Frequently Asked Questions
Real questions, honest answers.
CHINESE METAPHYSICS
Chinese metaphysics is an umbrella term for classical Chinese systems used to understand a person and their environment. At Solace we focus on BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) for personal insight and timing, Feng Shui for how a space affects the energy around you and how to make it work for you (imagine we give you an Aladdin lamp that can fulfill 4 wishes), and Qi Men Dun Jia for strategic, time-based decisions. The applications are endless: from self-understanding, relationships, recruitiment, career direction, and how to increase business and make better decisions.
We use BaZi or Qi Men Dun Jia (a system built around “the right people, in the right place, at the right time”) as an extra lens alongside interviews and resumes, to flag work style, reliability, and potential red flags before you commit. We also use it as a supplementary input to support a hiring decision, never as a replacement for standard screening and interviews.
Absolutely! A BaZi chart is built around a person’s “Day Master” element (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water), which we use to describe someone’s natural pace, drive, and stress triggers: what energizes them, what tends to burn them out, and what kind of recognition actually motivates them.
Another resounding Yes! At Solace we help you map an employee’s elemental profile to suggest a communication style, since different elements tend to respond best to different approaches (some prefer direct, results-focused feedback; others need more context or a relationship-led conversation first). It is a useful extra data point for managers, not a substitute for actually knowing your team.
The goal is similar, understanding how people naturally work and communicate, but the method is different: BaZi is based on birth date and time rather than a self-reported questionnaire. Some clients use both side by side.
Think of your BaZi chart as a map of the energy you were born with, your personal blueprint . Built from your exact birth date and time, it is decoded into a personal blueprint used to uncover your natural strengths, the career path and relationships you are genuinely built for, and the windows of time when big decisions are most likely to work in your favor. It has been used for centuries to understand a person and their triggers.
Think of Feng Shui as a very powerful tool to help you make wishes come true, and clear the path so your own effort has less resistance to work against. Feng Shui reads the energy of a physical space: how the layout, orientation, and elements of your home or office shape the flow of energy (qi) around you. BaZi reads the energy you were born with. Used together, they give a fuller picture: your BaZi chart shows what you are working with internally, while Feng Shui shapes the environment around you to support it and make it work FOR YOU. At Solace we recommend to have both a personal reading and a space assessment done together.
Not at all. Chinese metaphysics is a centuries-old system of observation and analysis, not a religious practice, it is actually closer in spirit to astrology or classical philosophy than to faith. People from any religious or cultural background can receive a reading, and many of our clients in Dubai and RAK come from a genuine mix of backgrounds.
Yes, we offer both personal readings and business consultations, available in person across Dubai and RAK or remotely via zoom call, whichever works best for you.
CORPORATE WELLNESS
The three benefits that show up most consistently across employer research according to Cigna’s 360 Global Well-Being Survey, Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace report, and Mercer Marsh Benefits Health Trends Report, are reduced absenteeism and higher productivity, stronger employee engagement, and better talent attraction and retention. The scale of what is at stake is significant: Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report puts the global cost of low employee engagement at $10 trillion a year in lost productivity, that is about 9% of global GDP.
Because UAE employees are under real, documented pressure. Cigna’s 360 Wellbeing Survey found 88% of the UAE workforce reported experiencing stress, among the highest rates in the world, and Mercer Marsh Benefits’ 2025 Health on Demand Report found 48% of UAE employees feel stressed most days at work. The same Mercer Marsh report found 58% of UAE employees are actively looking for a new job, well above the 45% global average, which turns this from a “nice to have” into a retention issue.
The data backs it up: WTW’s 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey (45,000 employees across 29 countries) found that how much employees value benefits as a reason to take or stay in a job has risen 50% since 2017, and satisfaction that benefits meet employees’ needs has climbed 15–45% over the same period. Locally, only 64% of UAE employees currently believe their employer actively promotes healthy work-life balance (Mercer Marsh, 2025), meaning there is real room to stand out as an employer who visibly invests in wellbeing
Beyond direct healthcare cost savings, which tend to show up over a multi-year horizon rather than immediately, the most reliable ROI signals are participation rates, absenteeism trends, engagement survey scores, and retention. A holistic view like this tends to be far more accurate than trying to tie wellness spend directly to healthcare costs in year one.
