iBme Retreats and Courses are a one-of-a-kind online experience. iBme retreats helps reduce stress and cope with normal school, life, and social demands in a self-empowering way. An iBme retreat reconnects individuals with their own natural confidence and ease.
2021 will offer online retreats for Teens 15-19 and Young Adults through 32 years of age. We also offer All Ages Retreats. Through curiosity, they develop their powers of perception and their capacity to understand their emotions and thoughts. These skills are valuable now and for years to come.
Do something different:
Take part in your life in a new way. Turn the page, try out new things, meet great people, be you and be accepted. Oh, and have some fun! We’ve adapted our signature style to the online environment to bring you a meaningful and transformative retreat experience. This unique retreat weaves iBme’s relational approach with periods of silent guided meditation, yoga, small-group discussion, workshops, and wisdom talks.
Who is this retreat for?
Any teen or young adult with an open mind and heart who is willing to try something new and do their best to be themselves and accept everyone else in being themselves. We provide everything you need to make that happen.
Learn the fundamentals:
Meditation
Mindful Movement
Inner Stillness
What does the retreat consist of?
During this retreat, we will be fully immersing ourselves in a contemplative space for four nights. We ask that you commit to this as fully as possible, particularly to the small-group discussion periods.
This online retreat will include periods of: guided mindfulness meditation; instruction on integrating mindfulness into daily life; small-group periods for discussion and social connection. There will be workshops on various topics such as mindful eating; restorative yoga; mindful communication; and how to use digital technology wisely (with a focus on the pressures of the current moment).
All participants will receive ongoing, personalized support and practice advice in small groups from highly experienced meditation teachers and mentors, just like we provide on our in-person retreats.
How can I prepare?
We encourage you to create a designated practice space for yourself that will be uninterrupted during your retreat time and have as much silence as possible. You should let your family and friends know that you won’t be available — but this retreat will not require complete isolation such as on a traditional silent retreat. We also encourage you to separate as much as possible from the use of technology other than for the purposes of the retreat!
Retreats put under "East" refer to Eastern Daylight Time and "West" refers to Pacific Daylight Time.
Be sure to check out our website for latest session dates and costs!
Everything about my experience on the Wilderness Retreat was amazing. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life so far and I'm still talking about it 2 years later. The feelings of accomplishment, contentment, and connection gained through this program have stuck with me as well. iBme provides unique and deeply transformative experiences.
My daughter has participated in iBme retreats for 4 1/2 years now and it has affected much of her life. She has a strong meditation practice, has made friends with teenagers from all over the country and has further honed her sense of empathy, social justice and confidence. iBme's payment structure has allowed her and many others who might not be able to attend retreats otherwise to have these experiences.
The mindfulness retreat was such a great experience and opportunity. All the staff were so nice and helpful, and passionate to work and put up with us teens. I met so many amazing people and learned incredible stuff that really benefits my everyday, and it is such a welcoming evironment to just be yourself.
I went to ibme with a couple of classmates that I never talked to now we're best friends doing awesome stuff with that shows how ibme can make someone connect with others and the food was good lol and everyone was super friendly I was very surprised awesome people!!
SO FUN. Best part of my year. Learning about mindfulness has been really valuable in my everyday life and I've met so many cool people on these retreats.
Great opportunity for teens to be who they are in a nurturing environment. There are so many benefits for learning mindfulness. My son came back enthusiastic about his experience.
Great food, fun afternoons doing arts and yoga, and nice kids that provided useful training in meditation.
Julia informed me that she enjoyed this retreat even more than the Crestone one last year. She also noted the food was better lol. She was so excited when she came home this time to tell me all about it. I'm glad she made so many new friends she intends to keep in contact with. She really enjoyed all the opportunities to express emotionally (she tends to hold too much in). I'm grateful she felt comfortable opening up and connecting there. Really wish there was a retreat offered for younger. My youngest daughter will be 13 next April and she really wants to go :)
What was the most important thing you learned? "How to accept, with soft gentleness, all aspects of my experience and how to connect with others in an authentic way."
What skills have you learned? I have learned about more healthy and helpful ways to confront my emotions.
“My oldest son Alex had attended your Massachusetts retreat two years ago. Two years prior to that retreat he started to develop an anxiety disorder. It was definitely hampering his lifestyle. Because of this I set him up with a very good anxiety therapist. This therapy helped to a degree but the anxiety still persisted, maybe not as bad. He had a friend In high school who had attended one of your retreats in the past and was going to go on another one when he invited Alex to join him after Alex had confided in him about his anxiety problem. After attending that particular retreat two years ago his anxiety disorder has pretty much "vanished." Through today, two years later, he considers himself anxiety disorder free. He tells me he doesn't even think about it anymore. My youngest son Andrew, who just attended your recent retreat, had also started to develop some anxiety issues and when he realized how much this retreat helped his older brother he was emphatically motivated to attend. Andrew had such a good experience that he is already planning for next year's retreat. You guys do a wonderful job we can't thank you enough.”
Thank you Jessica for sending this out. This email touched my heart and soul, brought happy tears to my eyes. My daughter attended this summer in Mono, Ontario and we hold so much gratitude in our lives for this opportunity. I am a single mom and without the financial support IBme provided it would have never happened for Emma. I really cannot express my extreme gratitude for such a breath taking and breath giving life opportunities and at such a pivotal time in our teens lives. Much thanks to all at iBme, and all the work you guys and gals are doing, it is LIFE CHANGING for not only the teens but the parents they come home to.
I am finding that doing this style of retreat, in my own home, is extremely rich and informative, in a way I never imagined. As much as I love the rarified space of residential retreat -- beautiful halls, dorms, wilderness, a strong container disallowing the intrusion of the outside world --it is rather profound to have the opposite. To sit in the middle of the life I have and am creating.
I loved having the opportunity to connect with other peers, and build relationships during this scary time.
The online retreats have been super helpful to me right now. Something about still being at home during the retreat makes it easier to integrate after retreat. ... The dance party was very very lit. I was surprised because I didn’t think it would work too well digitally.
