Celebrating the Mothers of our UZIT Program

Last Updated on Tuesday, 8 May 2012 04:11 Written by Urban Zen Tuesday, 8 May 2012 04:11

In celebration of Mother’s Day we wanted to give a love-filled shout-out to the mother’s of our Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program. In the three years since the launch of the UZIT Program, several of our students have had the incredible experience of learning the benefits of the eastern healing techniques not only for patient care and self-care, but also for maternal care. Caring for the next generation included moms with baby bumps or baby seats, while others learned they would be receiving more than a certificate at the end of their training. These mothers and mothers-to-be were able to use the modalities to care for themselves before, during and after delivery, and the results have been beautiful, as you can see.

The whole Urban Zen team is wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to our UZIT moms.

Supporting our May Ambassador: No Mother’s Day Campaign

Last Updated on Friday, 11 May 2012 05:53 Written by Urban Zen Wednesday, 2 May 2012 03:26

This month we are proud to partner with our Ambassador, Christy Turlington Burns, to help raise awareness and inspire change for all mothers everywhere. This Mother’s Day, we invite you to align with Christy and her foundation, Every Mother Counts, as they launch a social issue campaign designed to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of girls and women around the world who die each year from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. This campaign is a collaboration between CHI & Partners and Every Mother Counts.

The cornerstone of the campaign is a short social issue film that features moms encouraging other moms to join in solidarity by disappearing May 13th, Mother’s Day, because “our silence can speak the loudest for all mothers.” Click here to watch the video.

Their goal is to leverage Mother’s Day—the day when people are thinking about their mothers most—as a moment to bring the facts about maternal mortality to a wider audience. Christy and her team believe that once people know the facts, they will want to do what they can to engage. Their hope is that the No Mothers Day campaign will spark energy into Every Mother Counts’ overarching goal of driving 5 million individual actions on maternal health by 2015.

How You Can Help:

This Week’s Community Highlights: Celebrating Children & Education

Last Updated on Friday, 24 February 2012 05:53 Written by Urban Zen Friday, 24 February 2012 05:53

One of the great passions of the Urban Zen Foundation is exploring the ways in which innovative education can create real avenues toward children’s empowerment. It’s a part of Donna Karan’s heart and it is integral to the mission of the foundation. This week, our conversations with our online community skewed toward this important topic and we were inspired and motivated by the insights of our Twitter family. @4ArabChildren tweeted about the unique ability children have to educate themselves and @IshaAggarwal touched on how true education needs to encompass more than just academics – a belief that is held near and dear by our founder. We tweeted with our friends from @righttoplayusa and shared some great #twitpics of Donna’s recent trip, where she had the opportunity to explore children’s education in Haiti.

It’s been another great week of dynamic conversations! We look forward to continuing the dialogue with you online.

The UZIT Experience of Bringing Hope to Haiti

Last Updated on Friday, 17 February 2012 11:22 Written by Urban Zen Friday, 17 February 2012 11:22

By Keely Garfield

I am returning to Haiti, this time in the role of group leader for Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT), Clinical Rotation #5. As it turns out, we are an international cast of intrepids, hailing from Curacao, Argentina, Quebec, and London all by way of New York naturellement! This will prove crucial as between us many languages are spoken, but more fortunate is the “bonhomie” tendencies of my new friends and colleagues. Each night we shared good food (I salute the chefs who managed to turn coconut milk, a bottle of hot sauce, and rice into a killer curry!) and considerate conversation, which any way you stir the pot, makes us more human.

Approaching Toussaint Louverture International Airport, the woman sitting directly in front of me begins incanting loudly in Creole and French. She thanks the sky and the earth, she praises the mountains, and sings for dear life. Raising her hands, her fingers create notes in the air above her head. Her prayer is for protection for all of us. From the cockpit, the captain oblivious to the music coming from the cabin matter-of-factly tells us to prepare for landing. That I can do but having been here before, I know that beyond the citronella oil and power bars stashed in my bag, to try to prepare myself for what lies ahead is essentially futile. I come back to the moment exactly as it is and accept the woman’s benediction gladly.

There is so much to tell. Suffice to share just a few of the miracles. Many doors have been flung wide open for us since I was here as part of the UZIT leadership trip back in November 2011. In itself, this is an incredibly powerful testimonial to the efficacy and adaptability of the UZIT program, and its overwhelmingly positive reception in Haiti. In addition to our work at Saint Damien Pediatric Hospital, “Clincal #5” worked alongside the medical staff at St. Luc Hospital in the emergency room and elsewhere providing integrative therapies including in-bed and in-chair yoga, breath awareness, meditation, reiki, essential oils, and contemplative care to stroke patients, diabetics, and their families among others. We led integrative therapy sessions for the medical and maintenance staff both at St. Luc and Saint Damien, as well as offering individual sessions to doctors, administrators, volunteers and anyone else we could literally get our hands on! Another first for UZIT was teaching a Saturday morning yoga class to the children at Father Wasson Angels of Light Program Orphanage and School.

Giving Love & Creating Hope at the Henri Christophe Community School in Haiti

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 January 2012 01:55 Written by Urban Zen Wednesday, 25 January 2012 01:53

On a recent trip to Haiti, Donna had the opportunity to visit the Henri Christophe Community School in Léogâne and the experience resonated with her in a very real way as this school embodies the holistic approach to education that Donna believes in.

Not only is the school piloting programs like the environmental educational program, they are also connecting and collaborating with wonderful people and organizations so that they can be a conduit for positive change and growth in Haiti. One such organization is Give Love, run by our friend Patricia Arquette. Haiti Partners connected with Patricia to install and pilot composting latrines at Henri Christophe. It was such an inspiring thing to see in action and we wanted to share more of the details with you here. We invite you to watch the video above to learn more about Give Love’s work at the Henri Christophe Community School.