Events | Contemplative Sciences Center

Salon: Spontaneity

Thu, Feb 19 2026, 5 - 6:30pm (Open to All)

Spontaneous forms of thought such as mind-wandering foster creativity and exploration. But digital technologies may be crowding out spontaneity: In the past, during idle times such as waiting for a bus, our minds were more accustomed to wandering. Now we are stuck on our phones. How can we make room for spontaneity in a digital world?

Learn More about This Event

Upcoming
Events

Graphic of a cup of matcha with the words, "I love you so Matcha"

Matcha and Love Letters

Sun, Feb 15 2026, 11am - 2pm

For UVA students

Students practice Ashtanga Yoga, reaching their arms up towards the ceiling in a room with wooden floors

Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore-Style

Mondays to Thursdays

6 - 9am

Open to All

a group of students sits on a wooden floor in the Contemplative Commons and meditates, overlooking the foliage below from the floor to ceiling window

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mondays to Fridays

11:30 - 11:50am

Open to All

yoga class yoga pose hands above head

Monday Ashtanga Yoga: Active Series

Mondays

12:45 - 2pm

Open to All

Salon: Spontaneity

Thu, Feb 19 2026, 5 - 6:30pm

Open to All

yoga class yoga pose hands above head

Ashtanga Yoga: Active Series

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
5:30 - 6:45pm

Open to All

Yoga class touching toes

Ashtanga Yoga: Led Primary Series

Fridays

6:30 - 8am

Open to All

John Bultman with several people around a table. Cups of chai are on the table.

Chai & Chats (Yoga Q&A)

Fridays

8 - 9am

Open to All

photo divided into three images: sound bowls, tai chi pose, yoga pose

Friday Rest Fest

Fridays

1 - 4:30pm

Open to All

Reception Student Braidon Fitzpatrick

Student Happiness Retreat

Welcome Dinner
Thu, Jan 22 2026
5:30 - 7:30pm

Retreat
Sat, Feb 7 2026
9:00am - 3:00pm

Follow-up Dinner
Thu, Feb 26 2026
5:30 - 7:30pm

Thu, Jan 22 2026, 5:30 - 7:30pm

Sat, Feb 7 2026, 9:00am - 3:00pm

Thu, Feb 26 2026, 5:30 - 7:30pm

For UVA students

This event is full.

Graphic featuring a collage of line art sketches of plants, grass, a heron, a construction crane, and a gazebo. Text reads :Nature and the Built Environment: Contemplative Commons First Floor Gallery

Student Art Showcase

Tue, Mar 17 2026, 6 - 8pm

For UVA students

Submission Deadline: March 9, 5pm
Artist Reception: March 17
Gallery Exhibition: March 18 - 25

Salon: Nature, facilitated by Adam Lobel

Thu, Mar 19 2026, 5 - 6:30pm

Open to All

Special Events

Reception Student Braidon Fitzpatrick

Jan 22 — Special Event

Student Happiness Retreat

For Students: Join fellow students for a facilitated retreat on cultivating happiness despite being surrounded by relentless pressure, pace, and uncertainty. Facilitated by and in collaboration with Student Health & Wellness and the Contemplative Sciences Center. Free, registration required. THIS EVENT IS FULL. For UVA students.

Graphic of a cup of matcha with the words, "I love you so Matcha"

Feb 15 — Student-Led

Matcha and Love Letters

Come relax, enjoy a refreshing drink, and write a note to someone special! For UVA students.

Feb 19 — Special Event

Salon: Spontaneity

Spontaneous forms of thought such as mind-wandering foster creativity and exploration. But digital technologies may be crowding out spontaneity: In the past, during idle times such as waiting for a bus, our minds were more accustomed to wandering. Now we are stuck on our phones. How can we make room for spontaneity in a digital world? Open to All.

Graphic featuring a collage of line art sketches of plants, grass, a heron, a construction crane, and a gazebo. Text reads :Nature and the Built Environment: Contemplative Commons First Floor Gallery

Mar 17 — Special Event

Student Art Showcase: Nature & the Built Environment

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. For UVA students.

