A PIONEERING health chief is hoping to inspire young people in the kingdom to reach their potential with a series of classes featuring yoga, meditation and breathing exercises.
Dr Amal Al Jowder is a woman with a mission. She believes an 'Art of Living' initiative - held for the first time in Arabic - will improve the quality of their lives by helping them to calm down, focus and deal positively with daily challenges.
She said: "Young people today are facing a lot of issues in terms of education and jobs and worrying about the future.
"They need all the help they can get to make the most of their present circumstances and help them to become involved in improving society. Today, as an instructor I want to touch the lives of all my countrymen and empower them with skills to enjoy the 'present' and move forward positively."
Dr Amal Al Jowder is the chief of the health education section at the Ministry of Health in Bahrain. She has been trained as an instructor of Art of Living at the foundation's Bangalore Ashram in India.
A regular practitioner and a health enthusiast she is now planning to teach her 'new found' skills to her fellow Bahrainis, including children, in Arabic, this month.
Enthused by the difference she experienced upon practising the exercises with local teachers for around two months in Bahrain, Dr Amal signed up for a one-month intensive course in India.
She tells reporter Anasuya Kesavan how the experience changed her life.
