A Weekend of Inspiration

The minute I heard of the Women in the World Conference, I wanted to be there. All my senses and emotions were evoked - from the heart to the mind.

I love seeing women supporting women. And these women, from a global perspective, are outstanding. It is impossible to acknowledge all of them, but if I could highlight just a few:

* Tina Brown - Journalist, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Daily Beast. She moderated a discussion on human trafficking, the world's third largest black market.

* Diane Sawyer - Journalist, ABC News Anchor, moderated a discussion on what it takes to undo misogynistic traditions in culture.

* Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan - UNICEF advocate, spoke on the urgent need to keep girls around the world in school and help them avoid early marriage and HIV-infection.

* Edna Adan Ismail - Maternal and Child Health Care Activist and

Former Foreign Affairs Minister of Somaliland, shared about her community hospital in Somalia.

Hearing these stories from a global perspective, and issues that we should truly all talk about, was a reminder to continue to find solutions. We at Urban Zen practice this on a day-to-day basis.

Please go to the Women in the World Website and enjoy what I enjoyed. It was an honor to witness the conference. The selection of minds, the intellectual approaches and the creativity of these people were an inspiration, and it would be a joy to return next year.

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Women in the World

www.thedailybeast.com/newsmaker/women-in-the-world

"We can't walk away from this and lead our daily lives as if nothing had happened," Donna Karan immediately thought when she heard about the tragic earthquake in Haiti. "This is a wake-up call, a call to community, to caring, to something greater than ourselves."

Andre Harrell, an entertainment industry executive and founder of Uptown Records, heard the same call. "From the first moment I heard about the crisis in Haiti, I felt a sense of responsibility -- and the question: 'What can I do to help?' It sounds a little mystical but I felt like the universe was speaking to me," he said.

Harrell went through a typical day for him--high level meetings uptown, midtown and downtown in Manhattan. Later at the Boom Boom room, he connected with his friend, Andre Balazs at Balazs' elegant Standard Hotel. "We're great friends and I felt the urgency of finding a way to support him in supporting Haiti," Balazs explained. "This is an opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy to focus the world's attention on an ongoing crisis, and create a sustainable solution."

Before long, the two Andres reached out to Donna Karan, whose Urban Zen Center is just a few blocks away from the Standard.

"We have the passion to support Haiti, we have the dream of making a difference, but the question is how do we make it happen?" Karan asked when the powerhouse creative trio met to discuss partnering to bring together the New York art, music, fashion and entertainment worlds to kick off a benefit called Hope, Help, and Relief Haiti, slated for next Monday, February 8th.

Read rest of article on Huffington Post and comment here.

It's just evening and Sting takes the stage in front of one hundred or so people. From songs like Soul Cake to the Invisible Sun, he celebrates with us, with Donna Karan, and with Bobby Sager, the launch of the book "The Power of the Invisible Sun." He makes each song sound effortless.  The set is beautiful, unearthing the unexpected vulnerability of a pure acoustic melody, performed in front of images of children projected on to the wall.

Bobby is giving us hope. Following Stings performance, photographer and philanthropist Bobby Sager takes the stage. Bobby is both humble and frank. His candor is refreshing and heartfelt. He begins to tell the story of the boy who has given breadth and meaning to his current book, The Power of the Invisible Sun, and foundation, Hope Is A Game Changer Project. Bobby introduces this boy, a former child solider from the Congo, who had killed three people when he was seven years old. The room is about to weep from guilt. And the storyteller continues. Bobby is not preaching or selling. He is telling us the very story which continues inspire his work.

Bobby's work comes from a curious and conscientious frame of mind. He has devoted the sales proceeds to support his foundation. This foundation aims to provide indestructible soccer balls to war torn countries and child solider camps. He articulated the importance of giving children a feeling of permanence and self worth. Take strength and give them hope. Don't just give them money. Give them a part of yourself." Asking us to imagine the world as it could be. The world as it should be. And as the evening ends, Donna Karan's remarks linger: "Creativity and consciousness is what makes change."

Click here to see pictures from the event:

http://www.patrickmcmullan.com/site/search.aspx?t=person&s=Bob+Sager

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The Power Of the Inisible Sun | www.poweroftheinvisiblesun.com

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As resources and volunteers head to Haiti, I learned that among the medical personnel who have traveled there to serve are Urban Zen presenter and good friend, Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, and his lovely wife, Pier Boutin, also a physician. Traveling with them are a medical team.

The dedicated pair arrived in Port Au Prince on Friday night, and according to a report sent to a colleague, which I'll quote here, they found "the conditions to be absolutely horrific, a scene of death, devastation, and chaos."

