Inside Abu Dhabi’s New Wellness Festival

Fee Drummond attends Kayan Wellness Festival and finds mindful conversation and winter warmth amid Abu Dhabi’s desert culture.

Inside The Kayan Wellness Festival, Abu Dhabi

Having grown up in the wilds of Jordan as a child, any Arabian desert feels like home to me. With nostalgic memories of camping every weekend between the rugged landscapes of Wadi Rum and Wadi al Walla in a gang of 4x4s – pitching tents in sand storms, digging out our stuck wheels with shovels and riding Arab horses in the sandy outskirts of Amman – I was eager to accept an invitation to revisit. Landing in Abu Dhabi at the tail end of January to capture some ‘Wild Conversations’ for my new podcast series with an incredible line up of speakers at Kayan Wellness Festival – Kayan meaning ‘essence’ in Arabic – was pure joy. Taking place on Fahid Island in the sandy epicentre of the UAE capital, this new three-day festival, created to celebrate holistic wellbeing, encompassed a star-studded, science-based line up of speakers offering workshops and immersive experiences comprising wellness, science, music and food.

While there, I talked to Marisa Peer, creator of the globally successful ‘Rapid Transformational Therapy’, which draws on her work as a therapist to determine the fastest way to alleviate pain and stay pain free. Be it body or mind, Peer assures us that we can cure ourselves, we simply need to find the pattern, understand the pattern, and change the pattern. I know from experience that it is possible to shift a stuck mindset; finding and unlocking that shift is the most powerful work I have done in order to free myself from repetitive trauma traps. I asked her what is the one thing we need to ‘unlearn’ in today’s world. ‘Not enough-ness,’ she said, ‘Whether that applies to compulsive hoarding, shopping, eating or drinking, the simple and honest words “I am enough” are where self-love and acceptance starts.’

Meeting later with Sadhguru, the Indian visionary, yogi and thought leader, was an incredible and surreal experience. Surrounded by volunteers from his homeland, his humorous delivery on the simplicity of life was striking. We discussed how we can return to our authentic selves when we are lost in today’s levels of comfort and convenience. With mental illness heading towards pandemic levels, if we don’t understand the fundamentals of how our minds work, we will all continue to blunder our way through life.

‘Our experience of life is determined by how we conduct this life,’ said Sadhguru. ‘Becoming aware of what is you, what is your body, and what is the world around you enables us to be the inner engineer of our own lives.’ This really resonated: I have learnt to recognise the power of consciousness in every turn of my own journey, doing the work of unravelling the numbed subconscious, identifying negative patterns and mechanisms in my mind, in order to live from an accepting place of peace.

Coach and mentor Rima Zanoun and I clicked over our conversation covering the masculine and the feminine, a return to the tribe, divinity, and how we can all drop into the heart to heal. ‘Women are waking up,’ she explained, ‘and so are men – maybe not in the same way or at the same speed, but we all want to find a different way forward now.’

I agree. Losing the competition between each other and replacing it with honour and grace to repair where fury and fear have ruled is a responsibility we all have in order to find a new future.’ Other conversations included Dr Zach Bush, Dr Espen Wold-Jensen, Mo Gawdat, Gary Brecka and so many more – all among the wilds of the sand dunes that felt like home.

Fee with Dr Zach Bush

Dune Riding & Horse Whispering

Heading out to the desert at dawn or dusk to ride the dunes is an absolute must. I visited Rahal Ranch, home of horse whispering bedouin and real character Mr Ali, who more than kept me on my toes. Desert adventures are a-plenty in Abu Dhabi and easily organised through every hotel, be it on horses, quad bikes, kiteboards or camels.

Arabic Coffee & Culture

Dates, dates and more dates – a delicious accompaniment to the strong Arabic co ee stationed everywhere you go. We stayed at the Park Hyatt on Saadiyat Island, where the fresh fruit dripping with raw honey and rose petals hit my morning high for breakfast. The beach here is the best in Abu Dhabi, with natural dune grasses and owers, a surf shack and great food.

Fee’s new podcast, Wild Conversations, will be available at wildingtribe.com from May.