replied. "Julia Astok."
"Would you mind introducing me?"
Of course, she happily complied.
Now I should tell you that I've asked for a photographer's details following my receiving a lookbook zero times in my life up until that day. And since!
What I didn't know then was that the girl on the rock was Julia herself. With no access to studios or models in spring 2020, she had turned the lens on herself to help her friend showcase her collection. That experience, becoming both photographer and subject, proved to be a turning point, something we explored in depth on The Mettā Interview.
Hanna and I went on to work together for a while. She later closed her business and is living a brand new life as a Pilates instructor (check out her YouTube classes here).
Julia and I talked a few times. I introduced her to another client of mine, for whom she shot a beautiful campaign. The multi-talented artist helped me with the launch of the Out of the Clouds Instagram (scroll down on the current Le Trente IG to discover her work).
Later, she came to me for help as a coach and advisor, for guidance on how to talk about herself and her work. And on the heels of that, I invited her over to Geneva to be a guest at my salon.
To say she made a big impression that evening is a HUGE understatement. It's not just her work that speaks for itself. Julia's delicate and profound presence is in itself an invitation for others to be more authentically themselves.
When I interviewed her for The Mettā Interview, I was struck by how she speaks about photography — not as capturing, but as receiving. Not as taking, but as seeing. Her lens becomes a doorway: not just to nature, her favourite place to resource herself, but also to our inner nature.
Just like a proud mama, I'm delighted to announce that this January, Julia is bringing this tender approach to Le Trente in a five-week immersive winter workshop.
In the heart of winter - a season often misunderstood as barren, heavy, or bleak - this five-session journey invites you to discover the quiet, potent energy hidden inside the dark.
We can rethink winter, not as the absence of life, but as the womb of life, the place where seeds rest, roots deepen, before life blooms.
This workshop is an invitation to slow down, to soften your gaze, and to discover what winter has been trying to show you all along. Through mindful photography practices, you'll explore how shadow creates depth, how imperfection holds beauty, and how the natural world can guide you toward a gentler way of seeing yourself.
No photography experience needed. Your phone camera is perfect. What matters is your willingness to be present and to explore.
Your five-week journey
Week 1: The art of stillness — 10 January Slowing down and learning to receive rather than capture. Re-evaluating what darkness and winter hold for you.
Week 2: Nature as you — 17 January Seeing yourself reflected in the natural world. Discovering the kinship between your own form and the living world.
Week 3: Light & shadow — 24 January Exploring depth, emotion, and inner mirrors through the gentle play between light and darkness.
Week 4: The poetry of imperfection — 31 January Embracing the unpolished, the transient, the honest. Finding tenderness where perfection once ruled.
Week 5: Coming home — 7 February Integrating stillness, belonging, depth, and compassion into a living practice of gratitude and presence.
What's included
Five live 90-minute sessions via Zoom
Video recordings of all sessions
Weekly PDF resources and transcripts
At-home exercises (20–60 minutes weekly)
WhatsApp support from Julia between sessions
A compassionate, safe space for exploration
Can't make every session live? All sessions are recorded and shared with you to watch in your own time.
Who this is for
Anyone drawn to nature, creativity, or gentle self-expression. People wanting to experience mindfulness away from the cushion, in a grounded and artistic way. Photographers at any level, artists, nature-lovers. Beginners wanting to explore life with a new metaphorical lens. Those longing to slow down and reconnect with themselves. Anyone curious about the healing potential of photography. The details
5 consecutive Saturdays: 10 January – 7 February 2025
Julia on location photographing another one of Hanna Fiedler's collections
About Julia
Julia is a multidisciplinary artist based in Estonia, inspired by nature's poetry and with a keen eye for the extraordinary within the ordinary. Through her work, she specialises in capturing what she calls "magic" — those intangible moments and qualities difficult to express in words.
As she shared in her Mettā Interview episode, Julia's journey with photography began as a lifeline during difficult teenage years. It evolved from dark, escapist imagery to becoming a tool for healing and self-discovery. Today, she guides others to see themselves with the same compassion she learned to cultivate through her lens.
A waterfall, through Julia's lens
"We are works of art and works of nature — why not appreciate the textures, changes, and imperfections just as we would in the natural world?"
This workshop would make a beautiful Christmas gift for someone you love (a friend, a sister, a creative soul who needs permission to slow down). If you'd like to purchase a spot for someone special, just reply to this email and I'll be happy to arrange it.
I hope you'll join us for this gentle beginning to the new year.
Much love,
P.S. Spaces are limited to 15 participants to keep the group intimate. If this resonates, I encourage you not to wait. PPS. All details are available on the website, any questions, just drop me a line.
Wintering with Julia Astok
Unsubscribe | Update your profile | AVM Consulting Sarl t/a Le Trente, c/o Beker Guiremand & Associés, 7 rue de Hesse, Geneve , Geneva 1204
The Mettā View
By Anne V Mühlethaler
The Mettā View weaves together stories, lessons, and reflections from the varied areas of my work—business development, conscious communication, coaching, mindfulness, and strategy—while offering a mindful lens that invites new perspectives and insights. It’s a gift from my heart-mind to you, dear reader. May it bring you inspiration and invite moments of reflection and connection. About me? Formerly a business fashion executive for Christian Louboutin, I'm now an entrepreneur, mindfulness coach, podcaster & writer. Weekly I share the Mettā View, but you can also find me on Out of the Clouds, a podcast at the crossroad between business and mindfulness. For meditation offering, head over to Insight Timer.