A Mission for Life!

PhiloLife Wellbeing Education Center is my dream come true.

It is my pleasure to share with you the story about the events in my life that led to the conception of the center and my vision behind it.

Growing up, like many other children, I coped with unpleasant situations by reading and studying as a way to escape. Reading exposed me to different perspectives, and also allowed me to explore various stories and connect with different characters. It made me understand that we are subject to endless life possibilities, and that every individual can choose a lifestyle that is happy and fulfilling for them. I grew up full of endless love and compassion; I was obsessed with helping others around me.

Growing up, like many other children, I coped with unpleasant situations by reading and studying as a way to escape. Reading exposed me to different perspectives, and also allowed me to explore various stories and connect with different characters. It made me understand that we are subject to endless life possibilities, and that every individual can choose a lifestyle that is happy and fulfilling for them. I grew up full of endless love and compassion; I was obsessed with helping others around me.

As a teenager, I was faced with new and challenging questions. Around this time, I developed a newfound interest in philosophy, which eventually developed into a passion and career aspiration. As I pursued a career in philosophy, I focused on following my intuition. Philosophy was like a magnet for my passion and creativity, and I was never tired of the discipline. Every topic I studied inspired me to understand how the philosophical approaches could be applied in life; I wanted to extract the benefits of taking time to think about different perspectives. Whenever I had the chance as a student to work on a project, I found myself returning to the same topics and questions I had as a child and teenager, as I tried to address the issues I used to face emotionally and practically as an evolving individual.

After the completion of my Master’s Degree in philosophy & Teaching Diploma, I taught Philosophy in different high schools and universities where I observed the “philosophical needs” of students. At that time, I had failed a serious long-term relationship which made me learn a lot about life and about myself. Coincidently, I noticed that my students always wanted to divert the lessons into personal life queries and express their confusion about how to live effectively and make their own choices. I was moved by their questions and realized that if I had received such relevant guidance and training in life skills and learnt how to build my vison of life and set my goals, I wouldn’t have made wrong choices. When we face obstacles in life and we don’t know how to deal with them or find resources to emerge from a situation with the least damage, we just drown.

I realized during this period of my life that the educational system provided information but didn’t allow students to connect with themselves and learn how to evolve and achieve happiness. Teachers don’t show students how to cope with the challenges that come with studying and life in general. The way the educational system is designed, students aren’t given the time to connect with nature, to listen to themselves or to acknowledge any emotion they feel. What is the purpose of having a good career and good values and not being able to understand ourselves, others or life itself for that matter? What is the purpose of an

educational system that promotes test anxiety, deadlines, homework, extracurricular activities and so forth without dedicating time for self-understanding and self-love?

All of these matters at this stage of my life triggered a new passion for teaching life skills. I became a certified Hypnotherapist, a Neuro-linguistic Practitioner, and a Theta Healing Practitioner through which I learned to create joyful moments and savor them. I learnt to accept my emotions and deal with them. My goal was to love myself and finally be happy. I became a Life Coach and started combining Philosophy teaching with Life Coaching to support my students and clients. At the age of 27, I was not preoccupied by any thoughts regarding my health; I was just focused on my new discovery that happiness comes from within.

Then one morning, I woke up to the news that my father at the age of 59 years was diagnosed with cancer and was not expected to live much longer. I was in a state of denial; I couldn’t accept the disease. I wanted answers, I was lost, and I felt defeated. For the first time, it occurred to me that my father had led his life with a mostly negative perspective, expecting the worst from life. I started wondering if my father’s emotional state during his childhood, upbringing and other turbulations had led to his deteriorating health.

Coincidently at that time, I met an Indian Homeopathic doctor who would later become my husband. He explained to me the approach of homeopathy as alternative medicine and how a disease can be an expression of underlying emotional issues. My father died, but my research took a different turn. I wanted to be healthy and happy and I had realized that health and happiness couldn’t be dissociated. Health was about a state of positive wellbeing drawn by continuous self-appreciation. It was devastating to realize that no one during my childhood paid as much attention to my happiness as my behavior or academic performance. No one had explained to me that my emotional wellbeing while growing up would determine my state of health in the future; no one had taught me how to know if I was even happy at all.

At this point, I realized that happiness truly matters, and it should be the focus. I became restless, and I educated myself about emotional wellbeing and its impact on our physical health. I started visiting my husband’s homeopathic clinic and observed different types of cases; every case confirmed that disease is not an enemy, but rather the best way for the body to communicate and express in the “safest way” (based on each case) a state of inner disharmony and imbalance.

In 2015, I submitted my PhD thesis in the Philosophy of Health about the normal and the pathological. I dedicated the thesis to my father who was my most immediate source of inspiration. It was at that stage that I realized my dream was to create a safe educational environment for people to reconnect with themselves, assess their wellbeing, deal with their struggles, discover their passions, love themselves and be healthy. I wanted to help others, and myself, evolve.

In 2019 I decided to open my philosophy training notes, decided to make time for myself and made the decision to open the center which I had always dreamt about: a center for wellbeing

education. I started working on refining the training center’s presentation which I had already conceived years back and decided to proceed with the regulatory approvals.

Life is all about balance. We need to know, heal and evolve in order to be healthy, happy and radiate positive feelings to our family and the people around us. Life is not a battle; we need to enjoy the journey.

My dream is to help make the world a healthier happier place. I was inspired by my father’s journey with cancer and my personal experiences with stress, anxiety and fear. I believe that with adequate love, support and education, any person can achieve simple or dramatic transformations in their health to enjoy their life journey and discover its true beauty.

I hope that PhiloLife Wellbeing Education Center, the first philosophical wellbeing center in the Middle East located in Dubai, will offer this guidance with utmost support from myself and my team. Together, let’s make changes to KNOW, HEAL, EVOLVE, and contribute to making this world a healthier and happier place.

Founder of PhiloLife Wellbeing Education Center

Dr. Joelle Samaha