About
Joint Space

Throughout the last 19 years, Kris’ journey as an Osteopath, naturopath, teacher and student has seen him work with many teachers from West to East, explore different cultures and study an array of scientific approaches and movement arts. As this journey unfolded, it became Kris’s deep rooted ambition to build a space that encourages individual self-sustainability, and to create a culture that teaches individuals and health professionals from all walks of life and backgrounds the deep knowledge of human structure, form and wider ecology.

Spending many years researching the anthropological roots of human existence, it is these principles that  form the foundation of Kris’s approach. Combined with his osteopathic practice and other treatment modalities, Kris uses an array of evidence-based scientific strategies, movement forms and philosophical principles to teach his patients and students how to develop greater movement intelligence, build structural resilience and improve athletic performance.

​​For more than 15 years, Pavlina has been studying, understanding and exploring movement. Pavlina’s path to understanding human form has taken many turns into many depths, beginning with stage performance, choreography and the creative understanding of human expression, moving onto pilates, functional strength training and developing her movement practices.

A journey of competing and discovering different movement forms has allowed Pavlina to build a fluid and dynamic approach to movement and strength training. Pavlina has combined the art of artIstic expression with a scientific understanding of the human body to develop a creative and performance based approach to movement for her clients and students.

Paul’s understanding of human movement and body awareness has been developed over 15 years of industry experience and his own background in competitive sports.

After studying and working as a personal trainer and strength coach, Paul returned to university to study Sports Rehabilitation. This gave him the opportunity to advance his skills and work alongside different health professionals, gaining a more in depth understanding of the human body. 

Paul has a vast range of experience when it comes to dealing with injury and exercise treatments. Utilising his experiences and teachings, Paul uses his sports physiotherapy practice to understand the origins of pain, focusing on movement strategies to develop patients’ awareness of their own bodies, prevent injuries and maximise sports performance.

Trude Stjernen is a physiotherapist from Norway. She graduated from Oslo Metropolitan University in 2008, and since then worked in multidisciplinary clinics first in Norway and then in Dubai after moving there in 2014. Her main knowledge and experience is within musculoskeletal issues, with a wide variety of cases, anything from acute injuries to more long term pains.

Trude strongly believes in movement as medicine and this is an important factor in her treatments alongside manual work. She is also passionate about helping people suffering from long term pain gaining back confidence in their bodies and returning to movements and activities they have been avoiding due to pain. She believes in adjusting or changing up training or activities rather than stopping movement.

Trude has a personal interest in training and staying active, and she also has done courses to enhance her knowledge when it comes to exercises and training. She completed a course in strength training/coaching and also uses her own experience with training when dealing with different clients.

Osteopath, Naturopath & Lifestyle Medicine practitioner Zainali has been practicing for over 9 years. His interest and love for sports initially took him into elite athletics dealing with some of the UK’s top 100m Sprinters & Long Jumpers. He founded his own clinic in the UK where he treated a variety of people from sports to chronic pain and autoimmune conditions.

The knowledge he has built up has allowed him to assess and treat according to your functional goals and abilities, utilising active movement therapy. 3D movement assessments and functional exercises. Zainali is an accredited Golf Performance Specialist from the Gray Institute (USA). This unique approach has enabled him to assist golfers in their mobility and stability as it relates to golf biomechanics.

Most recently, he has embarked on the Institute of Functional Medicine programme beginning with the AFMCP course. This avenue has broadened his understanding of the integrated systems of our human body. It has deepened his Osteopathic treatment to be able to address chronic disease and pain using nutrition and lifestyle changes. Zainali continues to learn, teach and educate himself in order to better serve others.

Yorke’s passion for sport & movement has influenced her career path as a Physiotherapist and Pilates instructor. Gaining her Physiotherapy degree in Durban, South Africa, Yorke has directed her focus into sports and orthopaedics and completed a post graduate diploma in Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy. With her love for movement, she pursued training in Pilates becoming a certified comprehensive Pilates instructor.

Yorke has worked with a range of people from elite athletes including Olympians, the South African Men’s Indoor Hockey Team, to weekend warriors and anyone in pain wanting to improve their quality of life.

Yorke is a keen sports person herself, growing up in competitive hockey and swimming circles. She now enjoys an active lifestyle including running, gym, golf and Pilates. Her aim for her patients is to treat them holistically through movement, rehabilitation and education for long term benefit and lifestyle change, rather than short term symptom relief.

With a passion for understanding the human body, movement, and knowing how to deal with pain and dysfunction, Rima had sought various qualifications and skills throughout her 11 years of practice.

She has worked with different types of conditions and environments, ranging from sports, yoga, post op, chronic pain, and elderly. Given her previous practices of sports and martial arts like BJJ, and her current yoga practice, this has given a better knowledge of body function and mechanics of injuries. Rima has a special interest in the body’s fascial system, and is currently specializing in Stecco Fascial Manipulation, which provides a global approach in assessing and treating the body – ‘Manus sapiens, potens est’ – A knowledgeable hand is a powerful one.

