The Livehealthy Festival is right around the corner — on January 24 and 25 at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi — and we are adding speakers and experts to our panel every day. A few of our session leaders and speakers are below and there are lots more on the way, so may sure you check back when we are ready to release the full schedule.
Barry Rosenthal
Barry Rosenthal is an award winning photographer and artist. He creates his collections Found in Nature and Photobotanicus from found objects. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Barry is currently an artist resident at Chashama and will be creating an installation from beach refuse at the Livehealthy Festival.
Sarah Jane Horn & Craig James Fletcher
Craig and Sarah Jane run the Bodyism gym and cafe, which is the Bodyism in the UAE located at Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort. Sarah Jane did her first 200-hour Vinyasa training at The Shala Yoga Center in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015 and followed up with a 300-hour Hatha training with JP Tamblyn-Sabo at Ahimsa Yoga Studio in Toronto, Canada two years later. She has traveled to Bali to expand her understanding of meditation, breath work and sound healing.
Craig has a passion to help Bodyism clients find a unique connection with body and mind. Whether through functional movement, weight training, yoga or pranayama breathing techniques, the Bodyism philosophy is to create a fun atmosphere to educate and empower clients to reach their own goals or discover new possibilities. In his yoga classes Craig emphasizes an intelligent strong flow and breath.
Dr Nasr Al-Jafari
Dr Nasr Al Jafari is originally from the UK, where he worked as a consultant physician. Based in Dubai, he is currently medical director of DNA Health and Wellness Clinic. Dr Al Jafari’s particular focus is on modifying lifestyle to optimize long-term health and prevent chronic disease. He is a member of the livehealthy.ae expert panel.
Laila Dajani
Laila Dajani has been teaching yoga for more than 10 years. From the outset, she immediately understood that yoga is not just a physical practice but a blueprint for leading a more meaningful, present and healthy existence. She will be teaching a Slow Flow Vinyasa session representing Abu Dhabi studio The Hot House at the Livehealthy Festival.
Kamilla Omarzay
Kamilla Omarzay is the founder of The Snack Society, which uses wholesome ingredients like coconut, buckwheat, tapioca and almond as flour substitutes to create delicious snacks and desserts. She’ll be giving a workshop on vegan baking at the Livehealthy Festival.
Olivia & Adam McCubbin
Best Body Co founders and coaches Olivia and Adam McCubbin are serious about changing the UAE’s approach to all things health and fitness. They want to inspire change and create happier, healthier lifestyles, and will be conducting one of their signature workouts.
Karly Melnyk
Karly Melnyk is the founder and creative director for Movement One, a mix of 7 different modalities including HIIT, pilates and meditation. She’s also fitness and wellness manager at the new Fairmont Bab al Bahr gym Volt Fitness. Her background is in holistic wellness, sports rehabilitation, pilates and yoga instruction, strength training and conditioning. Karly is also a meditation guide and believes that as much as it’s important to move, we must also learn to be still. Catch her session at Livehealthy Festival.
Mitchell Hyde
Mitch Hyde is a former physical education educator and now the owner of the famous Spartans Boxing Fitness Gym in Singapore. He’s also one-half of Adventure Faktory, the region’s go to remote and unique places around the world. Coming from a professional sporting background, Mitch has spent two decades in the health and fitness industry, working on several continents. In his work as a personal trainer, Mitch focuses on helping young kids and families find fun and interactive ways to make healthier lifestyles.
Natalya Konforti
Natalya Konforti is the founder of Glitches and Stitches. After spending eight years in China working in the fast fashion industry, she yearned for the soul and personality of artisanal craftsmanship. Upon moving to Dubai, she decided to leverage the skills she had honed developing samples to help other design junkies become self-sufficient by renewing clothes. Join her visible mending workshop at the Livehealthy Festival and make your old clothes new again.
