Nadine worked 22 years within the UN, including stints in Sudan, Iraq, and Kuwait. She had an
important role as head logistics specialist for UNICEF during the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004,
and she led the Global Volunteer Network initiatives during the earthquake in Haiti in 2012.
Nadine has also worked in the Netherlands with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons.
All of Nadine’s experiences have inspired her continuous devotion to activism, which also has
an impact on her yoga and transformational work. Nadine’s talks, workshops, yoga sessions
and retreats are continually described as powerful, moving and insightful.
You have done amazing voluntary work through the years helping people in need. In
which way do you feel yoga has helped you in times of crisis?
”Wow! Yoga helped to keep me grounded, balanced and centered. There was a time in my
former professional life where I encountered burnout. It was the practice of pranayama and
asana that restored me. In order for us to support others - be it in a crisis or in life in general -
we must first take care of ourselves. We're of no use to ourselves and others, when we are
off-centered.”
You joined the Yoga Barn family in Bali, Indonesia in 2015, and have been teaching
there regularly since. How do you feel about living in Indonesia? What is special
about this country?
”From my very first visit in the early nineties, I was deeply moved by the beauty of this
country - Bali especially - that reminds me so much of my birthplace, Jamaica. I feel very at
home here; welcomed, embraced and respected”.
”From a historical context, Indonesia is to the East - spices, coffee and much more - what
Jamaica is/was to the West. There is a co-existence amongst people of varying demographics
here in Indonesia that I have not witnessed in any other country - and I've done my fair share of
travel”.