Tailored sessions curated and designed specifically for what your teams need the most, for example: stress management, focus and energy, or team connection. Our sessions are based on company’s culture and values, and combine modalities like mobility and de-stress, sound bath, yoga, fitness, team building, communication skills, and/or somatic practices along with nervous system regulation in real time with real and tangible results.
We have different packages that addapt to different budgets, and not budget is too small. We offer basic wellness programs, mid-range programs, and fully comprehensive programs, with the final number depending on group size, frequency, and which modalities are included.
Participation is the most common obstacle, and the fix is usually involving employees in choosing what is offered, as well as scheduling sessions during the workday rather than asking people to give up personal time, and having leadership visibly take part.
Yes, we bring sessions directly to your office in Dubai or RAK, or anywhere in the UAE and GCC.
Our minimum group size starts from 5 attendees, and we require a 48 hour lead time for bookings.
ICE BATHS AND COLD PLUNGES
An ice bath, or cold plunge, is brief immersion in cold water, used both for nervous system regulation and for physical recovery after exercise. These are two separate mechanisms working at the same time, and the evidence for each is a little different, so we address them separately below rather than blending them into one vague claim.
Men and women’s bodies handle cold differently, so we at Solace do not run one generic framework for everyone. Women tend to lose core heat faster, and their stress hormones react more sharply to very cold water, particularly in the second half of the menstrual cycle. Pushing toward near freezing temperatures in that window does not produce a better result and simply adds stress the body did not need. Men’s physiology generally tolerates deeper cold with less of that hormonal spike. At Solace we tailor the temperature and time to what each body actually needs to reach a calm, reset state.
Cold immersion, or ice bath, triggers a fast sympathetic response. Heart rate, breathing, and stress hormones all spike in the first seconds of exposure. Once you get out and begin to warm up, the body shifts into a parasympathetic rebound, the same rest and recover state associated with calm and recovery after stress. Practiced regularly, this repeated cycle is thought to train the nervous system to move between activation and calm more efficiently, which is the basis for cold exposure as a nervous system regulation tool rather than simply a cold shower with extra steps.
Yes, within a specific window. A 2016 meta-analysis found that cold water immersion reduced perceived muscle soreness at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after exercise, and cold immersion applied within two hours of intense activity has been shown to decrease inflammatory markers and swelling. This is the classic post workout ice bath use case, and the research supports it reasonably well, particularly after endurance training.
There is a real caveat worth knowing if strength and muscle growth are the goal. Cold immersion works partly by dampening the same inflammatory signals the body uses to build muscle after resistance training, so using it immediately after every strength session can blunt long term muscle building adaptations over time. For that reason, cold immersion right after a strength workout is best used strategically rather than as an automatic habit, while it remains a solid recovery tool after endurance sessions or as a standalone practice.
Let’s be real: videos calling cold plunging heart attack risky are not wrong about the underlying concern, though the risk applies to a specific group rather than everyone. A person with an existing heart condition can experience a sharp rise in heart rate and blood pressure from sudden cold, which is a genuine risk worth taking seriously. For a healthy person who eases in gradually, that risk drops considerably. This is why we at Solace, ask about heart history before a first session, and why anyone with cardiovascular concerns, high blood pressure, poor circulation, or pregnancy should speak with a doctor first and let us know.
Two to three sessions a week is a sustainable rhythm for most people, and daily immersion is not necessary to see a benefit. Morning sessions are popular because the alertness pairs well with starting the day, though an evening session works too, provided there is still time to wind down afterward.
A racing heart and quick breathing in the first ten to fifteen seconds is a normal part of the cold shock response, and it settles once you focus on your breath. Genuine dizziness or lightheadedness is different and is a signal to get out. We will always tell clients the same.
Yes, we at Solace recommend and follow a slow approach towards ice baths so the body can get use to it slowly without activating the sympathetic branch of the nervous system. A shorter time and a milder temperature let tolerance build over a few sessions, regardless of how the full plunge gets portrayed online as the only real way to do it.
