Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (UK)

UK Based iBme Retreats

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About

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Inward Bound Mindfulness Education UK (iBme UK) programmes are run by Youth Mindfulness Education, a UK Community Interest Company. iBme UK offers in-depth mindfulness education for young people. Our programme guides young people in developing self-awareness, compassion, and ethical decision making, and empowers them to apply these skills in improving their lives and communities. iBme UK has grown out of the great work done by iBme in the US (see more in Our Story).

iBme UK is committed to caring for the natural world and addressing issues of social justice in all that we do.

Our vision at iBme UK is to support future generations of heart-centered, diverse leaders who are prepared to respond to the challenges of their time with focus, resiliency, and compassion for themselves, their communities and the global environment.

Our diverse teachers and staff have decades of experience in teaching mindfulness and working with youth; many are leaders in the growing field of mindfulness education. We invite you to learn more about our Staff and Teachers and Mentors.

The iBme Model: Mindfulness is paying attention to what’s happening in the present moment with kindness and curiosity. Our programmes introduce young people to mindfulness through guided meditation, mindful movement, small group discussions, and fun group activities. Participants in our programmes learn self-awareness, empathy, techniques to calm and focus the mind, and mindful communication – the foundations for success in all areas of life. Our programmes also include applying mindfulness skills to daily life, connecting with nature and creative expression. Research on the impact of iBme retreats has shown teens experienced increased self-compassion and life satisfaction, and decreased rumination and reactivity, following retreat.

The iBme retreat model is unique in that it allows participants to gain a level of insight into their own experience and authentic connection with peers that is rare in everyday life.

Young adults and parents regularly share that iBme programmes are transformative. More than 50% of participants return for future retreats and demand for our programs continue to grow across the US and internationally. Read testimonials from participants and parents here.

Our Story

Inward Bound Mindfulness Education is part of a 30-year lineage of mindfulness retreats for young people that began in the US in Barre, Massachusetts in 1989. Jessica Morey, iBme co-founder and current Executive Director, attended her first teen retreat at the age of 14. In 2010, iBme was incorporated in the US as a non-profit organization, and has grown since then, hosting retreats across the US and Canada.

In the UK the iBme banner has been picked up by Jem Shackleford and Mark Roberts. Connecting over a shared interest in bringing the iBme model of young peoples’ retreats to the UK, Jem and Mark met at Bangor University, where they were both studying for the Masters in Mindfulness-Based Interventions. They have established Youth Mindfulness Education CIC to act as the legal body for iBme UK. Convinced that iBme programmes—both in the US and UK—are an immensely powerful force for positive change, they are committed to sharing that possibility through iBme in the UK.

Staff

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Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts, iBme UK’s Managing Director, has worked in both public and private sector organizations for 30 years—a diverse career that has spanned from managing international teams in the field of inward investment to multi-disciplinary teams in delivering capital investment projects. With a demonstrated track record in project management, budget control, contract negotiation and organizational development, he discovered the benefits of meditation 10 years ago as a way of being with the stress of working life and went on to study at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University. He is currently completing his Masters in Mindfulness Based Approaches, with a focus on the integrity of mindfulness teaching in the workplace. As an advocate of the role that mindfulness can play in coping with stress and building authentic leadership, he is passionate about developing the iBme programm in the UK.

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Kareem Ghandour

Kareem Ghandour

Kareem first encountered mindfulness at the age of 18 and has been inspired about sharing it with young people ever since. He has spent many years active in initiatives for mindfulness in education and in mindful communities for youth, as a facilitator in peer- led settings, and teaching on courses and retreats. These include the Wake Up movement for young adults and the charity Youth Mindfulness. He completed his mindfulness teacher training in 2018 and was trained in person by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. He is passionate about exploring the role of play, creativity and social justice in the mindfulness world

