Rana Abihayla
The conscious balance within
In this fast-paced world we live in, chasing the next thing that brings us joy, satisfaction or security, it is not surprising that we often find ourselves stopping to catch our breath. Sometimes this pause is voluntary, but most of the time our body makes us stop despite our willingness to keep going. Rana Abihayla discusses her journey in learning to listen to her body, to be aware of her surroundings, to nurture her professional aspirations all the while keeping the focus on finding and maintaining a balance.
How do you define your work-life balance?
“It took me a while to figure out that there isn’t a set formula for work-life balance. That there are ingredients that get left out such as spiritual and emotional wellbeing. It isn’t enough to just be alive, it is important to live consciously”.
About Rana’s professional aspirations
Rana has dedicated her professional career to designing solutions and developing programs that promote patient wellbeing. Professionally, she has sought roles that span across the entire ecosystem that promotes mitigative chronic disease prevention and management and therefore acquired unmatched skills in data research, advanced Ai powered analytics, consultative medical knowledge, public health advocacy and private health insurance. This passion is also apparent in her academic education where she studied risk management, international business management, value measurement in healthcare and competition in a digital world from highly accredited establishments such as Harvard Business School.
“I always had a curiosity for practicing yoga while analyzing why it made me feel so good. The busier and more challenged I was at work or university with a particular project, the more I became conscious of a feeling of inner peace that silenced my mind and offered me the ability to focus.”
She took this realization to another level when she joined forces with a group of like minded individuals in starting Awaken, an initiative that hones the Latin saying of “Mens sana in corpore sano”, which capitalizes on the importance of treating the body and mind’s health together as one, not separately. “My father taught me this Latin saying as a child, and it has always driven me to take pauses when my body or my mind needs them, so I can find the balance to keep going”
What is Awaken?
Awaken was founded on the principle of surrounding yourself with a supportive community of like minded people so you can be the best version of yourself. Awaken embodies a platform that supports others in finding the balance that already exists within them so they can be empowered to pursue a life of fulfillment, purpose and inner peace. “I am grateful for having experienced such an enlightening journey and am eager to share it with others and help them find their own through a consistent practice of self-awareness, detox of the body and mind, breathing exercises, physical movement, mindful eating, art, self-reflection, meditation, and reconnecting with nature among other ancient wisdom teachings”
Being a passionate group of 5 friends, we wanted our own transformational experiences to contribute in shaping Awaken. Leveraging our experiences in overcoming personal challenges to grow as individuals starts with putting ourselves on that priority line too. Keeping this in view, we aimed at helping people connect with their own core to prioritize and strengthen themselves so that they can selflove enough to love others and so on. This is all possible with simple scientific daily yogic practices that hopefully can be incorporated into patient wellness program design experience, catalyzing their effectiveness in mitigating and managing chronic health risks.
Rana’s Greatest Achievement:
Being able to consistently live my true authentic self in my love for healthcare consulting profession, my passion for holistic wellness and helping others.
I am grateful to be surrounded by people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and points of views as it continuously challenges my thought process and improves my decision-making process; Having a sense of purpose throughout it all, gives me the confidence to believe that the decisions I make may not be the best ones, but are the right ones for me.
The most exciting story in her Journey:
I enrolled in a very rigorous yoga teacher training program at a very short notice, using my 3 weeks annual leave; I found my true calling when I didn’t even know I was looking for it. I reconnected with myself, found more purpose in my professional career, allowed myself to prioritize my passion for yoga and discovered a second love for teaching as I started my journey to becoming the certified 500 hours Yoga Teacher I am today. This all happened because I did not allow myself to feel guilty for putting myself first, it did not happen because I pursued it aggressively, it happened because I surrendered to a calling.
Rana’s Priorities:
The future envisions a continued and deepened connect between ancient wisdom and modern research especially with the dominance of Artificial Intelligence. Being able to design offerings equipped with modern tools, platforms such as unified data platforms, advanced analytics with findings that contribute and accelerate medical and scientific research.
Her Message to the Readers:
Leveraging knowledge and experience while putting it at the service of others helps unleash our super-humane power. With determination, hard work, discipline, patience, faith and empathy, we are unstoppable.
Her Inspiration:
I am a Lebanese-Sierra-Leone-raised a forever student of life, family, a loving partner, a sister, a family member, a friend, a colleague, a healthcare professional, a yoga breathwork and meditation teacher.
But I would not have had any of those roles or been inspired by all on daily basis without having had the most important one: being a daughter, specifically, the daughter of an incredibly emotionally generous, ambitious, and resilient woman. She has inspired me to take care of myself so I can take care of others.
Reach out to Rana:
Connect with her via LinkedIn here:
@ranaabihayla
On Instagram: @ranaabihayla
