Breathwork is becoming the UAE’s go-to tool for resilience, shares mental health researcher

The UAE is moving fast, and people feel it in their bodies. High-performance jobs, global schedules, and constant decision-making create a daily background hum of urgency, even for those who look “fine” on the outside. That may explain why breathwork and attention-based longevity practices have found an unusually receptive audience here, not as lifestyle trends but as tools for sustainability.

Ishan Shivanand, author of The Practice of Immortality, describes the appeal as “a rare convergence of factors” in the country: speed and responsibility on one hand, and a deep cultural respect for discipline, tradition, and inner balance on the other.

In his experience, people in the UAE are not simply trying to reduce stress. “People here are not just looking to reduce stress, but to sustain excellence over a long arc of life,” he says. The mindset is practical. “Leaders, professionals, and families here are pragmatic. They want tools that work, fit into demanding lives, and deliver measurable results.” In that framing, longevity is less a lifestyle trend than a form of stewardship.

Underneath the language of longevity sits a more basic diagnosis of modern life: attention has become fragmented. “In a stressed, distracted life, most people are not short on time, they are short on presence,” Shivanand says.

His approach starts with physiology. “Through simple practices like conscious breathing, meditation, and movement, you start regulating the body first. As the body settles, the mind follows,” Shivanand explains. The point is not to chase a spiritual experience. It is to restore baseline steadiness, so the mind can stop sprinting. When that happens consistently, time feels different.

“Time starts to feel fuller, not because you have more of it, but because you’re actually present for it,” he says, describing a change that shows up in ordinary life: less hurriedness, clearer listening, and a more grounded response even inside a full schedule.

For complete beginners, Shivanand recommends starting with something deceptively simple: learning how to breathe correctly. “Most people don’t realize that their breath has become shallow, rushed, and reactive,” he says, arguing that breathing patterns often mirror a constantly stressed nervous system. He points to slow, rhythmic nasal breathing with awareness, allowing the diaphragm to do its work, as a foundation that signals safety to the body and creates stability for deeper practices.

The most common mistake, he adds, is turning breathwork into another performance goal. “People often force the breath, strain the body, or expect instant calm or spiritual insight,” he says. The effort to do it perfectly can create more tension.

Across audiences – corporate leaders, healthcare professionals, athletes, and students – he sees one pattern returning. “People are constantly ‘on’… even when they’re resting,” he says, describing chronic nervous-system dysregulation that shows up as anxiety, poor sleep, irritability, and burnout.

The intervention he returns to is straightforward – “breath-led nervous-system regulation combined with focused awareness and visualisation.” Slow the breath, exit fight-or-flight, and resilience begins to feel less like a personality trait and more like a trainable state.

About Ishan Shivanand

Ishan Shivanand is a globally celebrated yogic scholar, mental health researcher, and international bestselling author. Raised in Indian monasteries under the guidance of his father and mentor, Dr. Avdhoot Shivanand, he has spent over two decades immersed in yogic sciences, meditation, martial arts, and traditional healing. Today, his Yoga of Immortals program has reached millions worldwide, offering clinically validated protocols that reverse anxiety, insomnia, depression, and provide transformative solutions to modern mental health challenges.