The Women who Flourish Podcast

Heartbreaks.   Why is it so painful? Why is it so hard to move on? In this episode, I share why these happen along with some do's and don'ts to help you navigate the painful and difficult phases of a break-up.  Follow me on IG: coach_aliya 

It all started with an ambition to give local specialty coffee a voice. Shehzeen Jamil, based out of Dubai is an entrepreneur within the tech and coffee space.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance & actuarial math and obtained a masters in finance from Cass business school in London.  Driven by her love for coffee, she’s dedicated her work towards creating a transparent and accessible marketplace for coffee in all areas of the supply chain.  Her recent exit of Sippybeans and transition into COFE is part of her larger mission of supporting coffee farms, providing a larger platform for specialty roasters and catering to cafes. Also, she makes a mean cup of coffee!

A few days ago, I put up a poll on Instagram and asked my audience if they feel like they are falling behind in life. Majority of respondents feel that they're lagging and it's alarming. In today's hyperconnected world amplified by social media, it's very easy to feel like everyone is ahead of us. However, is it true? are you really left behind in life? Dig a little deeper to introspect and you'll realize that it's not. Let's discuss it on today's episode  

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! So excited for this first episode for 2022.  We'll start this year by tackling eating disorder. And in this episode, I am joined by Layla Gama. Layla is a Saudi-American yoga instructor living in Dubai who recovered from bulimia - an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. In this episode we discuss what an eating disorder is, the pressure around being a certain shape or size, how culture impacts the way we see our bodies, as well as Layla's journey of self-love and recovering from bulimia, and leaving her editorial career to start her own business as a yoga teacher. Layla was also a client of my 1:1 coaching program 'Living Boldly.'

In this week's episode, we're going to dive even more deeper into friendships and relationships, but from a different angle. It's about meaningful connections. We keep on hearing about this topic repeatedly, saying that it's really hard to make genuine friends, form genuine bonds, and connections with different people. In the age of social media where we can connect with a lot of people in an instant, yet we feel alone and disconnected more than ever.  That's why in this episode, I have my friend Abeer Kibria. Abeer is an international concoction with over 20 years spent in Dubai. As a jack of all trades, she has worked across women empowerment, events, marketing, management, and other industries. She is passionate about empowering women communities by helping individuals create empathy and understanding each other.  Tune in as we talk about: What is a meaningful connection? How to create meaningful connections? Why you should not be everyone's cup of tea ..and many more!

There is a common theme keeps showing up recently with my 1-on-1 coaching clients. It's a bit difficult to talk about because not a lot of people wants to have this conversation due to involved emotions, guilt, obligations, and mental toll.   It's about relationships - and in particular, outgrowing friendships.  As we grow to an ever-better version of ourselves, there are times where the people around us, or the friendships we had, doesn't resonate with us anymore. For example, your circle of friends might still be drenched in gossiping, talking about negative stuff, and you on the other hand are focused on personal growth, empowering people, and radiating self-love. I'm here to remind you that outgrowing friendships, and your set of friends might change as you grow is totally okay and it doesn't always mean that you have to cut ties with them. We'll dive deep into how to stop feeling guilty about outgrowing friendships, and how you can deal with it. 

Gaining confidence means celebrating individuality and accepting differences. But how can you do that and flourish when you have a skin condition that can strip you of that confidence? That's why in this episode, our guest is an embodiment of courage, self-love, and acceptance.  I'm so glad to have Joti Gata-Aura Joti is a Spanish speaking British Asian with Vitiligo - a long-term condition where pale white patches develop on the skin. She is also a presenter, online influencer, author, and ambassador for the British Skin Foundation. Her business called Positively Diverse champions people with visible disabilities and differences, so they can be better represented in society and the media. She published a book called 'Strong In The Skin I’m In: My Vitiligo Skin Journey' where she shared her battles for 21 years to free herself from shielding behind make up and long-sleeved clothing for most of her young adult life to learning to love the white, patchy skin she now has. With positivity and purpose, this resilient mother and teacher shares her coping strategies, tips and techniques on how she transformed her life completely by supporting and inspiring others and becoming confident and strong in the skin she is in.

