First Emirati self-help guru enters US market with a new book

Dubai - With a history of childhood and developmental traumas, Al Zaabi said that the key for change was herself.

 Struggling with anxiety, panic attacks and depression inspired Eiman Al Zaabi to search for answers and start her own spiritual journey.
After seven years of struggle, the decision to move into self-empowerment has led her to become the first Emirati author to publish her work in the US market in the genre of self-help and spirituality.
"I was on medications the whole time, suffering from one panic attack after the other. I moved from seeing psychiatrists to searching for my own personal empowerment in 2003, knowing that the medical world no longer has answers for me," Al Zaabi, currently the director of executive education in NYU Abu Dhabi campus, told Khaleej Times.
Her book, The Art of Surrender: A Practical Guide to Enlightened Happiness and Well-Being, was recently published in the US, inviting readers to find their purpose and start down their spiritual path.
Al Zaabi, a life coach and spiritual teacher, now has the purpose of introducing the first Muslim voice in the genre of spirituality and self-help to Western audiences. 
With a history of childhood and developmental traumas, Al Zaabi said that the key for change was herself.
"I am empowered with the way I think or feel. My state of empowerment came from knowing that I will shift my life from personal development to understanding spiritual realm."
Immersing herself in online classes and books about quantum physics and law of the universe, Al Zaabi said she gained depth in her life perspectives. "When my awareness grew, my anxiety and depression became small. I was once in a course, and I finally threw my anti-depressant in the garbage." 
She added: "We always think we would be happy by trying to balance different elements in our life - be it the emotional, mental and physical - but that's the traditional way. From my journey, I knew that true wellbeing comes from realising the force inside you, which is the soul. The soul has qualities, needs, presence you need to pay attention to."
For Al Zaabi, the ultimate fulfillment and joy is to connect the soul to its source and understand that there's a reason behind one's creation. People's duty is to find that reason and purpose, defying the consciousness that panics and puts labels on things.
While there's the Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Jewish voices in spirituality, Al Zaabi aims to become the first Muslim voice in this genre. 
She emphasised that her book, is based on true principles of Islam which is true surrender to the creator. It gives roadmap towards spiritual journey and gives tips on what to do to find your purpose and inquire the mind."
She added that through the book helps readers be active participants in their life, without states of hopelessness even in times of crisis. "Pay attention to your creation and purpose; find it and express it through living in alignment with spirituality. Our job is to find our best selves and talents and give that to the world and develop ourselves and people around us to create better future of ourselves," said Al Zaabi.
Her next book, Letters from the Desert, to be published in 2019, will address the spiritual journey of a Muslim and what it means to live in oneness with the divine.
Next month, she will publish a workbook - Companion to Art of Surrender - as a collection of her insights and learning.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai