Bridging... Local & Global

through connecting you to communities in rural Himalayas via retreats, community service projects, and skills sharing endeavors

Bridging... East & West

through understanding the nuances of two cultures seeming to imitate each other and sharing those insights with you

Bridging... Spiritual & Worldly Life

through navigating the balance between karma yoga and capitalist economies

Bridging... SimpleLiving & ModernTech

through mindfulness, sustainability and creative expression shared online

Om Namo Narayan!

My name is Nikol.

I aim to Maintain Engagement in the World while Living a Spiritual Life.

relativelyLocal endeavours span the intersections between:
Sadhana & Wellness, Retreat Center Hospitality, Holistic Education, and Mindful Multimedia

What I bring to the table…

160+

Months living & learning in India

1000+

Hours of Yoga and Ayurveda Trainings

2+

Decades of Teaching Experience

15+

Years of Ashram & Retreat Center Hospitality Experience

3+

Decades of Multimedia Production Experience

JungleConcreteHimalayas

From West to East and Back Again…

with a unique perspective to share…

What I’ve learned over the years…

Nicole Jaquis at Gumukh Glacier, Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand
what is a yogi?
“A yogi is not just someone who can twist their body and hold it into odd positions long enough to click selfies and become Instagram famous. Through my own practice I realize all this stretching, twisting and holding myself in odd positions is actually a method for me to transcend duality, moving beyond the preferences of likes and dislikes, beyond craving and aversion, beyond comfort and discomfort – ultimately to have a balanced mind in all situations.”
Nicole Jaquis at Gumukh Glacier, Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand
stillness
“I’ve come to understand how one needs to be still in order to truly listen to others and why one needs to be silent on top of that in order to truly listen to oneself. And as such I have begun to trust that I can find all the answers I need inside, once I can get myself to that place of silent stillness.”
Nicole Jaquis at Gumukh Glacier, Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand
India Plans You
“And sometimes the hard way, I’ve learned you don’t plan India, India plans you, maybe this is true in life in general. Recently someone asked me, ‘So how do we know if our plans are the right plans?’ I believe it is when life begins to flow without obstruction that we can trust our plan is resonating with The (divine) Plan. And I can truly say for once in my life, these two plans are finally in synch and the path is definitely illuminated.”
Nicole Jaquis at Gumukh Glacier, Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand
depth of our own ocean
“It is by swimming to the depth of our own ocean that we find inner calmness. Those who struggle among the waves to stay afloat at the surface only perpetuate their struggle by being the very cause of their ocean’s turbulence.”
Nicole Jaquis at Gumukh Glacier, Gangotri National Park, Uttarakhand
as a wanderer with many names
“As a wanderer… Our names have been changed so many times we begin to cling to our original crumbling identity even more, our ears now buzzing with mantras lost in translation.”

Connectivity & Collaborations
that Bridge Communities

How I show up in the world…

Holistic Curriculum Development
– for retreat centres, ashrams and schools
understanding the developmental needs of individual learners, with classroom management that is collaborative, engaging and fun.
Intuitive Travel Guiding

You don’t plan India, India plans you… with 20+ years experience navigating the most beautifully orchestrated chaos, surrender to the flow of #IncredibleIndia with this bi-lingual (Hindi/English) videshi as your guide.

Translation & Transliteration Services

Hindi / English translation & Sanskrit / English Transliteration Typing for Yoga Teacher Training Manuals

Personal Yoga Sadhana Development Guidance
Yoga in the Modern World – bring traditional hatha yoga, meditation and Ayurveda into your daily life without compromising your involvement in the world.
Holistic Web / Social Media Marketing & Mindful Multimedia Production

manage and promote your wellness business as holistically as your practice… From WordPress, SEO, FB, IG and MailChimp integration, to InDesign, video, audio and photography services, to help you facilitate your trainings as authentic as the tradition…

Guest Speaker, Lecturer, Workshop Facilitator

With over 160 months experience living, studying, doing sadhana and seva in India, Nikol is able to give talks (online and in-person), bridging the cultures of East and West.

Nicole Jaquis - padmasana - lotus - race brook lodge barn - relativelyLocal relativelyLocal - nicole jaquis - Himalayan Sadhana School - yoga in the modern world - holistic wellness consulting, sadhana guidance, my sadhana story, my yoga journey, non-binary yoga teacher

NOLS Trip Leader India 2024 Grad.

Experienced Trek Guide with Wilderness First Aid

What folks have to say…

I had a beautiful journey traveling through the sacred mystical land of India with Nicole. Together we visited Haridwar, Allahabad and Varanasi and attended the 2019 Kumbh Mela Ritual Gathering.

