Transforming Our Lives, Transforming Our World

The Sophia Institute is a center of learning that cultivates wisdom, mindfulness and the conscious feminine and masculine. Our programs, led by nationally and internationally renowned thought leaders, create a more just, sustainable and flourishing world.

Learn more from The Sophia Institute founder Carolyn Rivers

Upcoming Retreats and Lectures

Faculty:
Event date:
May 17, 2013 to May 19, 2013
registration unavailable

This workshop is based on Mark’s new book, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen - which just won...

Faculty:
Event date:
May 28, 2013

Isadora Duncan's ground-breaking choreography to Chopin's exquisite masterpiece, 24...

Faculty:
Event date:
May 30, 2013

In this uproariously fun workshop, we soothe our spirit and reenergize ourselves with laughter...

Event date:
Jun 21, 2013 to Jun 23, 2013

This talk/seminar aims to:

Faculty:
Event date:
Jun 28, 2013 to Jun 29, 2013

Writing and creative expression can open the door to inner wisdom and guidance. They are vital...

Faculty:
Event date:
Nov 16, 2013 to Nov 17, 2013

This renowned, intensive two-day workshop for couples, married or unmarried, provides the...

Meet Our Faculty

Carol Anderson toured a variety of shows nationally including “A Feather on the Breath of God: The Remarkable Life of 12th Century Mystic...

Angeles Arrien is an anthropologist, educator, award-winning author, and corporate consultant.

As editor-in-chief of Steiner Books, Christopher Bamford has introduced, edited, and translated many volumes of Rudolf Steiner.

Sera Beak is a Harvard-trained scholar of mysticism and comparative religion and an intrepid spiritual cowgirl who’s spent the last dozen years...

Tater Beak moved to Charleston with her husband Bill in 2006 from the Chicago area.

A self-described Mad Woman version of Mad Men, Charlotte Beers is the woman who broke the glass ceiling in advertising when she was named...

Linda Bender¹s love of the natural world began in her childhood back yard.

Eve Blossom, an architect by training and a revolutionary by default, is the founder of Lulan Artisans, a Charleston and San Francisco based...

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D. is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, a...

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. is known for her gracious presence, world-class sense of humor and brilliance as a speaker and workshop facilitator.

Poet, teacher and scholar, Henk Brandt has devoted the past decade to research in the area of Liberation Psychology.

Next Event: First Sunday Meditations Jun 2, 2013

Considered a teacher's teacher, Lynn was the co-founder and creative director of Yoga Source in Richmond, VA.

Rick Brown is Executive Director of the Institute for Relationship Therapy.

Next Event: Getting the Love You Want Nov 16, 2013 to Nov 17, 2013

Nina Bruhns is an Editorial Director and Senior Editor for Entangled Publishing.

         Ellen Burstyn’s illustrious acting career encompasses film, stage and television.

Judy Cornwell was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but now, with her husband, the novelist Bernard Cornwell, divides her time between Cape Cod...

Tradd Cotter founded an 8-acre research farm and tissue culture laboratory near Clemson, SC creating spawn and kits for growers, teachers, and...

Louise Doire holds an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School and teaches Religious Studies at the College of Charleston, where her courses in feminist...

Anna Douglas PhD. is one of the founding teachers of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in northern California.

Carolyn Evans, MSW, has worked as a therapist and used to perform regularly as a singer/songwriter with her band.

Carol Lee Flinders is a national speaker, retreat leader, and author of Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics, Rebalancing the...

 Erica Ariel Fox, J.D., is a Lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Founder of the Global Negotiation Insight Institute.

China Galland, M.A., is the author of ...

Richard Garcia is the author of Rancho Notorious and The Persistence of Objects, both from BOA Editions.

Dr. Jim Garrison became President and Chairman of Wisdom University on February 2, 2005.

I have enjoyed a multifaceted career that includes professional work as a psychotherapist, chef/entrepreneur, author, poet and meditation teacher...