“Human poverty is hugely susceptible to nature's depredations, and Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, has again and again been the victim of demonically destructive wind, rain and flood,” wrote Amy Wilentz who has lived in and written about Haiti.

“In the developed world, such vulnerability would lead quickly to measures for the public safety. But Haitians cannot expect what Paul Farmer, an anthropologist and physician who has worked there for more than two decades, calls 'protection from the foreseeable.'”

I always track the latest health research, the newest recommendations by doctors and experts, the best health books and products. So this year I decided that the most helpful thing I could provide is healthy gifts, that contribute to my loved ones' wellbeing.

So here's my healthy gift list--and I welcome hearing your favorite healthy gift ideas too!

Overall Health

• Why Your Health Matters by Andrew Weil--a must-read on transforming our health care system

• Soul of Healing Affirmation CD by Deepak Chopra--Hear the master of healing bless every organ and cell in the body

• Psychosomatic Wellness CD by Candace Pert - uses healing sound frequencies based on research

• Conscious Breathing CD by Andrew Weil (HealthJourneys.com)

Transforming from Within;

• Smiling at Fear by Chogyam Trungpa (Shambhala 2009)

• The Art of Happiness: Tenth Anniversary Edition by the Dalai Lama (Riverhead, 2009)

• Living Deeply by Marilyn Schlitz et al (IONS/New Harbinger 2008)

• Be the Change by Deb and Ed Shapiro (Sterling 2009)

• Spontaneous Evolution CD series by Bruce Lipton

Noetic Healing Wisdom

• The Power of Premonition by Larry Dossey, MD (Dutton, 2009)

• Morphic Resonance by Rupert Sheldrake (Park Street Press, 2009)

• Ancestral Blueprints by Lisa Iversen (Family Constellations West Press, 2009)

When future generations tell the tale they will recall a time when humanity, our future, and the earth itself were at stake--due to human folly. "But then--" as in a fairy tale, or a folk legend, "a hero came forth to save us.." our great-grandchildren will tell their children.

But the hero wasn't a knight in shining armor, nor all-seeing officers at an omnipotent military command central--no, the hero, or heroes, who came from every corner of the earth, speaking eight languages and representing thirteen different traditions--were thirteen grandmothers, indigenous healers, called forth by dreams and prophecy to join together in common--and uncommon prayer for the earth and its people.

This counsel of thirteen elder wise women have circled the globe, meeting with the Dalai Lama, leading healing ceremonies and prayer circles in India, Nepal, the Amazon, Alaska, Mexico, and Nicaragua; and at a recent Bioneers Conference in California. This week they came to New York City for a weekend of events. On Friday night, the film, For the Next Seven Generations in which filmmaker Carole Hart documents their extraordinary work, made its New York debut at the Urban Zen Center, the welcoming downtown gathering place, founded by Donna Karan. Over the following days, the Jivamukti Yoga Center will host a number of the grandmothers in two evenings of prayers and healing.

In welcoming the grandmothers and introducing the film, Donna Karan revealed that, "To be able to celebrate this film and be with the Grandmothers is a dream come true for me. Urban Zen nurtures the wisdom of the past (in wisdom and indigenous traditions), the present (in health and wellbeing), and the future (through empowering our children). The Grandmothers remind us to celebrate the spirit of Mother Earth."

TEDMED on Twitter

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Donna Karan, founder of the Urban Zen Foundation, is speaking at TEDMED 09.TEDMED (Technology, Education, Design, Medicine), celebrates conversations that highlight the intersection between all things medical and healthcare related. The conference taps into the today’s most pressing issues and tomorrow’s most innovative solutions. This year, speakers include Dean Ornish, Jesse Dylan, Martha Stewart, Annie Wojcicki, Andrew Weil and Goldie Hawn, with presentations and discussions that focus on areas such as public health, wellbeing, science and health related technology, and intelligent design. It is the perfect medium for Donna to share her story and speak on patient care. We could not be more excited to be a part of this event and to take one more step towards realizing our mission of caring for the patient and making an impact on the healthcare system.

Please visit www.urbanzen.org to view the talk after October 30, and contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like more information.

Caring. Connection. Community. These are the essence of Urban Zen. I invite you to care with us— to share with us in this new blog community.

On the outside, we are unique individuals, each one of us with our own inimitable path to wholeness, and our own story to tell. At the core, we are one.

Join us here at Urban Zen in our new blog community, so that together we can empower each other in the sacred task of listening to the voice of the patient, and the voice of the loved one.  Blending in harmony, we can heal the heart of the world.