Tending to Our Inner World, Cultivating Genuine Connection
Spend a weekend focused on deepening your own practice, in your own space, with this immersive online retreat.
This retreat will flow between periods of silence and periods of sharing and connection. Each day will be an opportunity for deep practice, mindful movement, nature connection, and small group meetings.
Fall Weekend Retreat For Koru Instructors
A weekend immersion into mindfulness, self-love, and deep human connection.
What will I experience on retreat?
• Slow down and spend time dedicated to practice
• Connect with with fellow Koru instructors
• Experience skillful, trauma-informed teaching
• Learn tools and skills to bring back to your own communities
Who can attend?
Open to all Koru Instructors
Application Deadline
November 2nd 2022, 5:00pm EST
Cost
$250
Duration
3 days, 2 nights online

Restorative. Affirming. Comforting. Allowed me to experience a quiet mind. Helped me to connect with others in a unique, more spiritual, holistic way. Allowed me to be introspective without all the thinking.
– iBme young adult
What’s a typical day like?
Each day runs from around 9:30am to 10:00pm, online via Zoom with portions both on and off screen.
The day flows between guided meditation practices, workshops, mindful movement + yoga, small group conversations, wisdom talks + free time.
Explore topics like . . .
- Seated meditation
- Yoga + movement practices
- Mindful walking
- How to navigate difficult emotions
- Mindful communication
- Mindful eating
- Use of technology + social media
- Practices for kindness, compassion + self-awareness
- Applying mindfulness to daily life
Parts of the day are silent; other parts of the day are interactive where talking is allowed.
You’ll have the chance to turn your video camera off and just listen with headphones for parts of the retreat. Other times, you’ll have the video on so you can see and connect with your peers.
I made a lot of close bonds with people, even though I met them online, and I’ve yet to meet them in person.
– iBme online retreat participant
View Detailed 11/11-11/13 Retreat Schedule
Learn how to . . .
- Be less stressed
- Find spaciousness and become less reactive
- Be present with people you love
- Listen to yourself
- Trust your intuition and feel confident in your path
- Cope with uncertainty
- Recenter yourself when the going gets rocky
I now know that I have this built-in ability to cope whenever I need to, of just sitting down and closing my eyes and taking a few breaths. And giving myself permission to do that.
– Sarah W.
You’re not alone. We’ve got you.
Be part of an awesome online community where . . .
- You can be real about what you’re going through.
- It’s ok to be uncomfortable and express yourself
- You can be deeply heard and seen by others
- You’re held in love.
iBme allows me to explore and express myself in a community where I feel accepted for who I am.
– iBme teen
Is this retreat for me?
iBme is for you if you…
- Are open-minded + willing to try something new
- Wanna connect deeply with other self-aware people
- Are curious to try mindfulness + meditation practice, or want to deepen your existing practice
It’s NOT for you if you…
- You don’t wanna be here! This is 100% voluntary.
- You’re struggling with serious mental health issues
- You’re doing this instead of going to therapy (Hint: it’s not a replacement).
How can I prepare?
Create a quiet, designated practice space for yourself where you can be uninterrupted during the retreat.
Turn off distractions, close other tabs on your computer, and do your best to just focus on the retreat experience while you’re with us.
Let your roommates, family and friends know that you’ll be on retreat and won’t be available! This retreat doesn’t require complete isolation, but we encourage you to separate yourself as much as possible from technology and other distractions.
Meet the Retreat Staff
Our team of faculty + mentors are a community of trained professionals, dedicated to empowering teens and young adults in a supportive environment.
iBme teachers and mentors are professionals in the areas of mindfulness, health, and education and bring years of personal mindfulness practice to their roles, modeling authenticity, compassion, and respect. Find out more about the teachers and mentors on this retreat below.
Retreat Staff

Anthony Maes

Anthony “T” Maes found mindfulness during college when struggling with addiction, and it saved his life. He has practiced mindfulness meditation since 2003 including many weeklong and monthlong silent retreats. He’s been teaching teens in mindfulness retreats and weekly class formats since 2009 for various organizations including Spirit Rock and IBME. On retreat he enjoys teaching emotional intelligence, diversity and inclusion, relational mindfulness, multi-racial liberation, and acrobalance. He is a teacher and coordinator of the weekly Teen Sangha meditation group at East Bay Meditation Center. He has worked as a wilderness mentor for middle-school boys with Stepping Stones Project and Back To Earth. He is passionate about supporting college-aged young adults, and has founded a leadership program for “aged out” iBme alumni. “T” graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004, completed the yearlong Commit2Dharma program at East Bay Meditation Center in 2011, and is currently part of the Community Dharma Leaders training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Devon Cresci

Devon Cresci has been practicing mindfulness since 1997. She graduated with her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Since that time she has worked with teens in many different capacities. Currently she works part time for Mindful Schools as a guiding teacher for their yearlong teacher training program and full time as a Social Worker in a public high school in San Francisco. There, she teaches mindfulness to both students and staff. Devon identifies as a queer woman and is heartfelt about the power of mindfulness practice to increase peace and freedom for all.
Tuition & Payment Information
Tuition is $250 for this 2-night, 3 day online retreat
iBme retreats feature a low ratio of adult staff per participant, providing high-quality care, expertise, instruction, and mentoring (this is our secret sauce!)
Deposit & Balance & Refunds
Retreat payment of $250 is required to reserve a space on a retreat and includes a $35 nonrefundable application fee. If you sign up and are unable to attend, please cancel more than 7 days before retreat. A full refund will be offered, less a $35 application fee. For cancellations made within 7 days of retreat start, we are not able to offer a refund.
Diversity
iBme welcomes and celebrates human diversity in all forms regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ability, personal appearance, or religious/spiritual affiliation.
Accessibility
iBme is committed to accessibility. This retreat welcomes Koru Instructors from all racial/ethnic groups, sex and gender identities, abilities, and religions. Mindfulness creates a foundation for conversations that support understanding and deepen our connection to one another.
What other people are saying about iBme retreats. . .
I greatly appreciate this retreat: the simplicity, peacefulness, non-prescriptiveness, and kindness of the warm atmosphere created openness to questions.
– iBme young adult
I learned love, connection, softness. How to look deep inside me, and find the authentic self.
– Zijun
There was such an overwhelming sense of community on this retreat. I have been on one other retreat in which my practice may have been more intensive; however this time around, the support from the instructors and my fellow meditators was absolutely palpable, making the experience undeniably joyful.
– Camden
I learned to not lose the present by focusing on the future.
– Christine
There was a deep sense of warmth and community.
– Owen H.