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Martina Boshell

Martina Boshell

Martina is mum to two teenagers. She has a Ph.D in Immunology and has worked as a scientist for 10 years working on breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
She trained as a Psychotherapist in Transactional Analysis and has worked with young people for the last 25 years. She has worked with Youth at Risk, a community based programme in London and in Northern Ireland.
Martina is a trained Relax Kids Coach and is also a Mindfulness in Schools Teacher having trained to teach both the paws be and .b programmes. Currently Martina is completing a Masters in Mindfulness at Bangor University while also working with families, children and young people.
She staffed the first iBme UK retreat for teenagers in the UK in 2017 after which she was inspired to run her own 1 day retreat for local teenagers introducing them to Mindfulness, Yoga & Tai Chi, and Mindfulness in the Woods. She also staffed the 2018 iBme retreat in UK.
Martina teaches Mindfulness to children, teenagers and adults, the youngest participant being 5 and the oldest being 85. She runs 8 Week MBSR courses and Mindfulness classes in her local community. She has a passion for improving mental health and well-being and giving people a chance to shine. She also works with Lego and runs resilience groups. She likes to think outside the box to empower people, is authentic, caring and just a bit crazy and likes blowing bubbles.

Teachers and Mentors

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Charisse Minerva Spencer

Charisse Minerva Spencer

Charisse Minerva Spencer brings to the Mindfulness arena a background in Arts, Science, and Youth Development. She earned a B.S. Degree in Medical Technology from the Medical College of Virginia/VCU. However, her love of the Arts led her to divert her path in order to live her passion for dance and choreography. Later Charisse returned to school to get a Masters in Performance Studies with a concentration in Dance Anthropology from Tisch School of the Arts/New York University. Her eclectic professional experience coupled with more than 30 years of practice in the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist organization led to her interest in Mindfulness. Charisse brings a scientific and artistic approach to the field investigating the existence of contemplative practices, its individual and cultural significance, as well as how these practices can be introduced in ways that are broad-based. She has worked with Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), is Mindfulness Coordinator at Friends School of Virginia Beach, and has done workshops in schools, festivals, corporate offices, detention & treatment centers.

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Lucy Chan

Lucy Chan

Lucy is a mindfulness and self-compassion teacher who leads retreats and courses worldwide. She is part of a nationally acclaimed team delivering mindfulness for burnout retreats, and has been trained directly by the internationally renowned pioneers of self-compassion Kristin Neff and Chris Germer. As a practising doctor in the NHS, she understands the importance of integrating mindfulness and self-compassion practices as a way to keep balance in everyday life

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Enrique Collazo

Enrique Collazo

Enrique Collazo has been practicing Meditation since 2005. In 2009, he started staffing teen retreats and has offered classes as a facilitator and meditation instructor for youth and adults in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. He’s currently teaching in the Bay Area with youth as mindfulness instructor with the Mind Body Awareness Project. Enrique shares the practice in a straightforward and practical manner and loves working with youth and supporting their transformation.

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Jessica Morey

Jessica Morey

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Joe Klein

Joe Klein

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Hakim Taylor

Hakim Taylor

Hakim is a qualified teacher and special educational needs coordinator. He lived and worked in The Gambia for eleven years, where he set up a school and charitable foundation for young people. He first discovered meditation in 1992 at a retreat with the London Buddhist centre and has since qualified to teach mindfulness through .b and the Youth Mindfulness programme. As a parent of five children (now adults) Hakim runs groups for parents and has been trained to deliver EHCAPs Mindful Emotion Coaching for parents and teenagers. He supported the 2018 iBme retreat. Hakim is interested in continuing to develop mindfulness within schools and the wider community, with a particular focus on Black and minority ethnic communities. He hosts a local community weekly radio show, engaging with music and poetry and showing how these can support mindful practice.

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Jem Shackleford

Jem Shackleford

Originally a secondary school teacher, Jem has been practising meditation for many years and teaching mindfulness for over seven. He has personal experience of the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in helping to alleviate stress and improve general wellbeing. After visiting the United States and seeing the impact iBme Retreats have on young people, he was convinced of the need to have iBme Retreats in the UK. A freelance mindfulness consultant, Jem delivers a range of mindfulness courses to the general public and more specifically in an educational setting. His consultancies include Oxford University's MYRIAD project as schools' liaison, helping them develop a mindfulness culture, and a Mindfulness in Schools Project Trainer Consultant training teachers. Jem has an MSc in Mindfulness-Based Approaches and is registered with the UK Mindfulness-Based Teachers' Network.

