Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (UK)

UK Based iBme Retreats

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UK Annual Teen Retreat 2023

Dates8 - 13 August, 2023
TimesArrival: 3/4pm 08 August | Departure: 1pm 13 August
VenueKench Hill Centre, Appledore Road, Tenterden, Kent, TN30 7DG
Ages15-19
Cost &
Accommodation		Cost (including accommodation) is on a sliding scale 1% of annual household income up to maximum of £800. There is a non-returnable deposit of 5% of your fee when you apply. This is deducted from the final cost. We never turn people away due to lack of funds.
Our multi-day residential retreats teach participants proven mindful awareness and compassion practices. Through a rich programme of guided mindfulness meditation, small group discussions, and mindful movement, participants learn how to settle a busy mind, reduce stress, investigate emotions and thoughts, cultivate compassion, and explore authentic communication with their peers. The daily schedule includes free time to connect with new friends and dynamic workshops that offer a range of experiences from creative and movement, arts, sports, nature awareness, creative writing, and more! Many hesitant young people walk away saying it was one of the best experiences of their lives.

Our retreat teachers and mentors are senior experts in their fields, drawing on decades of experience of mindfulness and working with youth from different backgrounds. Our young person to staff ratio ensures that everyone receives exceptional support and mentoring. The iBme faculty beleive in supporting everyone to find the unique approach that works for them and we devote ourselves to creating a truly unique and safe container for all to be welcomed, be real, and be accepted — and have some fun (yeah, we do that too). The skills and experiences that young people gain on retreat are unparalleled and go on to support them throughout the rest of their lives.

     What will I learn and experience?

  • New tools for navigating stress, anxiety and difficult emotions
  • Practices for developing  wellbeing and resilience
  • Workshops for exploring creativity and nature connection
  • Movement, yoga, music and dance
  • Meaningful and authentic community connection

Inclusivity

We are committed to accessibility and creating vibrant community enviornments. iBme welcomes and celebrates human diversity in all forms regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ability, personal appearance, or religious/spiritual affiliation.

Mindfulness creates a foundation for challenging racism, discrimination and conversations that support understanding to deepen our connection to one another.

We have developed our tuition structure to accommodate a wide range of family income.

Participant Testimonials

“The community feel struck me on the first day this stayed through the whole reteat and made me feel so welcome”

“The friendships I made are some of the purest I’ve ever had. Without technology and distractions we could all be free, I really appreciated this”

“I was surprised to learn that I could concentrate more deeply than I thought and learn to make space for uncomfortable feelings”

“I learned so much that I am still processing and articulating, no retreat I was ever on has ended with a party!”

“These practice will allow me slow down in life, put things into perspective and be happier with myself”

Teachers and Mentors

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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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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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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.

Retreat Application

Please fill out the confidential online application form. The application must be completed by the participant with signatures required from your parent or guardian for those under 18. Allow at least 30 minutes for completion of the application. If you are unable to complete the registration or payment online, please contact kareem@ibme.org.uk

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