Welcome to Season Two of The Women Who Flourish Podcast! It's been a few months since our last episode, and I believe we deserve a catch-up. I took a break over the summer here in London to recharge and gather my thoughts. There are so many things that happened over the past few months that I really can't want to share with you, and I'll start with this second season's premiere episode. I want to talk about where I am right 'now'. It's been a busy summer even if I'm here in London. I've been busy visiting family members, friends, while still working with my coaching clients. It came to a point where I felt like I was overwhelmed with the situation and my body is telling me that I need to take a break - a real break. I always take a day of every week, but it felt like I needed longer. So, I decided to take a 10-day off that I called 'Ten Days of Self-Love' where I did various meaningful activities for the past 10 days and here are my takeaways.

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, taking care of our mental health is a challenge. That's one of the reasons why we are experiencing record levels of anxiety, burn out, and depression in today's world. And if you're a creative person like an artist, having mental health struggles can really impact the way you create artworks. That's why in this episode, I'm excited to have Noura Alali to talk about how to take care of your mental health as an artist Noura Al Ali is an artist and graphic designer living in Abu Dhabi. She creates mixed media artworks, paintings, photographs, and sculptures. Her work is a representation of her thoughts on behavior and emotions mixed with dreams and the effects of the surrounding.  You can follow Noura on Instagram - @nouraarty

Anxiety is our body's normal response to stress - it is a survival instinct. We feel a bit of anxiousness whenever we do something uncomfortable like doing a presentation at work or a job interview. But this can be a matter of great concern if you feel anxious to the point where you feel hyper- sensitive and hyper-aware about everything to the point where it is out of control. You may have an anxiety disorder.  In this episode, we have Katherine Adams. Katherine is a highly experienced, award-winning teacher who has been teaching in the UAE for the past 5 years. She created a children's enrichment and empowerment program in Dubai which supports all aspects of children's mental health and wellbeing helping them to flourish and thrive. She's also a member of our "Women who Flourish Community".  Tune in as she shares her journey from how anxiety has affected her since childhood and how debilitating it is, the stigma surrounding axiety, and the turning point in her life where she decided to do everything necessary to overcome her anxiety. You'll learn 5 actionable tips that you can do to calm your thoughts, and overall manage your anxiety in order to flourish.  Connect with Katherine via email: k_j_adams@outlook.com --- Become a member of our Women who Flourish community, and get 20% off your first months membership when you sign up today. Visit https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya 

If you are a person who keeps on having negative thoughts and you want to have a more positive thoughts, outlook in life, and mindset, this episode is for you. There is a study by The Human Science Foundation saying that a person has an average of 12,000 - 60,000 thoughts per day. 80% of those are negative and 95% of those are repetitive. Some manifestations of having a negative mindset can be rejecting compliments, being overly critical of oneself, having a defeatist attitude when faced with adversity, and many more. Tune in as I share 5 ways on how you can develop a positive mindset in order to flourish. This does not mean that once you do these things, you will instantly develop a positive mindset. This will require a ton of work and consistency. And once you get into the rhythm and became part of your system, you’ll find yourself being in a better mood, conquering hurdles with a smile, and living life in a brighter - more positive attitude. --- Become a member of our Women who Flourish community, and get 20% off your first months membership when you sign up today. Visit https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

In today’s social media world, it’s so easy to get caught up. The endless scrolling, likes, and comments – especially hateful ones – can make someone hesitant to putting oneself out there. So in this episode, I’m thrilled to have Ahlam Almaskari. Ahlam has a bachelor's degree in public health and nutrition. She founded “Healthy and Vegan”- a platform which has over 10,000 followers on Instagram and where she shares engaging an insightful content on her recipes restaurant reviews as well as her lifestyle. Ahlam and won the competition after taking part in my 7-Day Confidence Building Challenge on Instagram last November 2019 and won a one-on-one coaching session with myself. She is also one of our founding members in “Women Who Flourish” community. Given her experience in putting herself out there in social media, I've invited Ahlam to have a conversation about how to overcome your fears when it comes to putting yourself out there particularly when it comes to social media and how to get over mindset blocks that can prevent you from creating content on social media. Follow Ahlam on Instagram for vegan -- @healthyandvegan --- Become a member of our Women who Flourish community, and get 20% off your first months membership when you sign up today. Visit https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