Salon: Nature, facilitated by Adam Lobel

Mar 19 — Special Event

This workshop 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. Open to All.

Night Sky Cosmos

Apr 17 18 — Special Event

Camping and Contemplation Under the Cosmos 2026

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. Requires Registration.

UVA Compassionate Care Research

Apr 17 — Special Event

Compassionate Care Research Symposium

The University of Virgina School of Nursing; School of Education and Human Development; and Contemplative Sciences Center are co-hosting a half day pan-University Compassionate Care Research Symposium related to compassion research and scholarship across Grounds. This symposium will explore compassion related research with an interdisciplinary focus and is intended to spark connections and collaborations. Requires Registration.

Indian Classical vocalist, Ramneek Singh

Apr 25 — Special Event

Mysticism, Poetry & Performance

This concert features the importance of Basant or Spring in the mystical traditions of South Asia. Acclaimed Indian classical vocalist, Vidushi Ramneek Singh will render shabads (meditative hymns) from the Guru Granth Sahib in the ragas of Basant, Bahar and Hindol. She will also present aspects of Spring from the Sufi poetry of masters such as Amir Khusraw. Accompanists include Shreyas Ravi (Harmonium) and Abhay Kulkarni (Tabla). This event is presented by the Poetry, Mysticism, and Performance Working Group at the Institute for the Humanities and Global Cultures (IHGC) and is cosponsored by the Contemplative Sciences Center and Mr. Sartj Alag. Open to All.

Drop-in Events

Students practice Ashtanga Yoga, reaching their arms up towards the ceiling in a room with wooden floors

Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore-Style Sessions (Mon-Thu) - Spring 2026

Mondays to Thursdays

6 - 9am

Mysore-style classes provide students the opportunity to expand their experience and knowledge through individualized instruction and allow for traditional ashtanga yoga sequences to be modified to suit individual needs. This is a great class for beginners and those looking to deepen their relationship with yoga and establish a regular, personalized, and sustainable practice. Open to All.

Yoga class touching toes

Ashtanga Yoga: Sanskrit-Counted Led Primary Series - Spring 2026

Fridays

6:30 - 8am

In this class, the instructor leads participants through the entire ashtanga primary series, pairing movement with in- and out-breath to the traditional Sanskrit-counted vinyasa. The aim is for participants to flow through the poses and breathe together in a moving group meditation. As time does not allow for the instructor to explain the poses or the flow between them, this class is most suitable for those with experience practicing Ashtanga yoga. Open to All.

John Bultman with several people around a table. Cups of chai are on the table.

Chai & Chats (Yoga Q&A)

Fridays

8 - 9am

We will discuss yoga-related topics from philosophical ideas to questions about poses over a cup of chai. All are welcome. No physical practice required. Led by John Bultman. Open to All.

a group of students sits on a wooden floor in the Contemplative Commons and meditates, overlooking the foliage below from the floor to ceiling window

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mondays to Fridays

11:30 - 11:50am

Learn about and practice mindfulness and meditation in these free, drop-in sessions for all of the UVA and Charlottesville community. Open and accessible to beginners and advanced practitioners alike, these guided sessions are short and provide time for questions and reflection. Open to All.

photo divided into three images: sound bowls, tai chi pose, yoga pose

Friday Rest Fest

Fridays

1 - 4:30pm

Join us Friday afternoons for these contemplative activities specially curated to help you reconnect with your body and feel refreshed for the weekend. (Sound Bath, Qi Gong, Yoga, and T'ai Chi) Drop in to any class. All are open to the public. Open to All.

yoga class yoga pose hands above head

Ashtanga Yoga: Active Series

Tuesdays to Thursdays

5:30 - 6:45pm

This class is also offered on Monday from 12:45 pm - 2:00 pm.

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.

Instructor: John Bultman

Open to All.

yoga class yoga pose hands above head

Monday Ashtanga Yoga: Active Series

Mondays

12:45 - 2pm

This class is also offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5:30-6:45 pm.

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.

Instructor: John Bultman

Open to All.