If Wellness Had a Capital City This Week, It Was Dubai

Hi lovely,

What. A. Week.
Dubai has been absolutely buzzing with wellness, and honestly, it could not be more fitting. With the Global Wellness Summit in full swing this week and this year’s theme centred on "Longevity Through a Wellness Lens”, you can really feel how Dubai’s wellness scene is leveling up.

As Robert Jeffers from Atlantis said: Dubai has evolved from a city of luxury into a city of wellbeing. We might be chasing success, but without your health and vitality it doesn’t really mean much.”
And you can feel that shift everywhere… From the world’s first chromotherapy LED bed at Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, to hyperbaric oxygen, cryo, infrared, Sanctum classes popping up everywhere, perimenopause-focused rituals, biostrength gyms, and a growing appetite for tech-meets-tradition healing.

The momentum is real. It is in the conversations, the spaces, the innovations, and the way people are choosing to live. Everywhere you turn, it seems the message is the same: this place is no longer just about luxury and shiny things, it is about living well.

And a huge part of living well is sharing wellness, feeling connected, and experiencing these moments together — which feels like a good time to mention our next community walk…

We’re hosting our next Wellness Stroll at Feels, Marsa Al Arab next Wednesday 26th at 7.15am, with free refreshments provided by our lovely friends at Feels after.

We would truly love to meet you, chat, and soak up that morning calm together. It’s always such a gorgeous start to the day. 

RSVP Here. 

There is so much happening in this city right now, so consider this week’s round-up your front-row seat to everything shaping the future of wellness (with a distinctly Dubai glow!)

Ready? Let’s dive in.

The Eatery - Paus Club

If your nervous system has been asking for a little peace with a side of great coffee, the newly opened Eatery at Paus Club might be your new go-to. Tucked away on Al Wasl Road, it is one of those rare Dubai spots that feels instantly grounding - calm, minimalist, and refreshingly spacious. (With outdoor seating at both the front and the back, the usual Dubai table hunt stress is close to non existent!)

The menu is top notch. Think comfort food - but still nourishing, all with locally sourced ingredients. We tried the scrambled eggs and the shakshuka with khameer — both delicious, both the kind of breakfast that felt comforting yet light. The coffee and matcha are consistently great too.

But what makes Paus truly special is the community heartbeat that runs through it. Wellness practices range from yoga, to reformer pilates, foam roller yin, breathwork, meditation and sound healing but the magic here really shows up in their community events - journaling circles, art therapy (to name a couple) and their much loved Matcha Mornings, where different thought provoking wellness topics are explored over a warm cup. It is thoughtful, intentional programming that really sets Paus apart - creating a place that people want to return to because it feels like something more.

So whether you’re meeting a friend, working remotely, or craving somewhere to exhale, Paus is one of those places that feels like a tiny pocket of sanctuary in the middle of Jumeirah. A space that doesn’t just serve wellness, but genuinely builds it.

Spacious, nourishing, beautifully calm - and the shakshuka alone is worth the visit.

📍Paus Club - Al Wasl Rd - Umm Al Sheif - Dubai 

A week shaped by movement, mindfulness, and a little bit of magic - desert hikes, full-moon rituals, immersive mornings, and slow, grounding strolls by the sea. If you’re craving connection, clarity, or just a moment for yourself… here’s where to find it 🤍

🕊️ Sanctum: Burj Khalifa Edition
Sunday 23rd November, 5:00 PM
Armani Hotel Dubai
An exclusive Sanctum experience beneath the world’s tallest tower, guided by founder Luuk. Move through a powerful Sanctum Signature Sequence designed to help you release, reconnect, and step into a new week with clarity and renewed energy. Light refreshments included — the ultimate Sunday reset.
Book here

✨The Glow Flow
Tuesday 25th November, 9:00–10:00 AM
Burj Al Arab - Private Garden
A dreamy mid-morning reset in one of Dubai’s most iconic spaces. Enjoy 30 minutes of Vinyasa Flow + 30 minutes of Face Yoga to lift, release, and renew — with nourishing touches from 111SKIN, ALO, and more.
Book here