Barbara G.S. Hagerty is a native of Charleston, south Carolina.

Ursel Sarala Harmon, RYT,CRMT came to yoga in search of relief from the stresses of daily life.  Ursel went to her first yoga class in 2002, and...

Andrew Harvey was born and raised as a young child in South India, a period he credits with shaping his vision of the inner unity of all...

Terry Helwig began life in 1949 on a farm near Glenwood, Iowa.

bell hooks is a social activist, feminist, author, professor, and Buddhist scholar.

Carly Elizabeth Howard is a registered yoga instructor and former yoga studio owner.

Barbara Marx Hubbard is a visionary, social innovator, author, educator and leader in the new worldview of conscious evolution which she...

Josephine Humphreys is the Charleston-born author of four novels: Dreams of Sleep, winner of the Pen/Hemingway award for best first...

Helen LaKelly Hunt has been active within the women’s movement for the past eighteen years.

Stephanie Hunt is Charleston-based writer and editor. A contributing editor for Charleston Magazine and a regular contributor to Skirt!

Ann has a MFA in Dance and has worked extensively as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and dance therapist.

Eliza received her BA in Dance from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Dr. Lee Irwin is Chair of the Religious Studies Department at the College of Charleston.

Jacqueline Kabat has studied, written and performed with Second City’s Ann Bowen and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.

Next Event: Humor for Health and Self Discovery May 30, 2013

Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an inspirational online community...

Gloria D. Karpinski is a holistic counselor, spiritual director, teacher and author.

Sue Monk Kidd is a writer, novelist and memoirist.  She was born in Albany, Georgia and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia, a place...

Paula Todd King is a local writer currently working on both fiction and memoir.

Dave and Pat Krajovic, husband and wife team, are dynamic and engaging partners to anyone who desires to restore personal power, connect to...

Kurt Lamkin, poducer of Living Proof: Contemporary Black Literature, a series of radio programs featuring poets and fiction writers, is...

Francine LaPointe is a long-time student of C. G.

Next Event: Myth, Fairy Tales and Story Sep 5, 2013

A former actor, print journalist and radio broadcaster, Anne LeClaire is a memoirist and the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of eight...

Bokara Legendre is a performer, writer and artist.

Pat Luce is an author, teacher, international trainer and spiritual guide.

Sharon Martin was born and grew up in the Deep South, where she developed an acute interest and sensitivity to the relationship between culture...

MA: PHED, Master Trainer, E-RYT~500 hour, ACE~ PT

Training~ Mind~Body~Spirt~ since ~1981.

Lynne McTaggart is of the preeminent spokespersons on consciousness, the new physics and the science of spirituality.

Susan Laughter Meyers, of Givhans, SC, is the author of Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press), winner of the SC Poetry...

Pat Mitchell’s diverse background in media includes work as a journalist, producer, and executive.

Devaa Haley Mitchell is a spiritual guide, public speaker and musician, offering Soulful Women programs and devotional music to support the...

Terry Monell received her BFA in Art Education from The School of Fine Arts at Boston University, she continued post graduate studies in Art...

Mary Alice Monroe is an award winning, New York Times bestselling author of 16 novels, including The Butterfly’s...

Maureen Murdock is a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist in private practice in Santa Barbara, CA.

Natalie Goldberg is an author, poet, teacher, and painter.

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over thirty-five years.

Kathleen Norris is the award-winning poet, writer, and author of The New York Times bestsellers, The...

Andrea Olsen is author of Body and Earth, An Experiential Guide, and Bodystories, A Guide to Experiential Anatomy with Caryn McHose...

CURRICULUM VITAE

Next Event: Healing from the Inside Out Jun 21, 2013 to Jun 23, 2013

Lama Palden has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism for over 35 years, and of Comparative Mysticism for over 40 years.

 Lacquanna “Lucky” Paul is a teacher of Qigong, the ancient Chinese form of healing movement.

