WESTWOOD—The UCLA Health System, along with the world-renowned fashion designer Donna Karan, have launched the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program. Donna Karan created the Urban Zen Foundation in 2007 to raise awareness and inspire change in three areas: presentation of culture, empowering children in mind, body and spirit, as well as integrating Eastern healing practices with Western medicine.

Fashion Designer Donna Karan. Photo courtesy of urbanzen.org

When Karan’s husband Stephen Weiss was dying from lung cancer in 2001, she became concerned that there were no places in the New York hospitals that offered yoga and meditative therapies to soothe suffering. This is when she launched the Urban Zen Foundation.

Karan used a combination of Eastern healing techniques that she found to be effective and created a program that has now reached hospitals across the country. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, part of the UCLA Health System, is the first hospital on the West Coast to begin the program.

The program will include the training of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff members in holistic practices to encourage optimal healing, the introduction of Eastern healing to patients, including yoga therapy (breath awareness, in-bed movement and guided meditation), oil therapy, nutrition and contemplative care, according to the UCLA Health website.

The UCLA Center for East-West Medicine offers traditional Chinese medicine, which includes acupuncture, acupressure and herbal medicine, on an outpatient basis. The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center teaches mindfulness, the process of actively and openly observing mental, physical and emotional experiences. The Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program is designed to take those same practices to the next level.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of her husband’s death, Karan created the Stephan Weiss Apple Award to honor contributors of the foundation's initiatives. The first SW Apple Award was awarded to former President Bill Clinton for his efforts made through the Clinton Global Initiative. Also presented with Apple awards was Mehmet Oz for his medical work and Courtney Ross for The Ross School and her exceptional work in youth education.

The Urban Zen Center. Photo courtesy of urbanzen.org

In a message on the Urban Zen website, Karan expressed her joy with the presence of the program at the UCLA Medical Center: “Seeing the expansion of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) Program into the UCLA Medical Center is a beautiful thing. It was amazing to be in such an extraordinary hospital; a place so alive with intention. I felt Stephen’s spirit with me all day and I continue to feel that he is guiding this partnership."

“The Urban Zen’s expansion to the West Coast has been such an affirming experience for me and this is just the beginning. I am beyond thrilled to move forward and to see the endless possibility of what I know can happen here. The West Coast just emits a spirit that I love so much, I feel so at home,” stated Karan.

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