A love note to Dubai, the UAE, and our wellness family❤️‍🩹

Hi besties,

It’s difficult to know what to say at a time like this.

Like many of you, we’ve spent the past couple of weeks sitting with a strange mix of emotions. Our hearts feel heavy for the state of the world right now, for the people in Iran, in Lebanon, and in so many places living through conflict and uncertainty. And of course for those here in the UAE, our home.

While we know we are safe, it has still been unsettling to feel our haven, the place where so many of us have built our lives, our families, our friendships and our futures, suddenly feel under threat. Moments like these leave you in that uncomfortable space of not quite knowing what to think, what to feel, or what to do.

Many of you have reached out to check in with us over the past couple of weeks, which meant more than we can properly say.

Both Katie and I are currently in the UK with our families. Between us we have six young children, and our focus over this time has simply been on being present with them, helping them feel safe and keeping life as steady and normal as possible. To any parents navigating the same balance of holding your own emotions while creating calm for little ones, our hearts are very much with you.

As we begin to gently find our way back here, we wanted to start by sharing something supportive.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be focusing on sharing some resources that can help regulate the nervous system, both online and in person, for those who are in the region and for anyone who may still be feeling a little unsettled. We’ll also keep rounding up what’s happening across the wellness world globally, with our usual Wellness Drop twist, and hopefully bring a little lightness and joy to your inbox along the way.

And finally, a small reminder for all of us.

This city has always been resilient. The UAE has built something extraordinary in the middle of the desert, and that speaks not only to remarkable leadership, but also to the people who chose to build their lives here.

Our city is resilient.

And so are you.

We will rise again, and together we will find our way forward.

With love (and deep gratitude for this place we call home),

It’s been another unsettling week in Dubai, and wherever you are right now, it feels like many of us could do with a nervous system reset.

This week’s edit brings together grounding breathwork, gentle movement and community-led gatherings, alongside a few digital options for those travelling or choosing to reset closer to home.

🌿 Pilates, Breathwork & Coffee with The Pilates Collective
Sunday 15th March, 10:00 AM
Samsara Studio, Dubai Marina
A slow Sunday reset with movement and community. Start with a 40-minute Pilates sculpt class overlooking the water, followed by gentle breathwork to help regulate the nervous system. Each guest also receives a complimentary red light therapy voucher - a little extra reset moment. After class, everyone heads for coffee and a catch-up (arguably the best part).
To book, DM @thepilatescollective_

✨ Sound Healing & Vision Board Session
Sunday 15th March, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
Esque Gallery, Dubai Hills
A grounding 90-minute session designed to calm the nervous system and reconnect you with your intentions. Begin with a sound healing experience to settle the body and mind, followed by a guided vision board workshop to help realign with what you want to create next.
Book here

🌬 Immersive Multidimensional Breathwork
Tuesday 17th March, 7:30 PM
IMMERSEE, SEE Institute - The Sustainable City
A powerful community breathwork experience designed to help release tension and emotional weight. Through breath, sound, light and vibration, this immersive session creates space for calm, clarity and renewed inner strength. Sometimes the most important thing we can give ourselves is simply an hour to breathe.
Book here

🌊 Ocean Grounding & Floating Breathwork
Tuesday 17th March, 7:30 PM
La Cantine Beach, Bluewaters
Breathwork by the sea, designed to help you soften, release and reconnect. Floating on the water, you’ll move through conscious breath patterns that help clear stagnant energy and bring the body back into balance - all in the calming setting of Bluewaters Island.
Book here

🌙 New Moon Special: Sanctum
Wednesday 18th March, 7:00 PM
SIRO, One Za'abeel
The New Moon in Pisces offers a soft but powerful reset. This Sanctum session moves gently yet intentionally, helping you release what’s passed, reconnect with your intuition and step forward with renewed clarity.
Book here

🌊 Floating Breathwork
Thursday 19th March, 5:30 PM
Bay Health Club
A guided floating breathwork journey designed to move stagnant energy through the body and regulate the nervous system. Through breath, water and sound, this session helps release tension, restore flow and create space for calm and clarity.
Book here