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River Wolton

River Wolton

River Wolton trained as a social worker, psychotherapist and carpenter. Inspired by the ‘writing practice’ method of Zen teacher Natalie Goldberg, and by a deepening interest in creativity, she began teaching writing in therapeutic, community and school settings in 1998. She is a former Derbyshire Poet Laureate, has run Young Writers’ groups over many years, editing and publishing creative writing by young people, as well as her own poetry, short stories and non-fiction. She has practised Insight Meditation since 2000, is a co-founder of Sheffield Insight Meditation, a Community Dharma Leader authorised by Gaia House Teacher Council, and a student on the Bodhi College Teacher Training Programme. A long-time LGBT, feminist and peace activist, she has volunteered in the refugee sector since 2003, most recently as an advocate and ally for LGBT asylum seekers.

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Ella Titman Tamari

Ella Titman Tamari

Ella Titman Tamari is passionate about the important role awareness plays in a life well lived. She has been teaching yoga since 2004 and completed an MSc in therapeutic counselling in 2007. Ella became interested in meditation through reading transcripts of Krishnamurti’s talks. She was introduced to mindfulness by a counselling colleague and started exploring Buddhist Insight Meditation being particularly drawn to studying with lay teachers who are inspired by the Thai forest tradition. She completed the Gaia House CDL programme and guides the mid-Wales sangha. Ella will teach awareness to anybody that is curious to find out about it. She has experience of working with teenagers, groups in special-interest community organisations, our 80+ elders and people living with cancer, including teaching a coping with cancer stress course for 8 years.

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Hannah Rapp

Hannah Rapp

Hannah is interested in the intersections of mindfulness, community-building, and young people's mental health. She is a Master's student at the University of Cambridge, where she is training to be a child and adolescent psychotherapist. Hannah has been practising mindfulness meditation since being inspired by an amazing teacher during her undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She currently volunteers with Wake Up London, a peer-led mindfulness sangha for young adults, in the tradition of peace activist and Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. She is also a co-founder of Family Sangha London, where she leads the children's programme.

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Gail Aylward

Gail Aylward

Gail Aylward starting meditating in 1994 with a 10 day silent retreat in Bodhgaya. She also attended her first yoga class just before, whilst pregnant with her first child, practised Yoga ever since and is now qualified with the British School of Yoga. Inspired by the teachings of A H Almass since 2005, she joined their 10 year teacher training, combining both psychology and spiritual tools for awakening. As well as mother to 2 adult children, Gail is co-founder and co-director of Moulin de Chaves, Meditation Centre, SW France, a qualified S.I.T. Mindfulness instructor and teaches mindfulness and yoga locally and on residential retreats. She started her own Mindful Mentoring company, to support and mentor people in their formal and daily life practice.

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Jilna Shah

Jilna Shah

Jilna first discovered meditation and mindfulness at aged 18 and both have been transformative tools in her own life and work for social change. She is a trained yoga teacher and offers community movement classes and workshops, including specifically for refugees, queer and trans black and people of colour, and for elders. Jilna is also a trained Craniosacral therapist and practices from Brighton and London. She is passionate about creating spaces for connection and collective care.

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Jinny Stuart

Jinny Stuart

Jinny is an integrative therapist, trained in humanistic, cognitive behavioural and psychodynamic approaches to counselling. She has membership with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and is currently working towards professional accreditation. Her love of mindfulness meditation and integrative therapy comes from a place of incessant curiosity and a deep desire for authenticity. Jinny believes in the restorative power of mindfulness meditation to bring us back to our congruent self and honour the innate human need to reflect, interpret and create. Jinny is beyond privileged, humbled and grateful to be part of iBme. Her first experience as part of iBme UK in August 2017 was life changing. She is so excited to share any of the tools that have provided her a very real sense of contentment and joy.

