a place for contemplative practice, deep listening and compassion
About Us
Shallowford Center for Mindful Living lives to serve the community.
Through our connection with Shallowford Presbyterian Church, we welcome all people, regardless of faith tradition, to grow and learn through practice and experience, moving slowly, with gentleness, to a place of courageous curiosity, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.​
Through our programs and offerings ...
Feeling alone, isolated and judged
Move from feeling ...
To being ...
Feeling alone, isolated and judged
Anxious, overwhelmed, burned out, and distressed
Connected, with acceptance and affirmation
Calm, centered, empowered, energized
Denial and bottling up feelings and difficult emotions
Accepting of human emotions as teachers and guides
Like you are on autopilot, stuck in destructive patterns and habits
Open to presence and possibility, responding rather than reacting
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Crippled by fear and frozen in uncertainty
In a place of courageous curiosity, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace
Meet Our Facilitators
Our facilitators consider it a privilege to engage in meaningful conversations that illuminate what matters most as we seek to live life fully and well. They share a passion for creating healing communities of deep listening where we can ponder how to live life on life’s terms. Their shared work is aligned with living the serenity prayer ... accepting what we cannot change, changing what we can, and having the wisdom to know the difference. Through a variety of Inner Workshops, they seek to share insights, experience, courage, and hope.
Kay Stewart, M.Ed.
Director of Mindfulness Education
Kay joined our team in 2013 after completing graduate studies in mindfulness and contemplative education.
Kay facilitates classes and retreats grounded in mindfulness and evidence-based practices for compassion, resilience, and renewal. She is passionate about teaching and learning from the inside/out, wide open to God's amazing grace and love.
Robby Carroll, M.Div., LMFT
Director of Healing Circles
Robby Carroll, M.Div., LMFT, considers it a privilege to work with families and individuals through many of life’s challenges and transitions.
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With over 30 years of experience and training in various counseling modalities, including post-graduate studies in Marriage and Family Therapy, Addiction intervention and counseling, as well as Appreciative Inquiry consulting.
Karen Piering Abbott, Psy.D.
Facilitator
Karen Piering Abbott, Psy.D., licensed clinical psychologist, joined our team in the summer of 2024. Karen first felt compelled to practice mindfulness in 2011 while on a two-and-a-half-month hospital bedrest as she was pregnant with her second child. While ‘captive,’ a friend and minister shared a sacred breath prayer with her, creating a channel of peace amid great uncertainty. About a year later, she and her family joined Shallowford Presbyterian Church and continued her mindful education through workshops and circles with Kay Stewart, M.Ed. She longed to share the inner resources and resilience she found with her clients, therefore a continuing education journey began, merging her psychological, spiritual, and neurobiological knowledge.
Lindsey Thames, M.Ed.
Intern
Lindsey Thames, M.Ed., joined our team in 2023 as an intern. Lindsey has participated in numerous mindfulness courses at Shallowford, as well as being inspired by retreats and regular contemplative practice circles facilitated by Kay and Robby. Lindsey’s appreciation for mindful living deepened through her husband’s cancer journey, and she is passionate about growing in her capacity to facilitate healing circles grounded in mindfulness and self-reflection. Lindsey finds meaning and joy through life in community, thus her desire to create spaces for deep listening and compassionate connection.