Ryan Ingram
Ryan Ingram is founder and managing director of TerraLoop, the first independent food waste consultancy in the Middle East. TerraLoop advises companies in the food service sector reduce their food waste, save on food cost and haulage fees, while mitigating carbon emissions. He’s also advising the first Livehealthy Festival on how to be more sustainable. See Ryan speak on a panel about striving towards Zero Waste at the Livehealthy Festival.
Nura Arabi
Nura Arabi is a physical education teacher and health promotion specialist, with a research focus on e-learning and child development in the area of health and wellness. Nura advocates for parents and children to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Through radio, writing and social media, Nura wants to change the world of children’s health one healthy tip at a time.
Sonia Gonzalez
Sonia Gonzalez is a litentiate in music performance and a mechanical engineer who holds a masters in business administration and marketing. An opera classical singer and published author, in recent years she has become a sound alchemist and vocal coach, dedicated to sharing sound as a vibrational medicine that aligns individuals to their highest potential. Join her sound meditation session at the festival.
Stephanie Karl
Stephanie is a clinical and sports nutritionist who lectures on nutritional and wellness topics, contributing regularly to local publications on matters of diet and nutrition. She is a director of Allergy Network Dubai and the founder of her own nutritional website.
Suzie Curtis
Suzie Curtis is the founder of the Abu Dhabi-based body positive brand Kymoo Sport, a mental health champion, Spinning Instructor and someone who has successfully maintained a 50-plus kilogram weight loss. See her speak on self-love and the body positivity movement at the livehealthy Festival.
Tatiana Antonelli Abella
Tatiana Antonelli Abella is founder and managing director of Goumbook, a social enterprise dedicated to raising awareness among the local community on sustainability and green living. When Goumbook launched in 2009, it was the first green information resource for the MENA region.
Vonita Singh
Founder and creator of Movement Mantra, Vonita Singh is a researcher by education, with a PhD in anthropology who has worked on various community health projects in India. She is an advocate for the Kathak dance form and has performed extensively in India and overseas. Vonita is also a practicing yoga enthusiast and is connected with yoga initiatives in the UAE.
Waleed Shah
Waleed Shah is a chemical engineer by education, who started his career working in the oil industry while slowly discovering his love for photography. He is an official Fuji-X-Photographer. He recently exhibited his body positive photo series Rock Your Ugly, which explores the intersection between physical and mental health through a series of portraits, in Dubai. See work from his series at the festival.
Arfa Shahid
Dubai-based journalist Arfa Shahid is Pakistan’s first plus-size TV news reporter and one of the Middle East’s first self-love coaches. She has been featured in BBC, Al Jazeera and other international/local media outlets for her work as a body positivity activist.
Reem Shaheen
Reem is a licensed, US-trained counseling psychologist and founder of Dubai’s Be Psychology Center for Emotional Wellbeing. She’s worked across three countries over the last 12 years, and is a member of The American Counseling Association (ACA), Academy of Eating Disorders (AED), and licensed by the Community Development Authority (CDA). Listen to her speak at the Livehealthy Festival on managing depression and anxiety at the .
Dr Robin Tauzin
Dr Robin Tauzin is a naturopathic doctor with a passion for helping people discover the root cause of their illness and guiding them to reach optimal health. She began her career as the medical director of a weight loss center before moving to the UAE to take on the role of chief wellness officer at AlMansoori. For the past 10 years she has established and implemented one of the top holistic corporate wellness programs in the Middle East, focusing on disease prevention using diet and lifestyle modifications. She is also a member of the Livehealthy expert panel.
Soniyaa Punjabi
Soniyaa Kiran Punjabi is the founder of Illuminations, which has three wellbeing centers in Dubai and one soon to open in Abu Dhabi. All offer a wide range of services based on holistic healing, mental well-being and personal growth. As a certified holistic therapist, Soniyaa has been instrumental in pioneering the holistic healing and well-being industry in Dubai by introducing life transforming techniques which positively impact one’s mental, physical and emotional well-being.
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