📱 Sanctum Digital
Sanctum has just launched its digital platform, bringing their immersive movement and mindfulness experiences wherever you are.
From energising morning sessions to guided meditations and their Signature Sequence, it’s a way to tune in and reset even on days when leaving the house doesn’t feel like the move.
To join, click here

🖥 The Steady Space: A Live Somatic Sanctuary
Live via Zoom
A gentle online space to regulate, ground and return to yourself. For anyone travelling, staying close to home, or simply wanting support without leaving the house, this live somatic session offers a chance to pause, breathe and reconnect in real time.
Book here

 INDUSTRY TRENDS AND NEWS

🏋️ Dubai’s Newest Fitness Class… Is a Nap
GymNation has launched a 45-minute “nap class” in Dubai, swapping burpees for breathwork, gentle stretching and a guided mid-day snooze. The session is designed to move the body out of “fight or flight” and into a parasympathetic rest state, using breathwork, meditation and live handpan music before participants climb under duvets for the final nap stage. It may sound quirky, but the concept reflects a bigger shift happening in wellness: recovery is finally being treated as a performance tool. Dubai’s hustle culture may have met its match.
Punchline: In the city of HIIT and hyper-productivity, the real flex might just be learning how to switch off.
Read More

😴 Eight Sleep Is Turning Your Bed Into a Health Coach
Sleep tech company Eight Sleep just raised $50M at a $1.5B valuation as it pushes beyond sleep tracking into predictive, AI-driven health. Its latest smart mattress and temperature-regulating bedding are designed to optimise sleep, recovery and circadian rhythms - with features like Hot Flash Mode, shown to reduce menopausal symptoms by 56%. But the bigger play is data. Trained on more than one billion hours of sleep, Eight Sleep is building an always-on health platform that connects nighttime sleep data with daytime habits like exercise, caffeine and stress to predict and correct disturbances before they happen.
Wellness bestie thoughts: We have one and have to say… we’re low-key obsessed. It’s an investment, but a worthy one. Your mattress might quietly be becoming the most important health device in your home.
Link Here

🧪 SuppCo Wants to Be the Supplement Industry’s Fact Checker
Health app SuppCo is launching TESTED, a new certification programme designed to independently verify what’s actually inside supplements. Acting like a secret shopper, the company buys products at retail and sends them to third-party labs - preventing brands from pre-selecting samples or influencing results. The move comes after SuppCo’s TrustScore analysis of 500+ supplements found around 50% of product claims were inaccurate. With 74% of Americans taking supplements but most wishing labels were clearer, the programme aims to bring much-needed transparency to the category.
Wellness bestie thoughts: The supplement world has long felt like the wild west. If brands truly believe in what they’re selling, independent testing shouldn’t be controversial - it should be the standard.
Read More

🌿 Dubai Is Exporting Longevity to Kerala
Dubai entrepreneur Faizal Kottikollon is launching Tulah Clinical Wellness, a $100 million integrative health sanctuary set on 30 forested acres in northern Kerala. Blending hospital-grade diagnostics such as MRI and genomic testing with Ayurveda, Vedanta and clinical yoga, Tulah positions itself as an antidote to Silicon Valley biohacking, focusing on prevention, spinal alignment and long-term balance over quick tech fixes. With 65 suites priced up to $2,700 per night, plus plans for global Urban Tulah hubs and a proprietary Life Index synced to wearables, this is longevity as a structured, data-driven lifestyle, not a one-week reset.
Bottom Line: We love seeing evidence-based medicine sit alongside traditional Eastern practices. The future of wellness may not be either or, but intelligently integrated. We’re eyeing up a visit that’s for sure.
Read More

