THE LAUNCH OF OUR INITIATIVE
May 14-24, 2007 - Ten days in May were designed and carefully planned to create an exchange of ideas between patients, and world renowned doctors, nurses, yoga instructors and alternative healthcare practitioners. The result was pure inspiration: the collective voices of the panelist and audience members created a robust collection of ideas, potential initiative and creative solutions to serious healthcare problems. READ MORE
A PROGRAM TO BUILD A BRIDGE
Imagine a healthcare system where the patient is treated, not just the disease. Imagine a system where eastern healing techniques, yoga therapy, essential oil therapy, and nutrition are used in combination with western medicine in a holistic approach to patient care. The Urban Zen Foundation launched the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program aimed toward realizing this vision. READ MORE
PARTNERSHIP
Donna Karan and Urban Zen Foundation partnered with Beth Israel Medical Center (BIMC) to create opportunities for research on integrative therapies and to develop a pilot program that enhances the care of cancer patients. The goal of this program is to create an Optimal Healing Environment that is built around a menu of complementary healing therapies. READ MORE
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS - 2010 TO DATE
Year-long series of workshops, 2010 - On January 20, 2010, the Urban Zen Foundation, in conjunction with the Palette Fund, Amanda Archibald, RD and Culinary Nutritionist, Stefanie Bryn Sacks, MS, kicked off a series of ground-breaking, inspirational workshops focused on educating the Urban Zen community and beyond on navigating and restoring health through food. READ MORE
March 10 to 11, 2010 - Urban Zen’s Well-Being Initiative makes it a goal to offer public forums on wellness and nutrition. This year, we created a forum focused on the health of the next generation. With the help of HealthCorp, a proactive health movement founded by heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz to fight child obesity and mental resilience, we brought together integrative health leaders and advocates for children’s health to present solutions that enhance physical and emotional health and wellness for kids and teens in the home, at school and in the community. READ MORE
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS - 2009
Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program collaborated with Yoga Journal to produce an "Urban Zen Day" at each of their conference locations. Topics included caring for the care-giver with guest speakers Dr. Christiane Northrup and Dr. Robert Thurman in NYC, aromatherapy with Young Living Essential Oils in San Francisco and caring for the knee with Dr. Larry Padgett in Estes Park. Read more about the Yoga Journal conferences in: BOSTON, SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK, and COLORADO.
Feb. 9 and 10, 2009 - The Special Olympics was a heartfelt experience for international athletes, trainers, coaches and family members as well as UZIT therapists. Sharing Reiki, restorative yoga poses and essential oil therapy provided by Young Living Essential Oils with more than 400 guests over a two-day period illustrated how effectively these therapies address the needs of athletes before and after competition. READ MORE
April 16 to 17, 2008 - Imagine a room filled with more then a dozen luminaries from the medical and nutrition community, all engaged in an open dialogue on improving self-care through the basics of proper nutrition. Urban Zen made this possible with leaders like Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Frank Lipman, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. James Gordon, and Dr. Woodson Merrell. READ MORE
May 9, 2009 - Urban Zen was thrilled to be the home for Kris Carr's workshops. The first workshop was an incredible success. From the deepest detox details to the benefits of colonic therapy, the event was full of passion and education and the Posse was glowing in the end. READ MORE
June 14, 2009 - It is a rare and remarkable soul who becomes legendary during the course of his life by virtue of great service to others, writes Eddie Stern, Ashtanga teacher, in the forward to a booklet handed out at the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois memorial hosted by Urban Zen. The event drew 500 people to the Urban Zen Center at Stephan Weiss Studio to honor the life and work of the incomparable Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. The memory of his warm and embracing spirit was celebrated in the presence of representatives from diverse yoga traditions, and included the screening of a short film celebrating his life and legacy. READ MORE
August 1, 2009 - Urban Zen was proud to be a part of Super Saturday, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund's annual fundraising event. Hosted once again by Donna Karan, Ariel Foxman, InStyle, Kelly Ripa and Blake Lively, Super Saturday 12 presented its famous one-of-a-kind designer garage sale, kids' carnival, gourmet food and exciting activities galore. READ MORE
August 9, 2009 - Donna Karan, Rodney Yee, and Colleen Saidman Yee hosted a Wellness Day at the Urban Zen Sag Harbor store and Yoga Shanti. It was an afternoon of yoga therapy, massage and aromatherapy led by Unrban Zen Integrative Therapy students, and organic juices by Jill Pettitjohn. READ MORE
Oct. 24, 2009 - Urban Zen hosted a holistic nursing forum and self-care retreat designed for nuses to learn to care for themselves. The presenters for this weekend were all pioneers in the fields of holistic nursing and integrative health care including, Barbara Dossey, Susan Luck, Bonney Schaub, and Aurora Ocampo, with special guest, Donna Karan, founder of the Urban Zen Foundation. READ MORE
August 22, 2009 - Real Medicine Foundation's innovative approach to delivering international aid is reinventing medicine as we know it. Aligned with Urban Zen's mission, Real Medicine Foundation uses an Integrative Health Care Model comprised of acupuncture, plant-based nutrition, therapeutic bodywork, homeopathy, yoga and today's best practice medicine to achieve real results. Urban Zen organized a presentation at the Urban Zen retail store in Sag Harbor to share more about this emerging leader in international healthcare. READ MORE
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS - 2008
June 5, 2008 - "Love and death are the great gifts that are given to us; mostly they are passed unopened." Roshi Joan Halifax, founder of the Project on Being with Dying, led a workshop on Death and Dying. Urban Zen was honored to host the workshop, which helps healthcare professionals and their patients learn to "see death and know life in terms of compassion and awakening." Proceeds went to benefit the Village Zendo. READ MORE
April 11-12, 2008 - The V-DAY weekend in New Orleans was all about the women of New Orleans and the gulf south - the Katrina Warriors. Urban Zen partnered with V-Day to treat the Katrina Warriors to the benefits of yoga therapy, green juices, and tea. READ MORE
LYNN KOHLMAN, OUR MUSE, OUR INSPIRATION, WE MISS YOU
Lynn Kohlman passed away on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Lynn, who battled breast and brain cancer, was an inspiration for the creation of the Urban Zen Foundation, and her light and energy will continue to be a part of everything we do. READ MORE
