UVA Rec and the Contemplative Sciences Center are partnering to offer students a retreat under the sun and stars at the Big Meadows campground in Shenandoah National Park. Come experience the awe of the morning and night skies. The retreat includes star-watching, a hike, and morning yoga practice.
Marc Brackett examines his own challenges dealing with emotions, explains the latest science of emotion regulation, and provides a set of practical, evidence-based strategies to help us use our feelings wisely to nurture healthy relationships, achieve ambitious goals, and experience greater well-being. At the heart of his message is acceptance: There are no bad emotions—only emotions we don't understand or know how to direct in positive, intentional ways. This event is free.
The Active Series was developed by Sharath Jois and derived from a traditional Ashtanga Yoga practice. It retains all the benefits of the traditional method keeping the linking of movement with breath but includes new more accessible postures for a wider range of students in a modern age and setting. Students from all levels will be able to participate in a non-intimidating inclusive setting. Classes are open to all.
Join us for this talk with Asa Jackson, multidisciplinary artist, curator, and director or the McColl Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jackson will discuss his work on display in the lobby of the Contemplative Commons. Titled Daybreak (Dawn of Consciousness 2), the work—composed of fabrics cut and sewn together—explores the cross section of textiles from various countries, time periods, and personal histories, transforming fabric into visual narratives.
Metaphor – using a more concrete example to express a more abstract idea or experience – is a fundamental feature of literature and language. The study of metaphor as a feature of language has long been central to literary studies. The study of Buddhist literature has given some attention to metaphor, drawing primarily from literary studies. In this workshop we week to identify features of metaphorical expression that are often a work in Buddhist contemplative literature. For UVA Graduate Students and Faculty.
Join us for this special event with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche of Serenity Ridge; founder and spiritual director of Ligmincha International; and teacher and meditation master in the Bön Buddhist tradition of Tibet. Renowned for his ability to translate ancient Tibetan practices and traditions to practical steps for us to effectively manage the stress and pressures of our times. With a fascination for the use of modern technology to deepen our contemplative practices and wellbeing, and the father of a college-age adult, Rinpoche will share his thoughts and invite conversation for how to find serenity within ourselves and support it in each other.
Join facilitator Samantha Lane for Movement Monday: The 360 Emergence conscious dance and embodiment practice on April 6 from 5-6pm in Studio 1B. The 360 Emergence is a dynamic free-form, embodiment practice that bridges dance and personal growth, rigor and freedom, individuality and the global collective. The 360 functions as a living laboratory where collective care becomes the catalyst for heart-led coherence, respect and the evolution of human dignity.
An upbeat, heart-centered class with an energizing flow that builds a feeling of vitality and community. Come to studio 4A to create space for authentic connection with yourself and others. Instructor: Nora Brookfield.
This yoga practice will help lower stress, calm the nervous system, and release physical tension in the muscles. Through yoga, we can cultivate a sense of calm and balance, even amidst life‘s uncertainties and challenges. Instructor: Cindy Crace.
If you are dealing with (chronic) pain or recovering from an injury, this gentle yoga practice can help you find relief and renewed energy for self-care. Through breath work, movement and modifications, we cultivate a greater sense of body awareness in your healing journey. Please check with your physician for permission to participate. Instructor: Cindy Crace.
Artificial intelligence is being celebrated by techno-optimists as setting humanity on a glidepath into utopian futures of frictionless choice. Techno-pessimists warn that AI poses an existential threat to humanity and may curtail our abilities to choose our own futures. Distinguishing between AI tools and intelligent technology, this talk by Peter Hershock (University of Hawaii) will take a coevolutionary, "middle path" approach to understanding and responding to developments along the agential frontiers of human-AI interdependence to realize more humane futures for all.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Theme: “Nature and the Built Environment.” The Contemplative Sciences Center's Student Art Showcase invites UVA students to explore the relationship between the natural world and human-made design. How do architecture, landscapes, and everyday structures coexist with, or stand apart from, nature? Where do we find beauty, tension, or harmony in this intersection? Artists are encouraged to reflect on how environments, both organic and constructed, shape our experiences, identities, and ways of seeing the world. Artists are encouraged to interpret this theme in their own way.
Whether you'd like to learn American Mahjong or you already love the game and want to sharpen your skills, join us for a variety of curated sessions March 24-27, 2026. (National Mah Jongg League Rules.) Sessions will be led by a certified teacher. All levels encouraged to participate. Free and open to all.
An integrative practice with gentle guidance meant to welcome the day with stillness in the body and presence in the mind. Join in person or virtually on Zoom. Instructor: Allie Redshaw.
A seated movement practice meant to meet the physical body where it has landed. In this practice we will breathe and flow through sequences that help us find roots and passively achieve deep, strengthening postures. Join in person or virtually on Zoom. Instructor: Allie Redshaw.
Are you feeling guilty, overwhelmed, or anxious about climate change and ecological loss? Do you hold grief or feel numb? Come express, explore, and receive support for your climate distress at the Climate Confession Booth with visiting Ecological Minister, Adam Lobel. The process can be just a few minutes. All are welcome.
This discussion treats ‘nature’ as both a lived reference point for contemplative practice and a charged, historically overdetermined term—less a stable object “out there” than a scene of negotiation where bodies, concepts, and the more-than-human co-compose what counts as real. Holding this tension, the workshop explores practices of contemplative naturalness in the early Tibetan Dzogchen and Chinese Chan traditions—noncoercive awareness and effortless cultivation alongside the modern need to meet climate grief, guilt, anxiety, and responsibility as weather moving through the nervous system and the elements. Inspired by contemporary eco-poetics and decolonial critique, we follow the genealogies of physis, natura, rang byung, and ziran while foregrounding the claim that the modern distinction between nature and culture sits at the heart of colonial modernity and its enduring ethical, ecological, and technological consequences.
