The UAE's Happiness Agenda on a solid track.

Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, mental health issues increased significantly across the globe. High stress, physical burnout, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances have become prevalent.

Mental health is one of the least regulated and most exploited fields. As per WHO, mental health disorders cost the global economy up to $1 trillion per year.

This was stated by Ishan Shivanand, , a globally acclaimed mental health professor and researcher specialising in non-pharmaceutical and non-invasive meditative modalities, during an exclusive interview with Gulf Today.

“The ongoing scenarios call for integrative, holistic, and research-backed approaches to well-being. We are encouraged by the UAE’s Happiness Agenda to support the people of the Middle East with scientific interventions for holistic health.

I’m hopeful that our Mental Resilience Training Programs in the Middle East will support the mental health of young people, healthcare workers, government institutions and everyone who wishes to lead a more happy, healthy, and resilient life,”  Shivanand added.

To address this, we are launching the Yoga of Immortals (YoI) Mental Resilience Training Program in the Middle East - following its successful implementation in leading healthcare and government institutions across the world.

The YoI Mental Resilience Training Program in the Middle East will be delivered as a software-based intervention through regular, interactive online sessions by Ishan Shivanand.

The meditative protocols are progressive in nature and curated based on the distinctive requirements of the local population. Besides a deep metabolic rest for a heightened state of non-judgemental awareness, the programs will include a combination of yoga-based breathwork, cognitive and emotional stimulation, awareness and visualisation techniques.

As integrative medicine, Ishan Shivanand’s yoga-based meditative techniques have recorded a success rate of up to 82% in preventing and managing mental and physical health disorders such as anxiety, depression and insomnia, as well as urinary incontinence. Practitioners of the YoI programs experience a reversal of these conditions, along with a reduction in stress levels, increased mental resilience and higher quality of life.