Katherine, originally from Venezuela, has called the UAE home for nearly nine years. She is a dedicated trainer and holistic therapist at Joint Space, where her expertise lies in conscious fitness—a unique methodology that approaches fitness goals from a body, mind, and soul perspective. With a deep belief that everything is interconnected, Katherine helps her clients achieve balance and well-being through mindful physical training.

In addition to conscious fitness, Katherine specializes in Reiki, a form of energy healing that channels life force energy for holistic healing. Through her group Reiki sessions, she teaches others how to harness this energy to heal not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well, empowering her clients to lead more balanced, fulfilling lives.

Meet Galen, a passionate sports & rehabilitation physiotherapist who spends more time studying human performance than a dedicated Netflix binge-watcher does on the latest series. When not fine-tuning athletes & weekend warriors to their peak potential, Galen can be found perfecting his golf swing, SUPing with his family or exploring Dubai’s vibrant running scene. Balancing life as a dedicated professional and husband/father, Galen understands the true meaning of endurance. With a mix of clinical expertise and not afraid of a giggle, Galen makes the journey to recovery and peak performance both effective and enjoyable. After all, laughter is just another form of cardio!

Galen has a wealth of experience in the orthopedic, sports medicine and rehabilitation fields with over 9 years of experience here in the UAE along with 5 further years back in the UK and Ireland. He’s worked alongside top orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians to treat a wide range of acute post-operative conditions, including ACL reconstructions, rotator cuff repairs, and spinal decompression surgeries. Galen’s approach to rehabilitation is comprehensive, combining advanced techniques like Blood Flow Restriction (BFR), Deep Dry Needling and manual therapy, with movement correction, clinical Pilates and targeted rehabilitation exercises. His ultimate goal is to help patients return to their sport or activity at their highest level. 

With over nine years of experience in football, clinics, and hospital settings, Mohamed Abdelrhman specializes in musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapy. Having worked five years in football, he holds a FIFA Diploma in Football Medicine and excels in sports injury rehabilitation, pre- and postoperative care, and chronic pain treatment. Since moving to Dubai in 2022, Mohamed has continued to enhance his expertise in body mechanics, focusing on treating shoulder, knee, hip, foot, and spine injuries.He is skilled in dry needling, manual therapy, and the Mulligan technique (MWM), which he uses to improve patient recovery outcomes.

Mohamed’s experience spans both private clinics and hospitals, where he has honed his abilities in sports rehabilitation, exercise therapy, and pain management.Driven by a commitment to long-term health, Mohamed believes in not only helping patients return to their daily activities or sports but also in preventing injury recurrence. He actively develops and implements injury prevention programs, ensuring patients achieve sustained recovery and optimal performance.

Rose is a leading health and fitness professional with over 15 years experience. Originally from Ireland and is based in the UAE, Middle East for the past 10 years. She works both with personal clients and is also involved within the educational sector of the health and fitness industry.

As a renowned Personal Trainer, Rose specialises in female health and hormonal problems related to training, weight-loss related health conditions, pre and postnatal care along with eating disorders and obesity – these all have a large impact on breathing and she integrates this into her work. Rose is a lead tutor and head assessor with the famous brain based company. body//hack in Dubai UAE.

Driven by a personal passion, Rose helps her clients improve their physical and mental health, cognitive and mental performance through her bespoke approach that takes the nervous system as the priority. Rose has worked successfully with clients who suffer with chronic pain, PTSD, anxiety, depression and addiction. She has developed strong professional circles in her region to fully support clients who come to her.

Rose certified with Oxygen Advantage in 2019 and went onto become a Master Instructor in 2020.

Akil is a Rehab Specialist and Sports Performance Coach at Joint Space, bringing nearly 15 years of experience in the fitness and wellness industry and over two decades of martial arts practice.His approach has evolved from traditional strength and conditioning methods to incorporating the Functional Range Internal Strength Model, allowing him to achieve more precise and lasting results for his clients and athletes.

At the core of Akil’s practice is a thorough assessment process, utilizing Functional Range Assessment (FRA) to evaluate joint prerequisites for both sports and daily activities. From these findings, he develops individualized mobility strategies, ensuring clients establish a strong baseline before progressing toward their personal performance goals. His training philosophy emphasizes true strength development, focusing on the nervous system, muscles, joints, and connective tissue, rather than simply performing named exercises or showcasing feats of strength.

Beyond one-on-one coaching, Akil leads Kinstretch classes for teams and individuals, as well as mobility workshops for corporate clients, coaches, and trainers. His goal is to help people move better, build resilience, and unlock their full athletic potential.

Bechara El Khoury is a Level 3 certified Wim Hof Method (WHM) instructor, the first in the MENA region since 2017. He has worked closely with Wim Hof and the WHM Academy, leading expeditions and workshops across the globe, from the icy peaks of Poland and the Himalayas to the deserts of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

In addition to WHM, Bechara is a certified instructor in multiple breathwork modalities, specializing in immune system optimization, nervous system regulation, and high-performance breath training.

At Joint Space, Bechara brings tailored 1-on-1 coaching, group workshops, and private training to help individuals harness the power of breath, cold exposure, and mindset training.