S P E C I A L F E AT U R E S
ALAA ABANOMI The yogi tells us more about her craft. By Johara Al Mogbel
Alaa Abanomi has always been intriguing. She’s a therapeutic hatha yoga teacher, wellbeing enthusiast and part of the Sukoun family, the city’s newest health studio.
I got into yoga lightly when I was studying university in the US around 2003. I became an avid practitioner when I was pregnant with my first child in 2006. I went in for the stretch and strength and came out with a lot more. I decided to continue my education in the healing art and science of yoga from then on.
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What is yoga therapy about?
Yoga therapy aims to integrate traditional yoga methods and techniques with conventional Western medical treatments. Many different approaches to yoga therapy exist, but all share the fundamental understanding that integration of the mind, body, and spirit are essential to healing. For this reason, yoga therapy encompasses not only how we move our body
and the postures we do on our mats, but also, and of equal importance, is how we live and treat ourselves and others, off the mat. It aims to re-align the body both structurally and energetically, restore balance to the autonomic nervous system, deepen and regulate the breath, massage the internal organs, stretch the muscles, open the joints and the heart, and quiet the endless chatter of the mind.
STUFF PHOTO/ MOHAMMED DEGHAISHM
How did you get into yoga?