Rejection is one of the most common yet hurtful feeling a person can experience. Whether it’s a job interview, a significant other not liking you back, or not being able to close a sale; Rejection can make you feel that you are a failure and not good enough. But it doesn't have to always be that way. In this episode, we'll take a deep dive into rejection. You'll learn why do we feel what we feel when being rejected, the connection between self-worth and rejection, how to deal with it by easing the pain, the art of turning rejection around and use it as an advantage in order to flourish, and many more. --- Become a member of our Women who Flourish community, and get 20% off your first months membership when you sign up today. Visit https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

There are times where we feel insecure being in a certain situation or opportunity. Let's say you were asked to speak in public or you were given an opportunity to work with people you admire. Suddenly, you feel a certain jolt where you feel like a fraud and ask yourself: "Am I capable of this?", "Why me?", or even "I don't deserve this". That is what we call impostor syndrome - and I'm here to tell you that it's perfectly normal. I experience this myself from time-to-time and in fact, even high-achievers feel it.  However, embracing this syndrome leads to stagnation, continuous self-doubt, and rejection of opportunities. That's why in this episode, I'm with Anna Osei Kofi - a public speaker, public health policy specialist, and VP at Education and President-Elect of the North London Public Speaking Club which is part of Toastmasters International. Anna was one of my first coaching client back in 2017 and was a member of my first group coaching program, "Build Confidence, Feel Fabulous". We discuss about her journey in public speaking, the times where we felt the impostor syndrome kicking in, and some practical steps on how we "hack" impostor syndrome and use it to our own advantage in order to flourish. --- Become a member of our Women who Flourish community, and get 20% off your first months membership when you sign up today. Visit https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

In today's fast-paced hyper connected world, there's an invisible pressure that makes us feel like we must reach certain milestones at a certain age. We keep on chasing the latest and greatest, what's trending, who to follow, what's the next level, and it can be exhausting. This mounting pressure tends to make us feel that we are not good enough and our criteria to feel happy becomes skewed to the point where we are placing our happiness on external factors.  In this episode, I'll talk about a life-changing practice that has been proven effective for me and my clients as well which is...GRATITUDE. You'll learn why you need to practice gratitude, it's research-backed benefits, and some activities that you can do to practice gratitude.   Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com You can get 20% off your first months membership of Women who Flourish using coupon code GIFT20 at checkout Instagram: @coach_aliya

Why letting go is so hard? What it means to let go? What are you letting go of? Letting go can have different meanings depending on the context but letting go in general is a tricky thing to do. That's why in this episode I'm with Dr. Abeer Fahim - Author, Professor, TEDx Speaker, and a member of Women who Flourish community. We discuss why it's so hard to let go, the things you need to overcome in order to let go, and what it really means to have closure. I also surprised Dr. Abeer with some questions and she shared some amazing quotes that will hit you right in the heart especially when you're trying to let go. You can connect with Dr. Abeer on Instagram @dr.abeerfahim Download my free ‘11 Step Guide on How to Become the Most Confident You’ https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

I've been teaching women to build their confidence for 4 years now and I get so inspired when they suddenly start going beyond their limits, outside of their comfort zones, conquering their fears, and ultimately - living the life that they want. In this episode, I'll share 4 actionable steps that you can take to build your self-confidence. And once you start seeing what you're capable through having that self-confidence instead of what you're not, your whole life will change. Sign up to my free mailing list for weekly confidence & self-love tips every Monday morning https://aliyarajah.com Instagram: @coach_aliya

The relationship you have with yourself is the most important one you’ll have in this world as it plays a huge role in the outcomes you’ll have in your life and it sets the tone for all the other relationships you have in your life. In this introduction episode I talk about the importance of building confidence and self-love from the inside out, a little about my journey of leaving my career in Public Health in London to start my own business and move to UAE, as well as the most important question to ask yourself when thinking about how you want to live your life. Get 1 month’s free membership of the Women who Flourish community if you sign up before 3rd May and join our 7-day self-awareness challenge using coupon code GIFT100 at checkout https://aliyarajah.com/women-who-flourish/ Download my free ‘11 step guide on how to become the most confident you’ https://aliyarajah.com/ Instagram: @coach_aliya