Donna Karan's Cause

by: AndreaDow
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Word Count: 267

Tuesday, January 22nd

I love seeing celebrities chose great causes that help benefit others. In this case, fashion designer, Donna Karan, has now become a dedicated philanthropist determined to bring yoga into the hospital setting. According to YogaJournal magazine, after Karan sold her business for $643 million in 2001, she turned her energy into yoga. She became so dedicated to he practice that even two broken knees (after a ski accident) could not keep her off her mat. In addition to wanting yoga in the hospital setting, Karan is also pushing for complementary practices like mediation and acupuncture to become a regular part of hospital education.

How did Karan become so passionate about yoga? Her late husband, sculptor Stephan Weiss greatly improved his qualtiy of life by regularly practicing yoga during his seven-year battle with cancer. Donna Karan's nonprofit program called Urban Zen Initiative is funding a yoga pilot program at both Beth Israel Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (both in Manhattan) to determine how yoga can best help patients. Instructors are being trained to teach patients simple breathing and yoga techniques very similar to those that helped her late husband.

YogaJournal qoutes Donna Karan as saying "Yoga takes you to a place that inspires you and brings spirituality out. To me yoga is a way of life. It is meditation; it is consciousness; it isn't just wrapping your leg around your head. It's about connecting on a spiritual level- opening and bringing the heart out."

I hope this program takes off and the rest of the country can benefit from similar programs very soon!

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