I wear athletic leggings frequently, and the trunk of my car is home to two colourful yoga mats. Yet, while I'll sign up for the occasional sunset yoga session and have attempted classes that incorporate Pilates Reformer machines, I'm somewhat of a fraud in that I've never really committed to a regular fitness regime.
To me, it all looks rather intimidating: the breadth of workout tutorials and body transformations on social media, although intended to be inspiring, can be the opposite – a reminder that getting in shape takes zealous commitment and a strict routine, if you want to see any results.
Not to mention the fact that it takes preparation, starting with your outfit: you can’t just show up to a class in an oversized T-shirt you sometimes sleep in when the rest of the group is fitted out in sleek leggings and designer sports bras.
So, while I'm signed up with GuavaPass, a fitness class pass service available in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I have yet to really experience Dubai's many gyms and studios partnered with the service – not out of laziness I assure you, but just an overall trepidation about workout classes and anything gym-related.
My sister however, convinces me to go to a class with her. It incorporates hammocks and I’m intrigued, asking myself, how intense can it be? I blissfully imagine lying in a hammock, with soothing music in the background, and perhaps a few stretches.
I pull on my seamless LNDR leggings from new activewear boutique Hautletic and drive to Dubai Marina. I leave my car with the valet (yes, even fitness studios come equipped with valet parking options in Dubai) and at 5pm, enter the studio.
The workout room is lined with green yoga mats on the floor and grey hammocks suspended from the industrial ceiling.
There’s a blue block, silver stability ball and pair of black weights next to each mat.
We start stretching and rolling our necks from side to side, our instructor Stephanie says this helps release our bodies of the effects of the long days we’ve all just endured.
The hammock in fact, does not come into play until the last part of the class.
After a series of stretches and strenuous yoga poses, we boost ourselves onto the hammocks and then swing backwards, locking our feet around the drapes so that we’re hanging upside down, our hands touching the floor.
As the blood rushes to my head, my legs tightly wrapped around the suspended cloths, and my muscles start to throb from the earlier contortions I have forced my body into, I think to myself, ‘this is not what I had in mind’. But laying there, I’m already planning ahead to next week, hoping to fit the class into my schedule again on Wednesday.
As my class comes to a close, we're invited to cocoon ourselves in our hammocks, and for a few moments, clear our minds, switch off, and contemplate whether we've accomplished our goals over the past hour.
It’s a nice, peaceful reward for the 50-minute workout we’ve just gone through, and I could have stayed in that comfortable cocoon for an hour, if not for the lights being switched on and next batch of students spilling into the room.
The air in Dubai is currently thick with enthusiasm for exercise, thanks to the ongoing Dubai Fitness Challenge. And as I have found out, entering the daunting world of working out sometimes requires a push.
The next morning my abs are so sore I have to literally roll out of bed and moving about proves a challenge. But, while this could be a deterrent to some my aching muscles are a reminder of what I achieved the day before.
I’ve come to the conclusion that fitness isn’t just about tangible results and changes you see in the mirror – the weight loss, the hunky six-pack or the beach body – it is also about reflection, self-awareness, balance and nurturing your body.
So if you’ve been thinking about getting back into a regime, just do it!
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Read more from Hafsa:
Café culture is thriving in Dubai thanks to Instagram
Escape rooms are a must-try social trend
Bring back board-game culture, it’s addictive
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Results
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix - 3:45:47
2. David Dekker (NED) Jumbo-Visma - same time
3. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4. Emils Liepins (LAT) Trek-Segafredo
5. Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLO UAE Team Emirates
7. Anthony Roux (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
8. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:00:03
9. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10. Fausto Masnada (ITA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