There is real substance behind that concern, and it is part of why we at Solace run a separate framework for women rather than the same one used for men. Going too cold, too often, can overshoot into a stress response rather than the calm reset the practice is meant to provide, especially for someone who is already run down. The women’s framework uses a milder temperature and shorter time specifically to avoid that overshoot, while still supporting both the nervous system and recovery goals described above.
Our Solace portable setup uses three progressively colder tubs. One sits at a cold plunge temperature, one moves into a colder range close to a full ice bath, and one holds a true ice bath temperature. This allows everyone to work within the framework that suits their body rather than forcing one temperature on an entire group. For events, the number of tubs brought scales with the size of the group, so a smaller event might run one or two tiers, while a larger one brings all three.
Men generally start at the coldest tier, the true ice bath temperature, since male physiology tends to tolerate deeper cold without the same hormonal overshoot. This gives the nervous system a strong reset while supporting recovery after training.
Women generally start at the cold plunge tier, with the option to move into the middle tier for more intensity if desired. This is cold enough to trigger the nervous system reset and support recovery, while avoiding the stress overshoot that colder, longer exposure can cause.
Slightly. In the days after ovulation and before the period, the body runs a little warmer and is more sensitive to cold, so this is a good window to ease off rather than aim for the coldest, longest session.
Speak with us first. We work closely with fertility experts and we base our recommendations based on their feedback and your own goals. Some of our experts recommend a gentler approach around fertility related conditions. We always have a chat before the sessions so we understand what is going on and the framework can be adjusted rather than applying the standard version by default.
REIKI
Reiki is a Japanese energy healing practice given to the receiver through light touch or hands held just above the body. It can help with pain management, fatigue, stress, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, low mood, sleep quality, as well as easing pre-surgery nerves, nervous system regulation.
An interesting fact about Reiki is that Several major U.S. hospital systems currently offer Reiki as part of their integrative or complementary medicine services. Cleveland Clinic runs Reiki through its Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine department, including a dedicated program for cancer patients. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston includes Reiki-style touch therapies within its Integrative Medicine Program. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York offers Reiki through its Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center as one of its individual therapies. NYU Langone Health provides Reiki through its Lerner Health Promotion Program and its Mind-Body Patient Bedside Program. Mayo Clinic also offers Reiki as part of its complementary and integrative medicine services, and has published its own research on Reiki’s effects on patient wellbeing. Duke Health, through Duke Integrative Medicine, runs both Reiki training programs and patient-facing sessions.
During a Reiki session you stay fully clothed and either sit or lie down while the Reiki Master places their hands lightly on or just above different areas of your body, we mainly focus on the chakra system and meridian lines. Most people feel warmth, gentle tingling, and a deep sense of relaxation; some feel very little physically but notice a calmer and more focused mind afterward.
Yes, Reiki is a non-invasive, safe and reliable practice. Occasionally clients feel mildly tired or emotional afterward as tension releases from the body and mind, this typically passes within a day.
No, you do not need to take anything off, except your shoes.
No, Reiki is not tied to any religion or belief system. It is a relaxation and energy-based practice, and people from all backgrounds and faiths receive it. We recommend to have a chat with Liza and ask any questions you might have, including the goals, key areas to work on, and objectives for the sessions.
Reiki is a complementary practice to support any medical treatment, however, it is not a substitute for medical or psychological care.
Yes, Reiki is considered safe during pregnancy and is often used to ease stress and discomfort, just let your practitioner know so they can adapt the session.
You will feel a difference from the first session. At Solace we recommend a short initial series of 3 consecutive weeks, followed by a monthly session as “maintenance”, but we tailor the sessions (including duration and recurrence) depending on what YOU need.
