What kinds of people belong to the 50% of the population who use some form of integrative health care? Everyone!

Even leading doctors, like Esther Steinberg, MD, a tenured research scientist with the National Institutes of Health, are just like many civilians who seek healing and find their way into the integrative health spectrum, championed by Donna Karan. In Donna’s case, it was the illness of a loved one, her late husband, sculptor Stephan Weiss that motivated her to found Urban Zen and seek to transform what at a Food Solutions event this last week, she called “our broken health care system.” But for Sternberg, a rheumatologist by training, by dramatic coincidence, the health wake-up call that initiated her healing journey was rheumatoid arthritis, an immunological condition that lies within her very own area of scientific expertise.

Last Monday night, at the Urban Zen Center, Sternberg, the author of Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being introduced a screening of The Science of Healing, a film about her health journey, which was followed by an expert panel discussion featuring Sternberg and Yang Yang, a QiGong teacher, Joy Hirsch, a neuroscientific researcher, Woodson Merrell, MD, a leading integrative medical doctor, and architect, David Kamp.

As the film revealed, the differences between Sternberg and the many others who have veered off the conventional medical highway to discover their own unique paths to healing are two-fold. First, Sternberg’s discovery of the healing role of lifestyle, nutrition, and stress management came accidentally: Invited shortly after the onset of her illness to stay in a friend’s cottage on the Greek island of Crete, Sternberg found herself surrounded by the beauties of nature, soothed by the stress-free island lifestyle, and enjoying the healthful Mediterranean diet (rich in salads and olive oil). In this setting, her symptoms spontaneously improved, which the film beautifully depicts.

Next, as a highly regarded physician, Sternberg had the access to follow up—by engaging in dialogue with her fellow scientists and researchers, about the phenomena she had experienced. As the film depicts, some scientific researchers have at long last become more willing to look into some of the underlying mechanisms for health experiences, like Sternberg’s. Both her journey and her follow-up scientific exploration are portrayed in the film, which will undoubtedly speak to viewers who feel more comfortable accessing the health benefits of simple integrative health practices, only after their biochemical mechanisms have been validated through extensive study by scientists.

To track that proof, Sternberg leaves the beautiful Greek island where she recovered to trek through a series of labs where researchers with high tech devices strive to capture the data that can confirm subjective experiences like her’s to outside onlookers. One scene in the film follows Sternberg into one lab, where to measure brain wave activity, Sternberg dons a funny looking headdress that scientists use to develop measures that prove conclusively that seeing a beautiful natural scene is an uplifting experience because it can now be measured through brain wave activity. As the film reveals, additional findings are that patients whose hospital window overlooks a natural setting recover more rapidly than those who look out on a blank wall.

Hopefully one day, understanding nature’s health benefits might encourage initiatives like planting urban gardens so that children in lower income communities can more readily enjoy the same health blessings of nature that Sternberg so fortunately experienced in Greece—but for now, it’s doubtless important to first devote the time and money necessary to develop technology that validates nature’s gifts to those who are unable to regard them as self-evident.

In the same vein, the film portrays the use of allied technology that measures brain wave responses to define what constitutes a pleasant and welcoming design for those entering public spaces, like hospitals. This information will be passed along to architects and designers. While traditional practices like feng shui have long studied the art of design and placement, these have yet to be verified by brain wave activity.

During the panel discussion, Woodson Merrell, MD, Director of Integrative Medicine at the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, described the health benefits of the healing sanctuary created by Donna Karan on the cancer floor of Beth Israel Hospital. Experiencing this calming environment within the hospital setting lowered the anxiety and discomfort of incoming patients and families, researchers learned.

Up until now, artists like Donna Karan have tapped into their own senses, aesthetics, feeling, and intuition to guide the design of healing spaces. But as the Science of Healing shows, at long last thanks to Esther Sternberg and her colleagues, we may in the future possess technologies that permit scientists to create a healing space.

For health insight, get Your Health Outlook, the free ezine at: www.healthjournalist.com

Yesterday, Joanne Heyman and I attended a Clinton Global Initiative forum on Haiti. It was very informative and gave us the opportunity to connect with other organizations and foundations working on the ground in Haiti. There was much discussion on how everyone can work more cooperatively to facilitate progress which all acknowledged has been moving slowly. 

At one point Yele Haiti, Executive Director Hugh Locke gave a presentation on Yele's efforts in Haiti, during part of the presentation he showed the slides attached below and stated that all of the tents in the images were provided through the Hope Help & Relief Haiti. This was only a quarter of the tents we sent Yele Haiti which are being distributed in various camps through out Haiti, and are located in the tent camp of La Riviere Grise Diaboule in Croix-des-Bouqets. Which coincidently has been one of the towns discussed as a potential area for Hope Help and Relief Haiti to help rebuild a community since the campaign began. I was filled with hope and optimism to see such a tangible result of our combined efforts.

Partners In Health have received their initial 200 which were distributed in part to a large 40,000 person camp known as Parc Jean Marie Vincent. The tents here were scattered throughout the camp and were not concentrated in one particular area. They stated that many of these were given to families so that they could leave the camp and return to their property with adequate shelter. The additional 156 for them are currently in Port Au Prince and they are being distributed; giving priority to women and children and those in medical need, most recently we received images of some of these families which have been shared with our web builder to add on the site.

I also received an updates from ShelterBox who recently visited with both projects and reported while he was there that both projects are going well. You can view tent distribution locations on our Map of Hope located on the Urban Zen website which will updates as we continue to receive locations.

Click the "Download attachment" link below for a one sheet that provides an update on the Hope Help & Relief Haiti Tents Today Home tomorrow campaign. Please feel free to contact me directly via email or at 646.621.6365 for additional information on our ongoing efforts.

