About Erin Therese Sheehan

Dr. Erin Therese Sheehan is a contemplative scholar, healing practitioner, and educator whose work explores how mindfulness, embodiment, and contemplative practice can transform education and professional life. As a professor of Contemplative Studies at Drew University, she teaches courses that integrate contemplative pedagogy, trauma-aware education, and the science and art of presence.

Her research and teaching investigate the ways contemplative practices—such as labyrinth walking, meditation, and reflective writing—cultivate self-awareness, compassion, and anti-oppressive capacities in learners and professionals. Through her work, she bridges scholarly inquiry and lived experience, inviting students and communities to engage in learning as an act of wholeness and social healing.

Beyond academia, Dr. Sheehan leads retreats, mindfulness programs, and creative initiatives that foster resilience and collective wellbeing. Her work invites a return to stillness and connection in a distracted world, blending rigorous scholarship with a deep commitment to healing and human flourishing.

artist

Erin’s creative work emerges from her contemplative practice and deep relationship with the natural world. Her fine art—spanning photography, painting, and mixed media—serves as a meditation on stillness, balance, and presence. Through her art, she explores how silence and the rhythms of nature can restore the inner landscape, inviting viewers into a more mindful way of seeing. Each piece reflects the integration of her spiritual and creative life, where contemplative awareness becomes visual form.

teacher

As a teacher and healing practitioner, Erin works with individuals and groups to cultivate mindfulness, self-awareness, and emotional resilience. She offers meditation instruction, contemplative program design, and professional development informed by her studies and ongoing collaborations with the Mind & Life Institute, the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, and the Digital Wellness Institute. Her approach bridges contemplative wisdom and contemporary life—creating learning spaces that nurture clarity, compassion, and transformation.

Dr. Erin Sheehan is dedicated to fostering the conditions for healing, learning, and transformation—within individuals, institutions, and the collective heart of community.