Greetings y'all - update from the field: The first two DKNY tents went up today with a demonstration of each involving several families residing in the second largest camp in PAP (Partners in Health).  Each was provided to an individual in a wheelchair, while a third box has gone to a woman with a broken leg.  The remaining 197 boxes that were committed to this group were picked up by Partners In Health from the warehouse today and will be distributed to families through the next week and we will be following up with more demonstrations & assistance with those recipients.

On April 28, 2009, Bent On Learning hosted its second annual gala raising funds for children’s yoga classes in the New York City public schools and youth centers. The event honored Donna Karan, founder of Urban Zen, for her efforts supporting health and healing within the community. The gala featured a performance by Sean Lennon and was attended by yoga enthusiasts including Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, Gwyneth Paltrow and Russell Simmons.

Our heartfelt congratulations to this amazing group of people for their dedication to children’s health and well-being. The organizers have worked with us in the past to host classes at the Urban Zen Center in New York City, and for a special children's day in Sag Harbor. Bent on Learning is a non-profit that provides yoga and meditation education to students in grades K through 12 in New York City public schools and youth centers with the larger goal of improving the physical fitness as well as the cognitive, social and emotional skills of young people in New York City.

Read more, click on the news articles below.
USATODAY.COM
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HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

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Bent on Learning | www.bentonlearning.org

Kris Carr

crazysexylife.com

Kris Carr’s outlook on life and determination inspire us both as individuals and as a collective organization to empower ourselves and others by providing resources to help individuals step outside of the box and take an active role in their own well-being.

Her courageous search for alternative treatments after being diagnosed with an incurable cancer in 2003 and her success at integrating them into her life and triumphing over her disease despite her prognosis has made her a model for the mentality we value so highly at Urban Zen and strive to encourage through our workshops and classes.

Kris, who has published books and films documenting her journey in search of holistic treatments for her disease, is also a motivational speaker. She has graciously participated in Urban Zen’s Well-being and Nutrition Forums and has led an Urban Zen CrazySexyWellness workshop in which she described the life-saving benefits of plant-based diets and other lifestyle changes. We would like to recognize and honor her as Urban Zen’s Foundation ambassador of the month. Kris Carr, Thank you.

CLICK HERE to join the conversation on Urban Zen's new community site.

Kim Seelbrede

http://urbanzen.ning.com/profile/KimSeelbrede

Kim Seelbrede represents the type of healer we are proud to nurture through our Urban Zen Integrative Therapist (UZIT) program. As a highly trained social worker and psychotherapist who has been educated in a wide array of holistic healing techniques, Kim uses a body/mind/spirit approach to guide
clients as they discover more adaptive ways to deal with life’s stresses and challenges.

Kim hones the skills she has learned in the UZIT program this past year by providing alternative care modalities to guests at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge in New York. She has played an instrumental role as a volunteer for Urban Zen, donating her time and energy at events such as Sickle Cell Awareness Day at Montefiore Hospital. Her skills as a healer, and more importantly, her activism within the community are the reasons why we recognize her today as Urban Zen’s Community Ambassador of the month. Kim Seelbrede, Thank You.

Who can figure out what's in what we inhale, eat, drink and absorb through our skin or via injection? Who has time to worry about what's tracked onto the floor where our kids play?

Yes, it's inconvenient to worry about how what we buy in the hardware store (or food market, beauty counter, pharmacy, doctor's office, flooring, or furniture store) affects our family's health. It's easier to choose to eat organic than to think about the health impact of what we can't control: the brew of interactive, toxic chemicals which the exterminator, house painter, road repair team, farmer, fish farmer, agribusiness, local industry, hospital, manufacturer and gas driller infuse into our air, water, land and food supply.

Exposure to toxic chemicals is a major, known contributor to the rise in chronic diseases, cancer and childhood illnesses. Whatever the differences in our values or lifestyles, we're all exposed to them. As the individualistic bias in health keeps our focus on our individual bank account or health state, we forget that the best way to safeguard both is to protect our collective health and environment.

The moment to shift our focus is now. For the first time in 34 years, a newly introduced Safe Chemicals Act aims to do what so many of us wrongly assumed government was doing all along: Assure that the chemicals to which we're all exposed and which show up in 95 percent of Americans tested, are safe.

Since chemicals are invisible, we don't know that they are in our bodies, where they come from, how long they remain, or how they affect us. The only clue we get that this overall brew is dangerous is when we (or a loved one) get sick, as more and more people do. But even then, we can't trace that illness to any single exposure--so it's easier to blame our luck, our genes, or our attitude.

