Bilal Ahmed, MBBS
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
I am an acute care doctor and mental health practitioner, currently working in Karachi, Pakistan. My interests lie in mind-body practices and psychiatry.
Coming from a troubled childhood and teenage, at the age of 19, I began to delve into depth psychology, meditation and mind-body practices in order to understand myself and the world around me better. While still being on the journey, during my medical training, I came across powerful shamanic breathing practices that helped me resolve many of my issues. I became deeply curious about the power that simple breathing exercises can have in moving through difficult mental and emotional states and transforming the state of mind altogether. With the complete absence of such mind-body approaches in my medical training, I sought to expand my knowledge further and to be better able to share such practices with my community. I was fortunate enough to discover Dr. Brown and Dr. Gerbarg online and rotated with them in 2017 as an observer, while learning the Breath-Body-Mind Introductory and Level 1 course and assisting workshops at Kripalu and with Serving Those Who Serve (SWTS) in New York. Since then, I have returned to Pakistan and am sharing BBM practices with the general public.
Pakistani society has been through a lot of stress and trauma over the years, being one of the forefronts in the war against terror as well as various internal sociopolitical conflicts. Being an empath, it is easy to be overwhelmed with what is going all around, and it can be difficult to focus or be productive. The breathing practices learned in the BBM courses have allowed me to center myself and to be able to not get carried away with the collective currents of confusion and fear. They allow me to anchor myself in a place of clarity, calmness, and safety and to deepen my own spiritual practice.