Salon: Resonance

Where has sound moved you? Live music, a quiet forest, a harsh city street, a voice across the table.

Some sounds settle us. Others set us on edge. Why? In her work with sound and energy healing, people report a shift, and Karianne observes it too. These subtle changes reveal something deeper: sound moves through the body, shapes attention, and influences the environments we inhabit, inside and out. The Salon will begin with a short sound bath meditation, then open the conversation from that grounded place, with sound as our point of connection. Where has sound moved you? Live music, a quiet forest, a harsh city street, a voice across the table.

Karianne Michelle is a sound bath artist and professionally trained mezzo-soprano with a B.A. in Music from Luther College. After 15 years in creative strategy for global organizations, she founded Lofti, a whole-person well-being company. She has since facilitated sound healing and other contemplative modalities for over 15,000 people. As a contemplative instructor at UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center, she carries her creative thread into Synaisthesis, an immersive sound and light installation co-created with composer Matthew Burtner and lighting designer R. Lee Kennedy.

About Salon

Salon is a monthly open dialogue on cutting-edge research related to contemplation and flourishing with UVA and local community members in the Contemplative Commons, hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center's CIRCL: Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab. Centered on a single word, these gatherings bring together scholars, scientists, and practitioners from diverse perspectives to exchange ideas, generate knowledge, and seek solutions to global challenges. Learn more about CSC Research.