My first exposure to the potential for mental health through working with the body came when I stepped into my first yoga class while undergoing a serious depression during my college years. I could hardly tolerate anything at all, and the yoga class seemed the only quiet place for me to just be.

I couldn't do any of the movements and had very little body awareness of cooordination, but it was the teachers calm voice and the non-pushy, non-judgemental tone of the class that soothed my nerves. I had several aha moment, like the first time i touched my toes, or the first time I managed to balance for longer than one second on one foot. The joy that would course through my body when I gradually became able to do things I could not do before translated also to a mental realization that, oh, I'm not stuck, I can grow new muscles, new skills, symbolically as well as literally. I became a certified yoga teacher in 2009, by the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram in Austria.

Right away, I preferred teaching yoga to social workers and war refugees because for me it was always about overcoming the pains and losses of life, reconnecting to internal strengths and equanimty. I found yoga practice to be a safe and structured path that helps to regain one's sense of sovereignty, dignity, freedom and joy.

One of my most meaningful collaborations has been as a member of Tools for Inner Peace, a UK-based and volunteer-run charity dedicated to offering yoga classes and trainings to war survivvors, refugees, asylum seekers and communities living in extreme poverty.

From my first encounter with Somatic Experiencing during an introductory workshop I attended February 2015, to the day I certified as a Somatic Experiencing (SE) practitioner in 2018 by the European Association for Somatic Experiencing (EASE), my life and sense of self have changed completely. This 3-year long training is not about learning a 'hack' or a 'tool' to apply for healing trauma, it is an entire retraining of the autonomic nervous system dedicated to connecting to the goodness that already exists in life, while engaging in the wide varieites of trauma that one might encounter. For this reason, Somatic Experiencing is foundational for my own wellbeing and for my capacity to hold space for others who are navigating challenging times.

SE has been the inspiration for many other trauma-informed modalities, but none can compare with the trauma-healing embodiment that SE develops within a person's own being. A depth of internal change towards greater ease and authenticity are what SE offers. In addition to being a practitioner, I became a certified international training assistant with Somatic Experiencing International and an approved provider for SE students at all levels - Beginner, Intermediate and Advance - by 2025.

I'm also very proud to have been a core member of the Arabic translation team for the SE trainings that have taken place in Cairo since 2019 and a proud to be a member of www.seps4palestine.com.

My first yoga teacher and life-long friend, Deborah Felmeth, is also a life-long student of Qi Gong, so I was introduced to both practices, Yoga and Qi Gong, at the same time; and in Damascus, of all places! There are subtle difference and similarities between the two, with full respect to the immense depth and wholeness of both paths. And while Yoga has become a teacher-training industry, Qi Gong remains more a more private and self-exploratory process under the guidance of a mentor in the tradition of apprenticeships. Through Deborah, I learned about Sheng Zhen Qi Gong. I met a senior teacher in Beirut, Amira Chouaib, who first introduced me Tai Chi and studied with her for a couple of years. I followed some teachers online, Mimi Kuo Deemer, Nick Loffree and Stefanie Nosco. Last but not least, I became a student of Sifu Yasser Bilgrami, an internal martial artist based in Dubai. For me, these practices are profound. They help deepen connection to the source of vitality, power and wellbeing.

Entering my 40's and becoming more aware of the transgenerational nature of trauma, I became more interested in learning about healing the wounds related to womb-time, birth and the pre-verbal years. Here, the instincts are related to primitive reflexes and defensive response are deep within the body, close to the core. I became certified in IPPD - Integrated Prenatal and Perinatal Dynamics - an advanced somatic training for working with adults who are exploring embodiment from an existential process of coming into being. My practice is informed by SE Touch, as well as Neuro Affective Touch for healing earliest wounds, as trained by Dr. Aline La Pierre, and by the Bodynamics Foundations program which integrates stages of development with stages of sensori-motor function, as trained by Ditte Marcher, Kalliopi Zorzou and Kristina Marcher.