With the intellectual rigor of a scholar plus the embodied wisdom of the contemplative life, Karolyn offers soulful & grounded sacred services.
Through workshops, retreats, and ritual, Karolyn invites people to deepen their relationship with themselves, one another, and the living world. Rooted in mysticism and practical spirituality, her work demonstrates how contemplative ways of living can bring greater presence and meaning to everyday life.
As co-founder and minister of Hearth Cville Wild Church, a place-based community for spirituality in nature, Karolyn leads contemplative gatherings that encourage participants to listen deeply and experience the sacred in their lives and communities.
Karolyn also offers presence and care through contemplative harp, arranging familiar songs and improvisational music for meditation retreats, retirement communities, senior centers, and other care facilities around Charlottesville. She is currently training to earn her certification as a Therapeutic Musician.
Karolyn brings more than two decades of experience as a researcher, consultant, and leadership educator to this work. She holds a Ph.D. in English and served as a department chair and tenured professor of medieval studies, where she became a recognized voice in the field of contemplation in higher education. She taught on mysticism, contemplation, and creativity at colleges and universities across the United States and worked with schools, churches, nonprofits, and other organizations as a facilitator and consultant.
That experience continues to shape her ministry. She is now a Reverend through Universal Life Church and is currently studying to become a Licensed Unity Teacher and a Certified Music Practitioner© for healing and transition. As a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), she understands the body as a partner in spiritual awareness.
Whether through music, meditation, yoga, ritual, or conversation, Karolyn helps people slow down and recognize the sacred in ordinary experience. Her work invites us to listen for what is alive within us and around us—and to let that listening shape how we live.
Writing
Rooting Institutional Change in Personal Practice
The Wellbeing Project
Contemplative Reading, Journal of Contemplative Inquiry
Critical, Creative, Contemplative, Religious Studies News
Contemplative Course Design Video Series
Contemplative Lab Curriculum
Get in Touch
Karolyn is open to side collaborations and talks worldwide. If you want to chat about learning and living deeply and wisely, don’t hesitate in reaching out.
Speaking
Embodiment, Pleasure, and Taking up Space
Unity of Charlottesville Spiritual Center
Video here
Everyday Epiphany
Unity of Charlottesville Spiritual Center
Video Here
Contemplative Teaching and Learning
University of Virginia, University of Massachusetts, Suffolk University, Wabash College, Plymouth State University, and others.
Contemplation & Everyday Life
Sunrise Senior Living; Charlottesville, VA
Mindful Leadership
Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce
Reading for Wisdom
Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
Charlottesville, VA
Values Exploration
International Dalai Lama Fellows Program; Wild Heart Yoga & Wellness (Plymouth, NH); Charlottesville, VA Women’s Entrepreneurs