I am a citizen of the world, born in Canada to a South American father and a mother from the Dutch West Indies, by age 7 I had already traveled to 10 countries but have never before had the opportunity of traveling with a guide. Nicole is the ideal guide for the experienced traveler like myself who is seeking a deeper understanding of the culture and spirituality of this very powerful land. So, It was a privilege to experience the magic of India through the lense of Nicole’s 18 years of living experience and fluent Hindi which allowed me to discover subtle nuances and hidden treasures I would never have found on my own. 

Nicole is also a committed yogi in her own right and a spiritually grounded inspirational presence who is also capable of holding space for the inevitable internal awakening that India activated within one’s soul. Her knowledge of both the East and the West creates a sacred bridge for your consciousness to walk across on your own journey to spiritual and mental realization.

Thank you Nicole for sharing your sacred work and presence with the me and shining your light in the world. I encourage anyone considering a journey to India to do so under your intuitive and sacred guidance. Om Namo Narayan

Jaguar Womban (La Vonne Natasha Caesar)

Jaguar Womban (La Vonne Natasha Caesar)

Jaguar Womban is a multidimensional healing artist, Medicine Womban and Visionary Mother of The WOMBNation – based in Oaxaca, Mexico

We were traveling to India to make a Norwegian TVShow, Samuel og Bestefar, Sesong 2 (Samuel and Granddad, Season 2). We had heard great things about Nicole and chose her to help us around, as the fixer. This was the best choice! She really put her heart and soul into helping us makeing the best show possible. She spoke Hindi as a local, knew her way around everywhere and was always super flexible and always on the offering side. As a TV production plans often change, she was flexible and innovative, several times helping us find a better solution on the fly.

And the best thing, she is a wonderful soul who really makes you experience the best of India if you want to.

Samuel Massie

Samuel Massie

TV Ccreator and Host, TV2 NORWAY

I had the honor and privilege of being mentored by Nikol at Santosh Puri Ashram in India and on several guided trips in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains.

At the ashram Nikol was insightful, extremely helpful, and thought provoking in her questions and spiritual guidance.  Nikol is a true mentor that doesn’t tell you how to think, but gives you the tools to
think for yourself.  I know if it wasn’t for her, my stay at the ashram would have been nowhere near as impactful and valuable to me.

On our trips, Nikol planned our locations, transportation and places to stay.  She always offered multiple options for destinations and things to do. She spoke Hindi to the locals, which was incredibly important.  Every trip she planned and guided for me was better than the last!  Nikol was gracious at moving at my pace, an amazing photographer, and a wonderful spiritual guide.

I would recommend Nikol for any position that she chooses to pursue.  She is organized, passionate, hard working and a beautiful soul to be around.  She has forever made an impression on me and my way of thinking.  Any company would be lucky to have such an amazing woman on their staff!

Adrienne Reed

Adrienne Reed

Former Yoga Teacher and Studio Owner, Florida USA

12+ years of Thriving
in the “Karma Yoga Economy”…
opens up the Anahata (heart) Chakra.

The thing about volunteering, is that these Capitalistic concepts of
“time is money,” “service is money” don’t count any more….

“…it is in this commitment to doing karma yoga for a living, that we purify ourselves. We do things for free, things we would never have done for money in our own countries, things for which we’d consider ourselves way too over qualified. We do things for free, things that even utilize our skills, skills that we’ve spent enormous amounts of time, effort and money to cultivate, we do the things that we had previously earned a substantial income, and we do these things for free. And on top of all that we actually begin to drop our expectations of results, rewards and credit; we serve people for nothing other than their need of assistance and our ability to assist. And in utter opposition to the American Dream career chasing ladder we were set up to climb – we tear that ladder apart, crumble it along with our cultural conditioned identity, then use the wood from this ladder to burn up our unnecessary karmas and melt the ego that has been blocking the doorway to open our heart. And the more we do this, the more opportunities arise for further purification. And the easier it becomes to surrender to what IS. And sooner or later everything begins to flow, like for once in our lives our plan and the divine plan cease to be two, eliminating the struggle we used to feel with the hustle of keeping up with this all this wandering and finally one path begins to illuminate itself, outshining the other options that used to distract us and lead us astray. And on this path alone, we meet ourselves, new born, finally ready, empty enough to be a student, and the real journey begins.”
– excerpt from “Wanderer was I” © 2015, Nicole Jaquis

Now the question is…

how to maintain this mindset
while navigating the Toxic Capitalism of dominant culture?

Nikolji, Nikol Giri, Nicole Jaquis, relativelyLocal, queer yoga teacher, non-binary sadhana guide,

Shall we collab’?

We thrive when we work together. Send me a message to see what’s possible.

Please tell me where you are from.
Please share where else I may find you.
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