BIPOC Teen Retreat
July 31st – August 5th, 2023
Big Bear Retreat Center in Big Bear, CA
→ Scholarships available and transportation assistance available – contact us.
Please review our COVID-19 Policy before applying.
Be loved + accepted for who you are
Mindfulness retreats provide young people with the rare opportunity to experience uninterrupted and genuine insight into their own life experience while connecting with their peers and mindfulness teachers in a welcoming and safe community. Come for the fun & friends. Stay for the calm & community.
Retreat details
Suggested Age
15 to 19 years
Cost
Sliding scale: 1% of annual household income, up to $2,500. Learn More.
Duration + Location
6 days, 5 nights at Big Bear Retreat Center in Big Bear, CA
Application Deadline
July 17, midnight
Dates
Starts: July 31, 2023
Drop-off: 4:00 pm
Ends: August 5, 2023
Pick-up: 1:00 pm
COVID-19 Policy
Who’s teaching?

Jose Shinzan Palma

Jose Shinzan Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He is a Zen Buddhist Priest. He has been practicing Zen since 1996. He did a residential training for 4 years at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto, Canada. He lived and trained in Upaya Zen Center for over 8 years. He is a Dharma Successor of Roshi Joan Halifax. He has taught Zazenkais and Sesshins at Upaya and has staffed Teen Retreats for Spirit Rock Center and iBme. He is a guest teacher in a Zen Buddhist Temple in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Shinzan left the residency of Upaya and he is the founder of Open Gate Zen Collective in San Diego. His vision is to work with youth and also create a Zen Hispanic community in the USA and Mexico.

B. Anderson

Bea Anderson (they/them/theirs) has been working as a meditator and transformative justice space holder for over six years. Bea calls up the traditions, legacies, and medicine of their southern Black American, Jamaican Maroon, and Choctaw ancestry as their healing arts praxis.
In 2008, Bea began training as a Buddhist dharma teacher, community organizer, and music therapist. Later, in 2019, they became a somatic healing therapy practitioner offering a private practice supporting individuals, families, and organizations internationally.
Bea Anderson was a founding member of Harriet’s Apothecary, a healing collective that envisions a world where Black, Indigenous, and People of color have the power, healing, and safety needed to live the lives we desire for ourselves and our communities. Bea currently acts as the founder and director of Song of The Spirit Institute, an international online learning environment supporting the sustainability, health, and well-being of Indigenous peoples, culture, and lands across the globe.

Jacqui Clay

Board President, Equity and Interdependence Committee Member Photo: Path at Insight Meditation Center

Tonya Jones

Tonya has spent the past 17 years working in the public sector driven by a strong commitment to social justice and equity, collective healing and building stronger, compassionate communities. Before joining iBme, Tonya was the Los Angeles Director at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), a national organization that provides transitional work and permanent job services to the formerly incarcerated. At CEO, she was responsible for overseeing and supporting a diverse staff of 20, along with program development and management, community partnerships, fiscal oversight and working collaboratively with national fund and business development teams. Tonya is a certified mindfulness facilitator (UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior). She is a mentor for UCLA’s Intensive Practice Program, teaching assistant for UCLA’s Mindfulness and Theory course, guest teacher at InsightLA’s POC sangha, and has lectured and facilitated at numerous educational institutions and organizations. Tonya holds a BA from Howard University, MFA from Columbia University, and serves on the UC Irvine Advisory Board for the Customer Experience Certificate Program.
What happens on retreat?
Meditation
Learn mindfulness practices such as breath & body awareness and mindful walking. Beginners (more than) welcome!
Workshops
Explore activities like painting, improv, journaling, and creative writing. Pick and choose what interests you, or lead a workshop yourself!
Dance Party
Dance without worrying about what other people think of you. We all have our unique ways of dancing (or not – you don’t have to dance either)!
Small Groups
Laugh in good company, take the opportunity to be vulnerable, and play games like “sweet seat” to connect more deeply with a small group of teens.
Wisdom Talks
Cuddle up with a blanket! Listen and learn how to tend to relationships, emotions, the challenges of our times, and more – it’s all about applying mindfulness to daily life.
Yoga
Move and release through guided daily yoga practice.
Hear from participants themselves
Being New on Retreat
Working with Stress
Fear of Being Yourself
Being Skeptical
Want more information?
Sign-up to get more details & reminders for this retreat.
Benefits of attending retreat
Feel More Connected
We’ll offer your teen tools to open their heart, deepen their sense of self-compassion, and connect more deeply with themselves – and with you!
Help Them Find Their People
Your teen will develop meaningful relationships in a community of peers and mindfulness teachers alike, where they’ll be accepted for who they are.
Take the Stress Off
You don’t have to provide for every aspect of your teen’s mental and emotional well-being. The mindulness practices your teen learns on retreat can offer additional support!
Peace of Mind
Worry less, knowing your teen will learn tools to compassionately and mindfully meet every moment of their life.
Forge Meaningful Relationships
You always have a friend at iBme! Connect with people in a safe, welcoming space where you don’t have to “fit in” to be loved, to make friends, to be yourself.
Find Your Center
Gain tools to deepen understanding of your inner life, and apply skills for navigating your thoughts and emotions.
Make Happiness Easier
Learn how to release tension, pain, and self-judgment through the practice of mindfulness.
Share Who You Are
Authentically share who you are with your peers in small groups, workshops, creative/art shows, during walks in the woods, and more.