SOMATIC ALIGNEMENT
Somatic Alignment is a body-based, hands-on approach that combines breathwork, gentle movement, and intuitive touch to release tension and blocked energy held in the body’s muscles, fascia, and connective tissue, a process we call “de-armoring.” Past stress or trauma gets physically stored in the body, and working through it somatically, not just talking about it, helps release it and restore a sense of flow and balance. There is real physiology behind part of this: the vagus nerve runs as a two-way line between gut and brain, and the enteric nervous system contains over 500 million neurons that process stress somewhat independently of the brain, part of why stress doesn’t just live in your thoughts, it shows up physically too. At Solace we use it to help people suffering from stress, for emotional release, trauma processing, chronic tension, and to help reconnect with a sense of calm, clarity, and intuition.
Talk therapy works mainly through conversation; somatic alignment works “bottom-up,” using breath, movement, and touch to reach patterns stored in the body below conscious thought, where words alone don’t always land.
It is also different from a typical massage: both may involve hands-on work, but massage is primarily mechanical, targeting muscle tissue for physical relief, while somatic alignment uses touch alongside breathwork and body awareness specifically to help regulate the nervous system and release stored emotional tension, not just muscular tightness.
Sessions combine breathwork, gentle movement, and hands-on support, working with the muscles, fascia, and connective tissue where tension tends to get held. We call the process: “de-armoring,” which means releasing physical and emotional tension in layers, at a pace led by what your body is ready for. Basically, we work in small, manageable amounts, processing one piece of tension or sensation at a time rather than all at once, so the nervous system isn’t overwhelmed.
Yes, and this is one of its most common applications. We use breathwork to help shift the nervous system out of a survival-based, on-edge, fight or flight state into a state of safety and calm. At the same time the body-based release work we apply targets stress and trauma stored physically, not just cognitively. We have worked with people suffering from PTSD that showed a significant decrease in PTSD symptoms and depression.
Yes. Somatic Alignment works directly with the muscles, fascia, and connective tissue where physical tension accumulates, and the vagus nerve connection between brain and gut means emotional stress can intensify physical sensations, and physical tension can intensify stress right back.
Yes, though we recommend an initial chat to discuss individual needs and histori as sessions typically involve hands-on touch. We need to know beforehand if you have a significant trauma history, are sensitive to touch, or have a diagnosed mental health condition, so we can adapt the pace and approach: you should ALWAYS FEEL SAFE and in control of how far a session goes.
This varies by person and by case, you will notice a shift after a single session, especially around emotional release, however, deeper physical and nervous-system patterns are often released in layers over a series of sessions. At Solace we recommend an initial series of 3 sessions during 3 consecutive weeks, but we tailor the sessions (including duration and recurrence) depending on what YOU need.
SOUND HEALING
Sound healing (often called a sound bath) is a deeply relaxing session that uses instruments like singing bowls, gongs, and chimes to produce resonant tones and vibrations that guide the body into deep relaxation and ease. It is commonly used to help lower stress, ease tension and fatigue, improve mood and sleep, take the edge off mild aches and discomfort, and support overall emotional wellbeing. It also helps to help calm the nervous system by easing the brain out of alert, everyday activity and into a slower theta state, the same relaxed, drowsy state your brain moves through right before falling asleep.
Sound and vibration help shift your brainwaves into a slower, more relaxed state (similar to what happens in deep meditation), while the physical vibrations can ease muscular tension. You don’t need to do anything active, you simply lie back and let the sound work.
During a session your only job is to allow the sounds to help you relax and the vibrations to carry you. You lie down on a very comfortable bed made with lots of cushions (you can always bring a blanket and an eye mask to get into an even deeper state of relaxation and comfort), close your eyes, and let the sounds wash over you for the full session (basically you will have nap). As for what to wear: anything tha will make you feel comfortable like loose clothing you could nap in. No equipment or preparation is needed from your side.
Our sessions are 60 to 75 minutes from start to finish. Many people start with a single session to see how their body responds, then return weekly, biweekly, or monthly depending on what they are using it for. We recommend a short chat after your session to talk through your goals and assess the right recurrence based on what you need at the time.
Sound healing is gentle and low-risk for most people, but if you are pregnant, have epilepsy, or have a pacemaker, it’s worth checking with us before booking, since certain frequencies and vibrations may not be suitable.
Yes to both. Drifting into a light sleep is one of the most common responses, and it is also completely normal for stored emotion to surface and release as tears, we see this regularly and we consider it a healthy part of the process.
