For most people the daily fast of Ramadan is tough, but for those with eating disorders (EDs) this time of year can have a more sinister allure. “One of the common misconceptions in the Middle East is that EDs are a ‘Western problem’,” says Dina Zalami, a counseling psychologist from Thrive Wellbeing Centre. “While diagnosable eating disorders may have been more present in the West in the past, globalization and social media have given rise...
Yoga Nidra takes you to the space between wakefulness and sleep -- and it can galvanize and relax you at the very same time.
Marianne Tafani was inspired to launch Core connect after a traumatic first childbirth that led to four debilitating injuries which left her alone for 19 hours a day with a newborn baby when she could barely walk. The 34-year-old French-born founder of the postnatal abdominal rehabilitation programme, which is based in Dubai, said she had “no choice but to educate myself and find solutions.” “The doctor who delivered my son refused to follow up on me...
At school, I used to hide my tampons, because asking permission to go to the toilet and then taking my whole bag with me would have been an embarrassing giveaway. The worst was when I stained my skirt and had to tie my school jumper around my waist. The girls were usually just as shaming as the boys about this sort of thing. “Don’t you know how to deal with your period?” was a common...
Livehealthy is starting a new series called “My work”, where we delve into how people in the UAE deal with their job stress. We do this anonymously so people can be totally honest about their experiences without fear of reprisal. Pre-Covid, we spoke to a 41-year-old associate lawyer who works at an international law firm with offices in Dubai. Time zones don’t mean anything to clients. They’ll call you anytime they want and expect a...
The mind is a powerful thing. It conjures up unwanted thoughts that are so tenacious that, try as we might, we cannot shift them. It defines our perception of ourselves and our surroundings, even if that perception is harmful. But you can banish those thoughts and change the way you view the world, using that same power of the mind. All it takes is a few tweaks, says clinical hypnotherapist Laila Saif. A simple exercise...
How do you make a difference in the world? How do you actually bring about a change for the better? How do you do good things? We asked three UAE residents how they implemented their ideas for bringing change not only to their own lives but also to the lives of others. Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the founder of Goumbook, an information resource on how to live in a greener, more eco-conscious way. After losing...
With my previously disordered relationship with food, I shouldn’t be attempting a 72-hour water fast. This experiment however, is focused on the power of the mind. It is not a weight loss strategy. And I trust myself enough to know there are no ulterior motives. It’s been long enough since that complex relationship with my body and food was put to rest. Several studies have linked water fasting with some impressive health benefits, including a...
Fourteen years of working in the wellness industry gave Dubai-based Stacey Elizabeth Sharp, a STOTT-qualified Pilates teacher and nutritionist, a leg up in founding Retreatmi.com. The new wellness platform helps users source getaways which specialize in innovation, inclusion and productivity. Bringing together unique locations from The Philippines to the Czech Republic to South Africa, retreatmi.com allows you to customize your holiday with as many services as your need or desire. Retreatmi.com offers to do the hard...
Before I get into why a naysayer like me tried Reiki, I’ll begin with a statement of fact: I am hopeless at yoga, pilates, meditation and all the rest of it. If I don’t sweat, I don’t consider it a workout. And if I’m not able to tip the contents of my mind into a mental landfill, I don’t consider myself meditated. I’m not your prime candidate for anything related to holistic healing, energy tapping...
“You have to have the courage to be disliked,” says Carolyn Cowan. The 59-year-old London-based psychotherapist and relationship therapist, whose career has spanned more than three decades and many fields (including fashion design and photography), talked about self-love and self-care during a recent visit to Life’n One. She’ll be back at the Dubai wellbeing centre, founded in 2014 by Eda Gungor and Seva Bhagti Kaur, twice next year, too. She’s answering my question: “How do we...