Ways to enhance self-care, personal health and wellness were explored during a six-day, two-part immersion course hosted by Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar’s (WCM-Q) Institute for Population Health (IPH). 
WCM-Q invited The Wellness Enhancement Learning Course (TheWEL), a health and wellness organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland to Doha to help participants manage stress, nurture their own happiness and well-being, practice self-compassion, and promote good physical health. 
Designed and delivered by Dr David Reilly, an internationally recognised physician, academic and teacher, the course helps participants to understand and overcome the personal challenges they face in their day-to-day lives, helping them to cope more effectively and then flourish. 
The course, which takes a holistic view of wellness, also aims to empower people to make healthy lifestyle choices in terms of food, exercise and sleep, to manage their social relationships, and to find peace of mind through meditation and mindfulness practices. 
A total of 14 people took part in the course, which will enable the participants to embark on a wellness enhancement journey to see how they can begin to make meaningful change in their lives. After the conclusion of the two-part course, the hope is that participants will be able to make sustained change for the betterment of their physical and emotional well-being. 
Dr Reilly said, “TheWEL is predicated on the acknowledgement that the current model of healthcare, while it has made incredible advances over the years, is not proving sufficient in the face of the rising modern epidemic of non-communicable diseases, such as chronic stress, obesity, diabetes and heart disease.”
“TheWEL aims to address this gap by empowering people with the ability to create self-sustaining growth in compassion-based self-care. These are very powerful attributes which, if developed, provide a strong foundation upon which we can all build our own health and wellness, giving us the opportunity to flourish and experience joy in our lives,” he added.