How To Be Zen Like Nadya

Yogi and former MTV VJ NADYA HUTAGALUNG is so calm, the last time her manager saw her angry was... 15 years ago.

- Yip Jieying

WHO IS SHE: Nadya Hutagalung, 42. The Indonesian-Australian erstwhile MTV VJ and model is now based in Bali, where she lives with her husband and three kids. “I don’t have any projects there, but I have some projects in [other Indonesian cities]. I’m working on something with Lifetime Channel now, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project (laughs). It’s been a year in the making, but I can’t say anything about it right now, except that it’s a gift to the people I’m working with,” she says. The avid eco-activist and UN ambassador (“We just finished a Clean Seas campaign [to raise awareness about plastic waste in oceans]”) is also the face of new yoga boutique studio The Yoga School, and was recently in town for the official launch.

8 DAYS: You come across as someone who can’t be ruffled. Have you always been so Zen? 

NADYA HUTAGALUNG: Oh, no (laughs). As a working mum, it’s really, really hard to be Zen. We develop certain expectations of success, and just keep working towards it. You just have to be proactive about seeking [calmness]. When your inner world is at peace, it reflects on your outer self too. I know it sounds clichéd! I don’t think any one of us can reach the point of perfect Zen-ness, but I try. The natural state of our mind is a calm one, but we tend to throw other things in there through our compulsive actions or habits and stop being mindful.