Ubuntu Bali Founders
Damien de Bastier
After teaching all these years what inspires me the most is to watch people using yoga to transform themselves and grow into their fullness. It s an honor to be a part of that process and guide them along.. Ubuntu was born from that inspiration as a haven where people can find the tools to work on themselves and go deeper into their unfolding. We provide yoga practice but also courses in yoga philosophy, anatomy, breathwork, meditation, permaculture and creative arts, all in a beautiful garden setting.
At Ubuntu we are aware that the classic model of “rugged individualism” supported by capitalism brought us and the world where we are now; on the brink of an ecological disaster, where people can hardly live together and seek more and more isolation, dissociated from their body and feelings and addicted to smoke screens of fantasy reality and advertisements.. And so we sought in our small ways to contribute our part toward healing this broken world by helping people reconnect with themselves, with others and nature.
Andréa Drottholm
Andréa grew up in Sweden and after finishing school, age 19, she set out to explore the world and ended up living, studying and working in over 12 countries across the globe. From her world travels she picked up a few languages and now able to teach in Spanish, German, French, Indonesian, English, Swedish and Hungarian.
A natural entrepreneur, she started her first business at 4 years old: Selling flowers to the local grandmothers so she could buy her own candy.. She worked in the tourism industry, including cruise-ships and ran her own apartment-rental agency in Barcelona.
In 2002, to find balance in her life she started practicing Ashtanga Yoga with her first teacher Diane Bell. At first yoga was a mean to stay fit, but soon developed into something more and eventually became the priority in her life.
She was lucky to be able to go study yoga in Mysore, India on several occasions and as each trip took her deeper into herself she eventually decided to change her life in order to offer support on and off the mat by becoming a yoga teacher and a life coach.
In 2013, she co-founded the yoga retreat centre Samadi Bali in Canggu with three other partners. It was a big stepping stone to create a dream into reality.
In 2021 She and Damien left Samadi to recalibrate their vision and focus more on community building. Sharing their love for Ashtanga Yoga and its many teachings, Ubuntu Bali was born with a desire to give back the amazing blessings of yoga.