 Robert Powell, PhD is an internationally known lecturer, author, eurythmist and movement therapist.

Nancy Qualls-Corbett is a practicing Jungian analyst from Birmingham, Alabama. She is a diplomat of the C.G.

Dr. Paula Reeves is a well-known workshop leader in the fields of psychology and women''''s spirituality.

Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of six novels: three historical tales, Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass’ Women,...

 “If anyone can find the silver lining in a mushroom cloud, it’s this astounding thoughtful filmmaker.”— The National Post.

Carolyn Rivers is Founder and Director of The Sophia Institute.

Stephaney Robinson is a Nia Black Belt and one of only 14 trainers in the technique.

Dr. Rosen is a board certified dermatologist who has been in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina for over twenty years.  Dr.

Peggy Rubin is Founding Director of the Center for Sacred Theatre in Ashland, Oregon.

 Ileana Shaner is a martial artist, pianist, and jewelry designer.

Anne Rivers Siddons’ writing on Southern culture and places is shaped by her observations of human nature and human yearnings.

James Gustave Speth currently serves as dean and professor in the practice of environmental policy and sustainable development at Yale University...

Margaret Starbird holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Maryland and did further graduate study at the Christian Albrechts Universität...

Susan Finch Stevens’ chapbook Lettered Bones was chosen by Kwame Dawes as a winner in the South Carolina Poetry Initiative Chapbook...

A pioneer in the field of empowerment, Gail Straub co-directs the Empowerment Institute, a school for transformative social change where her...

Ann Kidd Taylor is a graduate of Columbia College in South Carolina. She has published articles and essays in Skirt!

Katherine Woodward Thomas Thomas is the national bestselling author of Calling in “...

Tej Kaur Thompson (Sheri Thompson) considers the teachings of Hatha Yoga master Sri Swami Satchidananda and Kundalini/White Tantric Yoga master...

A world-renowned authority on the inner science of Buddhism, Robert A. F.

Prior to founding Hermitage Heart, Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei served for many years as Vice-Abbess of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt.

Daphne Tse is a multi-faceted artist (musician, painter, photographer and poet) with her first love being singing.

Lynne Twist, global activist, fundraiser, speaker, consultant and author, has devoted her life to eradicating hunger and poverty, and supporting...

Actress Lindsay Wagner is also an advocate, mother, humanitarian and author.

“The Sophia Institute is a kind of loom upon which a whole community can weave together its colorful diversity into an organic, riotous cloth...

Marcy Walsh is a labyrinth facilitator, spiritual director, and hiking guide. ...

Ellen Watson is celebrating her 26th year on staff at Esalen Institute, where she studies, practices, and teaches various modalities of moving...

Margaret Wheatley is a renowned writer, speaker and teacher for how we can accomplish our work, sustain our relationships and willingly step...

Poet David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire.

Carmen Williams, a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and health and fitness instructor, awakened to her spiritual magnificence and her...

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer, and is considered one of the foremost authorities on A COURSE IN...

The film looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society's anxieties about women's liberation.  Wonder Women!

Marion Woodman, LLD, DHL, PhD (Hon), is a Jungian analyst, teacher and author of The Owl Was A Baker's Daughter; Addiction to Perfection; The...

Len is an educational consultant, play theorist, and sound training specialist who offers the Solisten™ Training Program, the portable...

Claire Zammit is the co-creator and co-leader of the Feminine Power courses for women and the co-founder and co-leader of the ...

Ingrid Zimmer is the Associate Director of Word Dance Theater. After receiving a B.A.

Next Event: An Evening with Isadora Duncan & Chopin May 28, 2013

Writer, novelist, and memoirist Sue Monk Kidd on The Sophia Institute

“ ...The Sophia Institute grew from that tiny seed, which sprouted from the fertile places of Carolyn’s heart and soul. It grew into a vision so large and luminous that frankly it took my breath...”

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