Absolutely! We love pairing yoga, meditation, reiki and somatic work with sound healing, and we often use it to deepen a practice.
Yes we do! We offer group sessions in Sohum Wellness in Dubai and group sessions in Al Hamra Golf Club, Sofitel, Anantara, Mövenpick and Solace Studio in RAK. We also offer private sessions all over the UAE and GCC.
YOGA
Yoga is a practice that combines physical postures, breathwork, and focused attention. Research-backed benefits include improved flexibility and balance, stress and anxiety relief, better sleep, increased strength, improved posture and body awareness, and support for managing burnout, low mood, and overall quality of life.
Not at all! At Solace we believe that flexibility is a result of consistent practice, not a requirement to begin. Everyone starts somewhere, and poses can be modified to meet your body where it is. All our sessions are beginner friendly and open to all.
Absolutely! This specific question has real research behind it, not just anecdote. A 2020 review by the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health looked at 12 recent studies covering 672 people and found yoga had a beneficial effect on perceived stress in every single one. A larger 2019 review of 38 studies and 2,295 participants found yoga had a substantial beneficial effect on anxiety symptoms. Part of the mechanism is physical: the slow, controlled breathing used in yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the body’s ‘rest and calm’ response, and regular practice has also been linked to higher GABA levels (associated with better mood and lower anxiety) and reduced activity in the brain’s limbic system, the region that drives our emotional stress response. In a comparison of relaxation techniques, a review published in Aging and Mental Health found yoga had the longest-lasting effect on anxiety and depression symptoms of any method tested, including massage and music. Burnout-specific research is newer and smaller in scale, but early pilot studies, including some focused specifically on healthcare workers, point in a promising direction.
We love Yin Yoga, specially for people who spend a long time sitting or under a lot of mental and physical stress, but to be honest, it depends on what you are looking for. Hatha is the classic starting point, it moves at a calm, deliberate pace with poses held for several breaths and time built in to actually explain alignment, so beginners learn the postures instead of just trying to keep up. If you are drawn more to stress relief than movement, Yin (poses held 3–5 minutes, targeting deep connective tissue) and Restorative (fully supported with bolsters and blankets, closer to active rest than exercise) are also excellent low-pressure entry points. Faster-paced styles like Vinyasa, Ashtanga, or Bikram are usually better once you have built some foundational body awareness, rather than as a first class.
Comfortable, stretchy clothing you can bend and move in freely, avoid anything too loose that could flip over during inversions. Bare feet are standard for most styles since they give better grip and stability on the mat; if you prefer socks, grip socks work best, since regular socks can be slippery.
Please avoid a heavy meal for 2–3 hours before class as forward bends and twists compress the stomach and can make you uncomfortable. A light snack about an hour beforehand is fine if you need the energy.
There is less pressure here than people assume, but again, it depends on what you are looking to achieve. For example: practicing once a week produces the same improvements in pain and function as practicing twice a week, so consistency matters more than piling on sessions just for the sake of it (unless of course you really enjoy it). For general stress, flexibility, and strength benefits, you can expect measurable improvements within a few weeks of regular practice. Even one class a week is enough to start seeing change; plus we have a beautiful community that will make you feel very suported and valued…so basically win-win in terms of results and making new friends.
In most cases, yes, yoga is highly adaptable, but a few conditions call for specific modifications rather than a one-size-fits-all class. People with glaucoma, for example, are advised to avoid or limit headstands, downward-facing dog, and other inverted or head-down poses, since these can temporarily raise eye pressure. Pregnancy, osteoporosis, and uncontrolled high blood pressure are a few other conditions that usually call for adjusted or avoided poses. None of this rules yoga out, it just means it is worth telling us about any diagnosis beforehand so your instructor can adapt your class accordingly and that way we can ensure you are safe during your practice.
We certainly do! We offer group sessions in Sohum Wellness in Dubai and group sessions in Al Hamra Golf Club, Sofitel, Anantara, Mövenpick and Solace Studio in RAK. We also offer private sessions all over the UAE and GCC.