🥇 Mandarin Oriental Taps Simone Biles as Global Wellness Ambassador
Mandarin Oriental has named Simone Biles as its first-ever global wellness ambassador, signalling a deeper push into positioning the brand as a global authority on wellbeing. The most decorated gymnast in history will collaborate with the hotel group’s wellness board, shape future initiatives and lead global storytelling around recovery, mental health and balance. Her debut partnership at the Milan property includes a “Double-Double Glow” massage and facial, plus a “Champion Chip” cookie inspired by her philosophy of nourishment with room for enjoyment.
Zooming Out: Luxury hospitality is no longer just about spas and aesthetics. It is aligning with elite performance, recovery and mental resilience.
Read More

💍 Oura Is Building AI Specifically for Women’s Health
Oura is launching a custom AI coaching model focused entirely on women’s health, covering life stages from menstruation through pregnancy to menopause. Built within its existing Advisor platform, the model will combine clinical research with biometric ring data to deliver context-aware insights tailored to hormonal shifts, cycle changes and midlife transitions. The move comes amid growing concern that women are 66% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men, with leading AI chatbots reportedly showing failure rates of up to 60% on women’s health issues. As trust in generic health advice declines, personalised, life-stage-aware tools are becoming essential rather than optional.
Punchline: Women’s health is not a niche category. If AI is going to sit inside our bodies via wearables, it needs to understand them properly.
Read More

🏟 CrossFit Is Getting Its HYROX Moment
A new competition series called XENOM has raised $15M to launch stadium-scale events for CrossFit and hybrid athletes, positioning itself as a structured alternative to the CrossFit Games. Backed by Rogue Fitness and licensed as an official CrossFit Partner Event, XENOM will debut at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility before rolling out across 11 cities including London, Miami and Paris. Unlike the constantly shifting CrossFit Games, XENOM will standardise competition with 10 fixed events and decathlon-style scoring, making it easier to train for and scale globally. CrossFit insists there’s no rivalry with HYROX, but the contrast is clear. HYROX’s predictable format has powered explosive growth across training, apparel and travel.
Bottom Line: Fitness is fully in its spectator sport era. The winners won’t just build workouts. They’ll build ecosystems.
Read More

🔮 TREND TO WATCH

🧘🏻‍♀️ Pelvic Health Is Becoming Routine Maintenance
Pelvic floor dysfunction affects up to 50% of women and one in six men, contributing significantly to chronic pain, core instability and wider musculoskeletal issues. Yet stigma and specialist shortages have left major care gaps, with one in three women still unsure what is actually “normal”. That’s shifting. Pelvic health is moving from reactive treatment to proactive training. Digital MSK (musculoskeletal) platforms like Hinge Health and Sword are launching guided programmes, fitness brands are integrating breath and core re-engagement into mainstream classes, and at-home devices are turning pelvic work into a daily habit rather than a post-baby emergency. Even medspas are adding technologies like the Emsella chair, a non-invasive device that uses high-intensity electromagnetic pulses to stimulate and strengthen the pelvic floor while you remain fully clothed.
Zooming Out: This is less about kegels and more about performance, prevention and longevity. Closer to home, we’ll be at Core Within this weekend trying their Strong Mama classes, with a strong focus on breath mechanics and pelvic floor re-engagement. We’re also starting a series of sessions on the Emsella chair, so watch this space. If pelvic health becomes routine maintenance rather than whispered afterthought, that’s real progress.
Read More

🔬 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

⏰ Scientists May Have Found a “Smart Drug” for Jet Lag
Researchers in Japan have identified a compound called Mic-628 that can reliably shift the body’s internal clock forward, potentially helping with jet lag, shift work sleep disruption and circadian misalignment. In lab studies, Mic-628 activated Per1, a core clock gene that regulates daily biological rhythms. It works by binding to a protein called CRY1, which normally suppresses clock gene activity, effectively nudging the brain’s master clock, along with peripheral clocks in other organs, into a new rhythm. The shift occurred consistently, regardless of timing of administration how further studies are still needed to assess safety and real-world effectiveness.
Bottom Line: Disrupted circadian rhythm is one of the most damaging stressors to long-term health, particularly for pilots, airline crew and shift workers. If compounds like this prove safe and accessible, they could become meaningful support for professions built around time-zone chaos. Early days, but promising.
Read More