The day that Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake is one that will never be forgotten. On February 8, 2010, the campaign, Hope Help & Relief Haiti, was launched at the Urban Zen Center, a collaboration between Donna Karan, Andre Harrell, Mary J. Blige and Andre Balazs, the campaign provides for the distribution of tents as temporary homes and a means of survival for those who were displaced. Our Map of Hope shows the location of the tents distributed in Haiti as a result of this ongoing campaign. To date we have purchased tents which will provide shelter for up to 7,160 displaced Haitians.

After sending 200 tents to Yele Haiti to provide Shelter for up to 2000 people, Hope Help Relief Haiti is pleased to be able to send 356 Shelter survival kits to Partners In Health which will provide shelter for up to 3,560 individuals, along with water purification tablets and other critical supplies. With and additional 160 tents for an additional 1,600 people being distributed in the most critical need areas within Haiti.

Most recently Hope Help Relief Haiti sent shelter tents to the settlement camp at Parc Jean Marie Vincent in Port au Prince. This is a camp of over 40,000 people in which PIH is providing daily clinical services. Dr. Lambert, a Haitian physician who works for PIH in Haiti, reported that there are many children and families living in deplorable conditions, sleeping on the muddy ground. He is confident that working with the settlement committee they can identify the families most in need, targeting pregnant women and prioritizing those with children.

The locations are identified in the Map of Hope. Thank you to our donors who made this possible.

May 4^th was a gala celebration and a milestone for both Urban Zen Foundation and the Continuum Center for Health and Healing (CCHH) as Donna Karan was honored for her generosity and steadfast dedication to well-being, patients and integrative medicine and the CCHH celebrated its 10^th anniversary.

Donna stood before hundreds of guests as she shared her personal experiences as the “loved one” of several cancer patients, including her late husband Stephan Weiss. Her moving remarks touched upon the universal nature of caring and loss, reminding the audience that in our lifetime, we will all become a patient or the loved one of a patient. By addressing the needs of the patient as well as the disease by integrating eastern healing techniques with western science, hospital care will not only treat the disease but guide patients and their loved ones towards well-being through the simple practices these modalities offer.

The evening’s presentation opened with chair yoga led by Shana Kuhn-Siegel, a UZIT and the UZ yoga coordinator at BIMC, creating an atmosphere of calm and openness. After Donna’s moving acceptance remarks, guests were treated to a live performance of soulful and inspiring music performed by Elvis Costello.

The evening was a defining moment for Urban Zen. Our well-being programs, inspired and guided by Donna, have gained significant momentum. Last year, Dr. Woodson Merrell, founder of CCHH and Chairman of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center, partnered with Donna and Urban Zen to introduce an Optimum Healing Environment. This pilot program has several components, including research, the renovation of hospital space to create The Sanctuary, a serene space for patients, loved ones and staff as well as the introduction of Urban Zen Integrative Therapists on 9 Dazian, where UZITS have cared for oncology patients.

IN THE NEWS

THATGIRLATTHEPARTY.COM

EXAMINER.COM

Donna Karan and Deepak Chopra At ABC Carpet & Home

Hosted by T Magazine, The New York Times Style Magazine
In Moroso Mafrique on the Mezzanine at ABC Carpet & Home
Featuring a taste from abckitchen with Jean-George

“As Deepak said, the world is one; we are interdependent,” Donna Karan told an audience on May 17 at ABC Carpet & Home. The company, in honor of Design Week, invited Donna to be the special guest for “Design, beauty & commerce; serving as a tool for social evolution” with Deepak Chopra.

The event was an intimate gathering hosted by T Magazine, the New York Times Style Magazine, with many familiar faces in the audience including Hugh Jackman, Lucy Liu, Russell James, Richard Zimmerman, and Tara Stiles.

In Moroso Mafrique on the Mezzanine of ABC Carpet & Home, Donna shared her philosophy of design and stewardship: “Through my travels to India, Africa and Bali, I can tell you there is a connection and purity in the world - a mind, body and spirit that ties each of us together as a global community. It is through my travels where I find the spark and magic flame of inspiration. At Urban Zen, the greatest honor is to first capture, then celebrate the worlds creativity and artistic spirit. At Urban Zen, we call this Preservation of Culture.”

This intention of global connectedness runs through Donna’s entire work. She also shared her thoughts that ultimately, “The way we decorate our lives is changing and that the conscious consumer is the new steward of change. This new commerce, ethical consumers, is making the choice to recognize the fine arts and the artistic community. These artists are a broad category of creators, those who bring beauty and design forth to heal the world.“

Please visit the links below to read more.

WWD.COM
STYLECASTER.COM
DAILYFRONTROW.COM

CONNECT
ABC Carpet & Home  |  www.abchome.com

Today I am in San Diego at the 17th International Symposium on Functional Medicine, on Confronting Cancer as a Chronic Disease.  I want to encourage you to watch a lecture on line on a revolutionary approach to cancer by one of the greatest medical thinkers of the 21st century, my mentor, Jeffrey Bland tomorrow morning at 8:30 am pacific time.

You can log on at www.functionmedicine.org to register for the webinar.

"The way we think about medicine is all wrong." Mark Hyman told participants at a half day seminar he offered last week at the Urban Zen Center in downtown New York-- where Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation holds a series of health seminars

"We used to have acute diseases and infectious diseases, but now we have long-latency deficiency diseases. If you don't have adequate minerals for thirty years, ultimately you get osteoporosis," he said. "But why wait that long? Shouldn't we do something now?"

Hyman questions why conventional doctors fail to offer immediate nutritional interventions that could stem a full blow disease before it happens. Instead "They tell patients, let's wait and watch. Why wait until you're sick, and then place you on a costly medication--often with side effects--for life? It doesn't make sense."