As a mom of 2 young boys, I don't take advantage of my proximity to Manhattan often, especially on a school night, but Monday night I made an exception. My friend Alexa & I headed downtown for the launch party of Dr. Alejandro Junger's new book, Clean, and had a fabulous time. For starters, there are few places more exciting than New York City on a gorgeous spring night.
Next, there are few places that can make a suburban mom feel more hip than the West Village, especially Urban Zen where the party took place. The Urban Zen Foundation was created by fashion designer Donna Karan after the death of her husband, well known artist Stephen Weiss. She turned his studio space into a center that really lives up to its name. We entered through the boutique which sells incredible clothing and accessories, all organic and natural in feel, but very high in style, to benefit the foundation. The party took place upstairs in a perfect New York open loft space with a wall of windows that opened onto a patio and bar. At this bar the choices were green juice, mango coconut juice, green smoothie or coconut water. There was also plenty of raw food. All was delicious.
Alejandro Junger is the Director of Integrative Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC. He coined the term "open minded medicine" to describe the inclusion of eastern and western approaches in his treatment of patients. His book is a comprehensive explanation of his cleanse program which is a 3 week detoxification diet. He calls it a "nutritional cleanse" because unlike a juice fast or other liquid cleanse, you actually eat whole foods. Recipes are included in the book.
Donna Karan spoke about the mission of Urban Zen, one part of which is focused on patient advocacy and wellness. Her experience during the treatment of lung cancer with her late husband made her determined to change the focus of health care and she acknowledged Dr. Junger for "treating the patient instead of the disease." Robert Thurman, Uma's dad and the first American to be ordained a Tibetan monk by the Dalai Lama, introduced Dr. Junger who spoke briefly, mostly to thank people, and was charming and humble.
The idea of a cleanse, giving your body a chance to detox and your digestive system an opportunity to rest and restore, makes a lot of sense to me. I've done one or two day juice fasts before, but never a full cleanse. It involves no dairy, caffeine, alcohol or sugar, which sounds like no fun at all. But...baby steps. I did buy some kale the next day to try in my juicer. I had to ask a woman in the produce department to point it out to me, but now I can tell the difference between kale and collard greens.
A highlight of the evening was seeing Gala Darling in the crowd. I have admired her blog for a long time and, like the giddy fan that I am, introduced myself and asked if I could take a photo with her. She was kind and adorable and what struck me most of all, present. It's difficult to describe with words what that means. It is an experience of being acknowledged, looked in the eye and respected. It's nice when it happens and yet it makes one realize how really rare it is. Hopefully that is changing. I know I am working on it and am always grateful for the reminder.
Related links:
Urban Zen
the Clean program
Eleven Eleven Wellness Center
Gala Darling
James Mathers
Robert Thurman