🚶‍♀️The Wellness Stroll: November Edition 
Wednesday 26th November, 7:15–8:15 AM
Feels, Marsa Al Arab
Our very own Wellness Drop Stroll is back — a chance to move, connect, and ease into the day together. Meet us at Feels for a complimentary drink before we head out for a gentle walk along Kite Beach. Fresh air, good chats, and a grounded start to your Wednesday. We’ll finish back at Feels for a few more catch-ups… or you can head straight off to start your day. This is a free community event, but RSVP is essential.
Book here

🌞 The Brave Table x Kailo: Fitness & Wellness Morning
Friday 28th November, 9:00–11:00 AM
The Achievher Studio
A morning of movement, mindfulness & magic to close Dubai Fitness Month. Featuring yoga + breathwork with celebrity coaches, sound healing, a Rose Ritual Chai Circle, and a live Brave Conversation with Kailo’s founders. Smoothies, baked goods & soulful surprises included.
Book here

🔥 Unfold: 3-Day Immersive Experience
Friday 28th – Sunday 30th November
MOTION Mercato + SIRO One Za’abeel
Three international movement brands — Allez, Training Club, and Motion Cycling — uniting for a three-day immersive journey of training, transformative workshops, and deep recovery. A space to move, reset, and connect with something bigger.
Book here

🚶‍♀️ Synkro x SIRO Community Hike
Saturday 29th November
Wadi Shawka — Ras Al Khaimah
Movement, mindfulness & nature in one morning. Enjoy a guided intermediate-level 8KM loop with a steady ascent, loose rocks, and unbeatable views. Includes transportation, refreshments, and a wellness goodie bag.
Book here

🌿 Immersive Morning Reset
Saturday 29th November, 10:00 AM
ToDA — 360° Digital Theatre
A soothing morning of wellness blending rejuvenating yoga with a Reiki healing meditation inside ToDA’s 360° digital theatre. Expect breathtaking visuals, deep energetic release, wellness activations, and curated gifts.
Book here

🟡 Feminine Rising — Full Moon Gathering
Sunday 30th November, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
HWH Studio, Burj Al Arab — 18th Floor
A full-moon evening crafted for women to breathe, move, release, and rise higher. Gentle, powerful, and beautifully held.
Book here

 INDUSTRY TRENDS AND NEWS

🌍 The Global Wellness Summit Put Dubai in the Spotlight
This year’s Global Wellness Summit landed in Dubai with a clear message: the world is taking longevity seriously - and Dubai is perfectly positioned to lead. With a theme of Longevity Through a Wellness Lens, the summit drew global experts, founders, scientists, and innovators to explore everything from AI-driven spa tech to midlife health, diagnostics, recovery, and the future of preventative living. The conversations mirrored what is happening on the ground here: a city shifting from pure luxury to genuine wellbeing, powered by tech-forward resorts, ancient-healing-meets-modern-science rituals, and a growing appetite for accessible longevity.
Outtake: If wellness had a capital city this week, it was Dubai - and the world was watching.
Read More

🏙️ Dubai’s Newest Wellness-Forward Residences Are Basically a Biohacker’s Dream
Fakhruddin Properties has unveiled Treppan Serenique Residences on Dubai Islands, a wellness-first development built for the longevity era. Think hyperbaric oxygen, cryotherapy, red light therapy, and sensory deprivation pods. Add in an oxygen-rich bamboo park, meditation pods, rooftop pools, NASA grade air purification, AI enabled smart homes, and an in-house hydroponic greenhouse café, and you’ve got one of the most tech-forward wellbeing communities Dubai has seen - all wrapped in a sustainability-led design.
Our Thoughts: You had me at NASA-grade air purification. When can we move in?
Read More

🧘‍♀️ Seed Just Released a Microbiome-Powered Meditation
Seed has teamed up with mindfulness platform open to create the world’s first meditation powered by the human microbiome. Using real microbial activity from the gut, Seed’s science team converted the data into sound, which Open’s engineers transformed into a meditative soundscape - essentially, a microbial sound bath that lets you listen to your own biology. The track anchors Second Brain, a new seven-part Seed × Open series designed to bring gut–brain science into everyday mindfulness practice.
Outtake: Forget crystal bowls; microbial sound baths are the new flex.
Read More