Over 80,000 chemicals are in use today, many of them known contributors to diseases like cancer, learning disabilities and reproductive disorders. The government we expect to guarantee their safety lacks resources for studies; nor are manufacturers required to prove safety. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), "chemical companies are not required to tell (the Environmental Protection Agency) EPA how their compounds are used ... (nor) to conduct basic health and safety testing of their products ... Eighty percent of all applications to produce a new chemical are approved by the U.S. EPA with no health and safety data.. in three weeks ..."

Absurdly, the burden is on the EPA to prove chemicals harmful, even though it lacks legal authority to compel industries to study, withdraw, monitor use, or modify any chemicals, including known carcinogens, neurotoxins and immune system modulators.

Where do these chemicals wind up? In us and in our children. At birth, newborns harbor over two hundred chemicals, testing reveals. Due to lower body weight and lesser ability to shield their developing brains, infants and children are at higher risk from exposure.

Fortunately, with strong public support, that can change thanks to the Safe Chemicals Act, introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), to revise the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which determines the policies for public protection. If the bill passes, for the first time, the burden of proof for safety will transfer to industry.

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is a coalition of groups that supports the bill and will monitor its progress to assure that effective provisions pass into law. Safe Chemicals Director, Andy Igrejas, who I interview this week on my radio program, wants the bill strengthened so the EPA is empowered to act immediately to curtail the use of the most highly toxic chemicals.

Concurrent bills will move through the Senate and House this spring and summer. Due to chemical industry pushback, passing a bill that protects public health will require strong public support. To receive environmental health info, radio interviews with health leaders, and action updates on chemical safety, please sign up at " target="_blank">www.healthjournalist.com.

Happy Earth Day!

Last Sunday, the Urban Zen Center offered “A Day of Wellness in Support of Africa,” infused with the spirit of Kageno, which means “a place of hope.” Kageno is the name of the unique organization that benefited from the event, using this crucial support to offer hope to Kenyans and Rwandans, struggling to build lives of dignity and sustainability in the wake of their countries’ AIDS crises. The day’s proceeds will benefit Kageno health and educational programs that serve over 11,000 villagers.

Urban Zen Foundation Director, Joanne Heyman, spoke to one hundred thirty yoga garbed participants, ready for a day of healing, learning, and yoga. Springtime shone forth on the sunny day for this gathering on the beautiful outdoor deck outside the Urban Zen loft space.

“Urban Zen is first and foremost about promoting healing,” Joanne said. “Whether it’s individual, familial, communal, societal, or global—or all of them, that’s what we’re about. So we couldn’t have a better match than Kageno.”

Kageno founder Dr. Frank Andolino told the group that Kageno’s four main areas of activity are education, health, income generation, and sustainability, sharing a delightful story of how all key areas intertwine in even the simplest aspect of their program.

In the small school they support, they have hired three HIV-positive women to prepare and serve the children a porridge, which is cooked on a fire fueled by brickets that community members make from recycled garbage. The brickets are sustainable, provide income to the villagers who make them, and are used to prepare healthy food in the school. The women are provided both income and health support, while serving the school children. Kageno’s natural ecology resonates with its community, and was inspired in part by the Partners in Health (PIH) model which was developed in Haiti by Paul Farmer, who serves on the Kageno Board.

During the day long UZ event, participants could self-select from among several concurrent healing options, available throughout the day. There was a lecture on cleansing, by leading doctor, Alejandro Junger, MD, whose book Cleanse became a bestseller after his book launch party at Urban Zen nearly a year ago. Anusara Yoga teacher, Jordan Mallah, led enthusiastic yogis and yoginis in a vigorous yet relaxing class. Recent graduates of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapist’s program (UZIT) offered yoga therapy, massage, and Reiki sessions which featured Young Living essential oils.

I experienced first hand the UZIT Reiki-oils session, which was totally restorative and relaxing. I was also fascinated by Dr. Junger’s presentation, because it’s so rare for a conventionally trained physician to champion detox. Having enjoyed a healthy lifestyle growing up in Uruguay, Dr. Junger attended medical school in the U.S. where he developed standard American nutritional and lifestyle habits, that ultimately caused his health to seriously decline. He inadvertently discovered the virtues of cleansing practices which allowed him to recover his own health, and subsequently, used them to support many of his clients in healing from a wide range of illnesses.

Cleansing is a vital, but often overlooked aspect of health care, especially now that research has revealed that 95% of all Americans carry toxins from chemicals, industry, products, and the environment, which researchers link to rising rates of everything from obesity to cancer. For the first time in 34 years, Congress is looking at governmental regulations that have proved inadequate to assure chemical safety—a great opportunity to limit the chemicals we need to detoxify, and give ourselves a real chance to heal.

For health insight and links to crucial health actions, you’re invited to sign up at: www.HealthJournalist.com