When the increasingly popular field of life coaching took root in the UAE, it remained largely inaccessible to one of the UAE’s largest groups: people who speak only Arabic. Moza Al Hameli, a 43-year-old Emirati life coach, aims to change all that. She has just launched her Abu Dhabi-based training academy Azher, which offers sessions and workshops for those who seek to live a more meaningful life – with adjustments in tone, translation and, of...
Set a new goal for fitness, figure out how to spend more time with the people you love and learn how to love yourself more by reading this month’s new wellness books. The Book of Awakening (20th Anniversary Edition) The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have was first published in 2000 but shot to the top of bestseller lists when it got Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement...
At the foundation of Islamic philanthropy is a practice called al waqf, which in Arabic means to stop, contain or preserve but can be broadly understood by a term we all know: “giving back.” From its inception, al waqf has helped to inspire a sense of solidarity and a spirit of growth within Muslim communities across the Middle East. It has both evolved and diminished over time, but was once instrumental in funding sophisticated community empowerment...
This month’s collection of new wellbeing books include guides for self-care and how to argue better; an examination of our obsession with being liked and a self-help spin-off from Michelle Obama’s blockbuster memoir, Becoming. There’s also a children’s book that any age can enjoy and a 2019 reboot of a seminal book about abundance and gratitude from the 1990s. The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care: From A to Z Anna Borges ...
To stay young, the 16th century Transylvanian countess Elizabeth Bathory reputedly bathed in the blood of slaughtered virgins. Juan Ponce de León, who may have accompanied Christopher Columbus on his 1493 voyage to the New World, led an expedition in 1513 to the rumored fountain of youth located on an island known as Bimini, on the coast of what is now Florida. To this day people still search for it there. And who can forget Indiana...
“If the Hour (the day of Resurrection) is about to be established and one of you was holding a palm shoot, let him take advantage of even one second before the Hour is established to plant it.” – Prophet Mohammed. Sitting under an apple tree, Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity. Sitting under a huge Bodhi tree, a prince found enlightenment and became the Buddha. And under the majestic palm trees, a group sat with...
“The place of the cure of the soul.” — Inscription along the shelves of one of the wonders of the ancient world, the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt (285–246 BC). A 2017 study published in the journal International Research in Higher Education found that bibliotherapy — using books (i.e. self-help books) to treat mental or physiological disorders — can have positive results when it comes to dealing with depression, anxiety, self-harm, panic disorders and relapse...
The UAE is preparing to make history with its first space mission and the two Emirati astronauts chosen for the job are doing their best to stay fit and focused. The UAE’s first astronaut, Major Hazza Al Mansouri, takes off for the eight-day mission on September 25 at 5.56pm. When his spacecraft docks with the International Space Station (ISS) at midnight, he will become the first Arab to set foot there. Al Mansouri and his...
As the old Arabian proverb says, “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.” And what better time than the hot, slow summer to take this “garden” out of your pocket and lose yourself in an imaginary world? Besides the sheer enjoyment of it, research, such as a 2015 study by the UK’s Reading Agency, shows the multiple benefits of reading for pleasure: increased empathy, improved relationships with others through better communication, reduced symptoms...
In some ways, when an illness gets a hero, it becomes somewhat less formidable. That is probably why when one of the Arab world’s most beautiful women shaved off her signature long dark hair in solidarity with cancer patients, her post went viral. “Yes beauty is important and we all want to look our best, but we often forget that true beauty is from within, when we are at peace with ourselves,” 2004 Miss Lebanon...
One of my all-time favorite comments is, “Our traditional homes were so organic, so healthy, one could pull out a twig from the roof and use it as a toothpick.” It was made by an elder of a tribe in Abu Dhabi, who remembers living as a child inside an arish – a traditional home made of palm fronds. Take a moment to think about this: Is there anything inside your home now that you...