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.

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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.

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DAILYFRONTROW.COM

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ABC Carpet & Home  |  www.abchome.com

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

Urban Zen Furniture Collection

The first time I went to Bali, I instantly and passionately fell in love. With the lush countryside, of course. But the furniture also captured my heart – and my imagination. Here was style, strong, simple and authentic. The teak did the talking, the artisan hand did the sculpting. I wanted to live this way in every room, in every home, be it city, beach, Parrot Cay. I designed pieces to suit my lifestyle. I met with local artisans and detailed modern proportions and the purest, most elemental, yet highly functional shapes. I brought it all home, and now through Urban Zen, I bring it all to you. Entirely handmade, these pieces are the essence of comfort, the contrast of strong lines and soft pillows. Elemental, timeless, sophisticated, luxurious, they work with any décor or sensibility. There’s a variety of colors/stains, be it natural, aged, golden honey, brown or black lacquer. You’ll love how the pieces entertain, and how they sleep. You’ll love how they seduce your imagination, taking you around the world, while being completely and sensually at home.

Now the journey begins. It is truly a pleasure and honor to be partnering with ABC Home and my dear friend Paulette Cole, to bring you this collection. What a beautiful environment to show something that is so exciting and close to my heart. Two hearts, two visions. Please enjoy.

Donna Karan and Sonja Nuttall are thrilled to be empowered and inspired by the beautiful and intelligent women in the Women in the World Conference.

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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.

Donna Karan, Sonja Nuttall, and the staff, family, friends of Urban Zen Foundation extend their sympathy and condolences to Rodney Yee and his family. 2009 brought great loss to the Yee family with the passing of both Albert and later Evelyn Yee. Urban Zen Foundation is grateful to the Yee family for graciously establishing two scholarship funds for the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) Program. Rodney has dedicated his masterful expertise and passion for integrative therapy as he inspires dedication and knowledge to the students of the UZIT program.

Check back soon for more information.

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."

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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.

On Friday night, a group of Urban Zen friends got a first hand taste of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapist (UZIT) experience with soon to graduate UZITs on hand in the Stephan Weiss Studio to give people the caring, healing, and supportive treatments, blending yoga, Reiki, and aromatherapy. This is the same caring approach that patients at New York's Beth Israel hospital, receive through participation in the UZIT pilot program, currently under study to determine its effectiveness and potential cost reduction. Dr. Woodson Merrell, who serves as the medical champion of the program, crafted by Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee, reported that study results are expected by the end of this year.

Chatting with the renewed and refreshed participants, Donna Karan shared her hopes of seeing this program in every hospital in America. "Everyone has to come together to care for the patient," she said.

This Monday, November 9, the Stephan Weiss Studio is hosting a teleseminar on Radiance led by Deirdre Hale,  that is open to the public. For more information, click here.

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