Movement is a spiritual responsibility that anchors mental health and provides daily stability.
For pilates instructor and management consultant Shaaziah Kolabhai, the journey into fitness was a legacy passed down by her mother. However, it quickly transformed from a familiar routine into a deeply personal mission to find balance between a high-pressure corporate career and internal peace.
Kolabhai views the care of the body not as a modern fad, but as a fundamental responsibility rooted in her faith. She believes that physical activity serves as the essential bridge connecting one’s spiritual state with their cognitive focus.
“It is actually in the Qur’an that you have to look after the body that you’ve been given. So Allah (SWT) has given you this body and you have the responsibility to look after that body,” says Kolabhai.
“Once you find and understand that that’s the system and the way that we look at our bodies, it very much becomes a mental thing as well because spiritually it feeds into that mental part of your brain.”
Integrating habits for wellbeing
In a world filled with “wellness fads,” Kolabhai advocates for “habit stacking”—the practice of weaving small, intentional movements into existing daily routines to manage stress and anxiety.
“If it is just walking up the stairs from my car to the office which is not even four flights but it’s enough stairs in the day and during that time just making istighfar that’s enough for my mental state, my spiritual state and my physical state,” she explains.
Image credit: Genesis Healthcare System
