Photo: Mann
Ever felt overwhelmed or exhausted by your usual routine? Female embodiment coach Lana Nahawi says that burnout is now more common than ever, particularly in women who are feeling the pressure to perfectly manage all aspects of their personal and professional lives. After a turbulent period in her personal life, Nahawi left her corporate carerr and immersed herself in life coaching philosophy. Having found a better understanding of her own experiences, the Dubai-based Palestinian woman next developed her own four-month ‘female embodiment’ program to assist others. “Female embodiment provides a framework for us to re-learn, remember and make contact with a forgotten language that we have grown accustomed to overriding,” she explains. Whilst it is rooted in teaching women the fundamentals to living a calmer lifestyle, Nahawi explains that her coaching also covers important topics including methodology, psychology, feminism, Eastern traditions, and trauma.
Lana Nahawi. Photo: Lauren Rattray
Having studied in Social and Behavioural Sciences in the American University of Beirut, Nawawi says that effective self-care goes beyond just breath work and meditation, dividing her course into three parts. Firstly, the program begins with formal embodiment practises with an introduction to movement, meditation and physiology of breath before transitioning into a more personal talk coach structure with the clients. The second part is a process tailored to the individual and her personal issues and aims. The final part of the program is a “combination of teaching and coaching on how to create more vitality, pleasure and enjoyment as fuel for their lives”, encouraging a supportive safe space to connect with her clients to “learn new skills, to have fun, to delight in sensuality” in a retreat-like peaceful setting.
Lana Nahawi. Photo: Lauren Rattray
As a female embodiment coach, Nahawi says a lot of women experience burnout without realising it. “We are fundamentally taught to over-ride our bodies and our feelings for reasons that are largely systemic in nature. As women, it is our deep desire to manage all to achieve further, and to feel we measure up to these standards,” she explains. “However, these standards are misguided and oppressive as we are human beings after all, not robots.”
Nahawi says both personal and professional burnout can be avoided by following three steps. First connect to self, by “regularly pausing throughout the day to check in on yourself”, to determine “where course correction is needed”. Set boundaries by not being a pushover, whether at work or in friendships. Nahawi describes this as “honoring yourself” enough to say no. Finally, “come down to earth”, and outsource when your rest and play periods are to be scheduled.
