His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, spoke at the New Beacon Theater on “The Quintessence of Compassions.”  Our creative director, Sonja Nuttall, shares some thoughts her experience.

One of the stories His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, spoke about has been brewing underneath my consciousness for the past few weeks, and I’d love to share it with you.  It’s a story about human nature.

His Holiness was in Dharmasala and he saw a man on the street with an aquarium.  The aquarium held something like a snake or an eel.  He looked, and he looked again, and he thought, “He has a pet.”  Moments later, a Tibetan picked up the eel, chopped off the head and the tail, and wrapped it up.

These are not the Tibetan ways, His Holiness said, alluding to the killing of animals for food.  He discouraged people from harming other sentient beings, including animals. His wish for his people is that he would go back to the way that they truly are.  It’s not in his nature to kill.

It is wonderful to be on the same journey and try to give back to others.

www.vday.org

“The hope was to show the women of New Orleans that there are practical therapies available to them, that they have the power to heal themselves. We all do. We were just there to nurture their minds, bodies and spirits - to help them find the calm after the storm” -Donna Karan.

Urban Zen Foundation traveled to New Orleans to attend and participate in Eve Ensler’s inspiring Superlove event held at the Superdome April 11th & 12th. At the event, Urban Zen Foundation hosted a Well-Being Sanctuary, where women had their minds relaxed, bodies touched through yoga, massage and aromatherapy and spirits uplifted through love in an area inundated by hard times. There to share tools of wellness and healing with 7,000 women displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Donna Karan, Sonja Nuttall and members of the Urban Zen community embarked on a journey to bring healing and love to women in need.

Superlove was part of V to the Tenth, a two-day anniversary celebration of VDay, a global movement to stop violence against women. The event created awareness and inspired change in the lives of thousands. The Sanctuary was led by Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman Yee and Dr. Jamie Naughright, who are also spearheading the Urban Zen Integrative Therapist program currently at Beth Israel Medical Center. The Urban Zen Well-Being Sanctuary was a welcome center, an oasis, for all women to come and find the calm in the chaos of their lives in mind, body and spirit. Gaiam, a holistic lifestyle media company, Young Living Oils, an aromatherapy company, TSalon, Miriam Novalle’s organic tea company and Vitamix co-sponsored the event together with Urban Zen. Donna Karan addressed the Superdome attendees with an inspirational speech. In attendance with Donna was Kris Carr, the writer and activist of Crazy Sexy Cancer and nutritionist Jill Pettijohn, who extols how healthy is in an important part of the healing process. The emotionally charge event was unprecedented and the outpouring of reactions ranged from heartfelt joy to a release of years of stress, tears, fatigue and strain. All were moved and calm ensued through yoga, aromatherapy, love and caring. It was more than love, it was Superlove. Come share and spread the love with us. Help us help, join today.

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MARCH 1, 2009
On Sunday, Spirituality For Kids held an afternoon of fun and discovery at Stephan Weiss Studio, launching their “One World. Every Child. Fundraising Campaign.” Guests were invited to commit to a variety of exciting fundraising committees. The event was hosted by Philippe Van Den Bossche, Director of Development of SFK, Michal Berg, President of SFK, and Donna Karan, Founder of the Urban Zen Foundation.

Spirituality for Kids is the first organization we partnered with for our Empowering Children Initiative. It’s an organization that is particularly dear to Donna Karan.

“In education, our kids learn reading, writing and arithmetic but how do they learn the rules of life?  I support Spirituality for Kids because it combines conventional forms of education with new tools of empowerment to give kids everywhere the language and the ability to care for themselves spiritually and physically, and thereby care for their future.” – Donna Karan

To learn more, visit www.sfk.org

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