Over the past year, we have started to consider our own wellbeing perhaps more than ever before. many of us have changed our habits and lifestyle to adapt to the “new normal” and this has started to carve out new popular activities and trends that are changing the way we look after our wellness. here we discover some of the latest activities to try this month.
Go kayaking at the Louvre
Louvre Abu Dhabi has put together a number of new activities this winter that will make enhance your experience when visiting this iconic gallery. Kayaking around the museums still waters will allow you to discover the museum’s architecture from a unique perspective. Kayaking tours last 60 minutes and can be done alone or in pairs. This truly one-of-a-kind experience lets visitors enjoy the beauty of the building.
Choose from a number of experiences including full moon kayaking, sunrise kayaking and even kayaking tours for juniors. All safety precautions are being taken and social distancing will be enforced to ensure the tours can still run at this time.
Meditate underwater
Atlantis the Palm has an exciting new experience that will allow you to drown out the noise of the city and forget about all the stresses in your life. Practice yoga and meditation at Atlantis The Palm’s Lost Chambers Aquarium against a backdrop of 65,000 marine animals. Set against the mesmerising tranquillity of The Ambassador Lagoon at Atlantis, The Palm, Underwater Yoga in The Lost Chambers Aquarium is available to book every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 8:00-9:00am, providing a relaxing start to the day. This expert-led class involves a beautiful, calming sequence of poses, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that is suitable for all yoga levels.
On every last Saturday of the month, the one- hour yoga session is followed by a 30-minute Tibetan singing bowls meditation. Tibetan singing bowls are an ancient form of medicine that use sound to restore and relax the body as the harmonics and vibrations of the bowls help lower blood pressure, soothe pain and significantly reduce stress levels. Open to all levels and abilities, the class helps to improve strength, flexibility and balance through a fluid sequence of postures and breathing exercises.
Take on tech work outs
While gyms have reopened in many parts of the world, the lockdown sparked a trend for online work outs that really seems to have taken hold in the fitness industry. Classes or personal training sessions via Zoom are often much more convenient and have a higher attendance rate due to the fact that it can be done at home. Fitness companies are following the curve as well with new technology that allows us to train in the home.
Sales of Peloton at-home fitness bikes are said to have doubled year on year from 2019 compared with 2020, while newcomers such as NordicTrack allow you to run or cycle anywhere in the world through a screen attached to the top of your equipment. Of course, smartwatches are more popular than ever, allowing you to keep track of your movement as well as encouraging movement on days when you might be stuck at home.
Learn to be a yoga teacher
Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer Nancy Zabaneh has put together a professional training programme that will allow you to become a Kundalini Yoga Teacher. The 220-hour professional certification course specialises in Kundalini yoga. Also known as the yoga of awareness Kundalini yoga is an ancient practice that helps to manage stress by challenging and extending our endurance, and giving us tools to navigate the pressures of life. Triumphs, wins and hardships are all part of our humanity. Kundalini yoga supports our capacity to observe and in so doing our ability to act, instead of react.
Coordinated in Dubai By Darshan, the course is open to people of all abilities and includes 180 hours of classroom instruction and 40 hours of independent study that may include service projects, a 40-day meditation, rebirthing classes or White Tantric yoga. The course also includes deep self-reflection around a myriad of topics in communication, relationships, philosophy, death and postures, in addition to group work as well as intensive yoga and meditative experiences. Through conscious breath, dynamic movement, eye focus, timed sequences, the chanting of mantras and meditation, this powerful practice works to strengthen the nervous system, stimulate the glandular system and enhance one’s energetic awareness all around. For more information, visit www.darshan.one/teacher- training-2021.