♻️ Puresport Is Flipping Black Friday on Its Head (Again)
UK-based wellness brand Puresport is back with another purpose-led mic drop moment. After last year’s viral “Gift It Back” campaign, they’re once again rejecting the commercialisation and overconsumption of traditional Black Friday with a new initiative: “Thrift It Back.” Instead of sending out more stuff no one needs, influencers across the UK will receive empty PR boxes and be invited to return their unused, over-gifted kit. Puresport will then sell it at their Thrift It Back Market on 6 December — with 100% of proceeds doubled and donated to youth charity Greenhouse Sports. With 70% of PR gifts going unused and 40% of beauty products ending up in landfill unopened, it’s a clever call-out of the industry’s excess and a meaningful example of wellness marketing with purpose.
Our thoughts: A Black Friday campaign that’s actually about impact, not impulse - consider us fully on board.
Read More

🚀 Wellness Just Entered Its Trillion-Dollar Era
The global wellness economy has blasted to $6.8T, up 35% since 2019, with prevention, longevity, and healthier living going fully mainstream. Wellness real estate is booming, mental wellbeing is accelerating, and even travel is shifting toward retreats, recovery, and longevity-led escapes. By 2029, the sector is expected to hit $9.8T as wellness outpaces tourism, sport, and tech combined.
Punchline: Wellness is the new growth engine of… everything. The question now is not whether people will choose it, but how fast brands can keep up.
Read More

💸 Skims Just Hit a $5 Billion Valuation
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear empire has levelled up again, securing $225M in fresh funding led by Goldman Sachs and pushing Skims to a $5B valuation. What started as a size inclusive shapewear line in 2019 has become a retail rocket, now spanning loungewear, swim, menswear, and major partnerships with the NBA, WNBA, USA Basketball, and even Nike. With revenue soaring from $145M in 2020 to $750M in 2023, and a global store rollout underway from LA to Dubai, Skims is officially one of the fastest-growing apparel brands on the planet.
Outtake: Love her or loathe her, she’s rewritten the playbook — she may not have passed the bar, but she has built a retail machine the rest of the industry is now sprinting after.
Read More

🔮 TREND TO WATCH

🏋️‍♂️ The Rise of the Everyday Athlete
Across the UK, UAE, US & beyond, fitness is shifting from solo routines to competition-style training. Events like HYROX, Spartan and obstacle races are exploding as people look for community, structure and a clear goal to train for. Participation has surged into the hundreds of thousands, with women and over-45s joining in at record rates. Gyms and group fitness studios are playing a major role too, creating built-in tribes that train together, compete together and share their progress online. It is part sport, part social identity — and part of why hybrid fitness is growing so fast. The only downside: higher entry costs and a rise in overuse injuries as newcomers jump into athlete-level training.
Our thoughts: In a world craving connection, competing together might be the new social glue.
Read More

🔬RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

💤 The Best Non-Drug Fixes for Insomnia Are In — and They Work
A new network meta-analysis of over 4000 adults compared 11 non-pharmacological therapies for primary insomnia - and the results are quite striking. All non drug interventions improved sleep, but (CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - which works by rewiring the thoughts and habits that keep people awake) acupuncture and acupressure consistently came out on top. CBT was the most effective for reducing sleep latency and improving sleep efficiency, cutting the time it takes to fall asleep by around 10 minutes. Acupressure boosted total sleep time by over two hours, while acupuncture delivered some of the strongest improvements in overall sleep quality. Side effects were minimal and mostly limited to mild local reactions.
Outtake: When it comes to insomnia, the evidence is clear - your best sleep solutions might just be the ones without a prescription.
Read The Study

📩 SHARE IT, SAVE IT, SEND IT

💾 Save it — for your Sunday scroll when you want the real wellness intel.
📲 Share it — with your wellness bestie who loves a little Dubai decoding.
📤 Send it — to anyone who still thinks Dubai is “just luxury”… they need this week’s edition.