caring for the caregivers workshop with anthony demauro Sunday, February 24 Caring for the Caregivers 4:00-5:30pm Location: Rotunda Multipurpose Room Free and open to the public. For many caregivers—whether professionals, friends, or relatives—taking time for self-care feels unnatural or conjures up feelings of guilt. This can lead to burnout and reduce the ability to effectively help others. This workshop will explore cultural narratives around self-care and feelings of guilt; the differences among self-pity, self-indulgence, and self-care; contemplative practices to support self-care; and creating plans for self-care in one's daily life. This workshop is part of the CSC Rotunda Contemplative Practice Series. LEARN MORE >

roshi joan halifax opportunities for courage and compassion Wednesday, March 13 Edge States: Opportunities for Courage and Compassion 12:00-1:00pm Location: Pinn Hall Conference Center (formerly Jordan Hall), Auditorium Free and open to the public.  CME/CNE credits available Join the School of Nursing's Compassionate Care Initiative (CCI) in celebrating its 10th anniversary with Roshi Joan Halifax, a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and end-of-life care pioneer. She is founder, abbot, and head teacher of Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is best known for sitting at the bedside of terminally ill patients and pioneering a new form of contemplative care known as the Being With Dying project. A staunch and active environmentalist, Halifax is also founder of the Upaya Prison Project and author of The Fruitful Darkness, Being With Dying, and, most recently, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear & Courage Meet. LEARN MORE >

ruth king facing racial conditioning with compassion CSC is sponsoring two talks by Ruth King, an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition. These talks will explore the detrimental impact of racial conditioning and ways to increase our inner capacity to face racial ignorance and suffering with a wise and caring heart. Tuesday, March 19 Transforming Racism from the Inside Out 3:00-4:30pm Location: UVA's Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, auditorium. Free and open to the public. Registration is recommended. Learn more & register here. Wednesday, March 20 Mindful of Race 6:00-7:30pm Location: Unity of Charlottesville Free and open to the public. This talk is part of the Virginia Festival of the Book. LEARN MORE >

david vago mapping the meditative mind Friday, April 12 Mapping the Meditative Mind: From Clinical Outcomes to Unified Compassion 3:00-4:30pm Location: Nau Hall, Room 101 Free and open to the public. What does a flourishing mind look like from a neurological, psychological, and social perspective? Neuroscientist, David Vago will explore this question and discuss his initiative "Mapping the Meditative Mind." The emerging field of contemplative neuroscience aims to better understand the body-brain-mind changes associated with mental training. Vago will present models underlying specific meditative practices, the underlying neurobiological and psychosocial processes supporting those practices, and data from his lab and others in support of short- and long-term changes—from clinical outcomes to unified compassion. Vago is research director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  LEARN MORE >

ligmincha symposium on contemplation Body, breath, & mind April 14-April 16 Ligmincha Symposium for the Contemplative Sciences: Body, Breath, & Mind Location: Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Shipman, Virginia Open to the public. See cost and registration information here. CSC is co-sponsoring the Ligmincha Symposium for the Contemplative Sciences, a cutting-edge dialogue probing the intersections of contemporary science and contemplative understandings of being human. Speakers will discuss the latest neuroscience, humanities research, and experiential knowledge of contemplatives and Tibetan medical doctors about the dynamics of body, breath, and mind. The program will be complemented by meditation practices that reflect the themes and discussions. LEARN MORE >