Mindfulness
A way of paying attention that can bring us greater resilience, ease, and joy.
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Upcoming Classes & Retreats
Free practice recordings! Listen HERE.
Articles & Talks HERE.
All offerings below through Mindfulness Northwest.
Sunday Sit
Weekly drop-in session. Guided practice & gentle mindful movement. Start your week off right!
ONLINE
Sundays from 7-8pm
FREE, but you must register HERE to receive the link.
Practice, Not Perfect: Strategies & Support to Keep You Meditating
This should be fun! Karen and I have crafted this brand new class based on what we hear our students need most.
ONLINE with Karen Schwisow
Begins April 22
Fierce Compassion Women’s Retreat
Connect with sweet community. Tend, rest, and renew.
IN PERSON with Karen Schwisow
May 16-18
At Whidbey Institute
Step Back & Reset: A Day of Mindfulness
Gentle practice, warm teachers, friendly community
Open to all!
ONLINE with Karen Schwisow
May 31
Roots of Mindfulness Retreat
5-day retreat in a special setting. Open to all.
IN PERSON with Tim Burnett
At Samish Camp on Samish Island, Bow
August 22-27
Fierce Compassion: A Retreat Day for Women
Join us in cultivating both fierce & tender compassion with a warm community of women.
IN PERSON with Karen Schwisow
At Brightwater in Woodinville
September 13
Mindful Self-Compassion
Learn how to befriend yourself, especially when things are tough. This class was a game changer for me. Powerful practice, warm community.
IN PERSON in Bellingham WA
Begins October 6
Healing the Inner Critic
Discover strategies to work with that tough voice in your head. Beautiful setting, supportive instruction.
IN PERSON at the Bow Sanctuary (last chance!)
October 18
What People Are Saying
Insightful, inspirational, and transformative.
-Spencer, MSC participant
Carolyn, you have a gift for creating a space where discoveries can be made. Thank you for your guidance.
-Becca, Mindful Writing participant
Carolyn provided an abundance of information while keeping the learning incredibly organic and experiential. I appreciate the scientific and practical examination of the practice along side the less tangible, emotional, spiritual elements.
– taylor s., MBSR participant
Carolyn opened up the world of mindfulness to me. She is a wonderful teacher – patient, empathetic, warm, compassionate, and a brilliant communicator with great energy! She went above and beyond to understand the needs of each student.
-Anand, MSC participant
The most impressive thing to me about Carolyn is that she doesn’t try to present herself as being impressive. It wasn’t that she had all the answers and was sharing them with us. Instead, she had the ability to help us understand that for ourselves. It was like she was opening a door and giving us the opportunity to walk through it. She is the real thing—a genuine teacher.
-Tom, MSC participant
Thank you for everything! Your humor, boundary-keeping, and genuine care were treasured.
-Kathleen, MSC participant
I find Carolyn’s feedback as we talk about our experience endlessly helpful, insightful, and genuine.
– Carol G., MSC participant
Carolyn is a really wonderful instructor – she holds space for everyone in the class in a special way, modeling the practice of mindful self-compassion, but as an outward expression.
-Erin B., MSC participant
Lots of great insights and practices that help you to understand mindfulness and how you can use it in your daily life in formal or informal ways.
– Jen H., MBSR participant
Carolyn is great! Well-studied, wise, creative, playful and pragmatic. Anything you glean from the course and your practice improves your life.
– Renee, MSC participant
Headshot by Tiffany Brooks
Carolyn McCarthy
Carolyn teaches in the hopes of moving us, individually and collectively, toward healing, wholeness, and love. Zest, warmth and wit enliven her teaching. Core practices: sitting meditation, time outside, solo living room dance parties.
A student of social justice, Carolyn uses mindfulness to face difficult truths within and without. All are welcome in her offerings.
- Certified to teach MSC by UCSD Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
- Certified to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction through Mindfulness Northwest.
- Graduate of Mindfulness Northwest’s 9-month Mindfulness Teacher Training Program.
- Trainings and retreats with Chris Germer, Joseph Goldstein, Kamala Masters, Michelle Johnson, Tuere Sala, David Treleaven, and many others.
- Practices with Zen sanghas in Bellingham, WA & Vancouver, BC, and with insight teacher Vance Pryor.
I live and practice on the ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish people. Here by way of colonialism, I am grateful for the ongoing leadership that my neighbors, the Lhaq’te’mish (Lummi Nation), provide in caring for the lands and waters we all call home.