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Justine Rowan

Justine Rowan

Justine is a senior registered yoga teacher with over a decade of full-time teaching experience. She loves teaching both dynamic and gentle restorative classes for all ages in her local community. A long time meditation practitioner, she trained with Mindfulness in Schools UK to teach the .b Mindfulness for Teens programme, and has taken part as a mentor in IBME UK retreats since 2017. Justine is the mother of two young adults and is an advocate for young people in the UK having better access to practices like meditation and supportive community to build happy, healthy lives as global citizens.

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Martina Boshell

Martina Boshell

Martina is mum to two teenagers. She has a Ph.D in Immunology and has worked as a scientist for 10 years working on breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
She trained as a Psychotherapist in Transactional Analysis and has worked with young people for the last 25 years. She has worked with Youth at Risk, a community based programme in London and in Northern Ireland.
Martina is a trained Relax Kids Coach and is also a Mindfulness in Schools Teacher having trained to teach both the paws be and .b programmes. Currently Martina is completing a Masters in Mindfulness at Bangor University while also working with families, children and young people.
She staffed the first iBme UK retreat for teenagers in the UK in 2017 after which she was inspired to run her own 1 day retreat for local teenagers introducing them to Mindfulness, Yoga & Tai Chi, and Mindfulness in the Woods. She also staffed the 2018 iBme retreat in UK.
Martina teaches Mindfulness to children, teenagers and adults, the youngest participant being 5 and the oldest being 85. She runs 8 Week MBSR courses and Mindfulness classes in her local community. She has a passion for improving mental health and well-being and giving people a chance to shine. She also works with Lego and runs resilience groups. She likes to think outside the box to empower people, is authentic, caring and just a bit crazy and likes blowing bubbles.

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Amy Burke

Amy Burke

Amy Burke is an educational consultant who spent 15 years as a high school teacher and guidance counsellor in Canada and The Netherlands. She holds a Masters degree in Contemplative Education from Naropa University and in 2012 she co-founded MindWell whose aim is to support education communities in fostering wellbeing through mindfulness and social-emotional learning. She is a lead teacher trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools Project (UK) and is also a facilitator for the CARE programme (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) from the Garrison Institute. In addition, Amy supports the Community of Contemplative Education through Mind & Life Europe.
Currently living in Spain, Amy works internationally in schools and universities providing workshops and retreats for educators, students and parents with a focus on self-care and stress management. She can also throw a pretty tight spiral.

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Meg Oak

Meg Oak

Meg is a mum of 2 wonderful children who are her wisest and most challenging teachers and with whom she gets to continuously practice acceptance, patience and letting go! She is deeply inspired by their determination to pursue what they love and live in the present moment.
Alongside parenting, gardening, and working in a café, Meg is also a qualified mindfulness teacher and has worked in support, care and group facilitating roles for over 20 years. She founded Cultivating Mindfulness in 2017 as a way to make a positive difference to the lives of those she works with. Through creative, experiential, somatic and sensory learning, she mentors, teaches and guides children and young people to embody psychological resilience and wellbeing through crafting and nature-connecting activities.
With profound empathy and compassion for all beings, her life’s path is to inspire and empower those she works with to live and lead their lives with cohesion, ease, balance, integrity and confidence.

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Kareem Ghandour

Kareem Ghandour

Kareem first encountered mindfulness at the age of 18 and has been inspired about sharing it with young people ever since. He has spent many years active in initiatives for mindfulness in education and in mindful communities for youth, as a facilitator in peer- led settings, and teaching on courses and retreats. These include the Wake Up movement for young adults and the charity Youth Mindfulness. He completed his mindfulness teacher training in 2018 and was trained in person by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. He is passionate about exploring the role of play, creativity and social justice in the mindfulness world

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Gareth Fysh-Foskett

Gareth Fysh-Foskett

Gareth has worked with young people in Mid-West Wales for the past 5/6 years. His passion is connecting all aspects of community with the woodland world, and offering a deeper reconnection with wilderness through meditation. His work spans mental-health support, traditional green-wood carpentry, food-production, and social forestry for conservation and well-being. He has been rooted in movements for social change and ecological justice for much of his adult life, and for the past 5,6 years has been actively bringing contemplative practice to front line activism. He also completed 6 years of training as a monastic and now teaches as a community dharma leader in Wales.