Central California Teen Retreat
July 19th – 24th, 2022
Seven Circles Retreat Center in Badger, CA
→ Scholarships available and transportation assistance available – contact us.
Please review our COVID-19 Policy before applying.
Be loved + accepted for who you are
Welcome to a community where there’s no performance, no backlash + no negativity – you just get to be YOU. Come explore, express yourself, and learn tools to compassionately guide yourself through difficult situations in your life.
What will I learn?
Handle stress + anxiety
Learn how to calm yourself down and relax when you’re in high-stress situations. Gain tools that you can apply to school, sleep, relationships + life in general!
Find self-love
Stop trying to “fit in” and get comfortable in your own skin. This is a safe space where people love being themselves and want to support you!
Navigate difficult emotions
Learn how to unpack and unravel difficult emotions. Be kinder to yourself + understand how your mind works. Gain tools to get yourself unstuck when you feel overwhelmed.
Who’s teaching?
Our world-class teachers allow you to be fully flawed and authentic – just like them! We’re here to support you, every step of the way.

Eric Busse

Eric Michael B. is a teacher, facilitator, and researcher with a passion for transformation and justice. Informed by years of intensive meditation practice across a range of traditions, Eric specializes in teaching mindfulness and other contemplative practices to help individuals and communities navigate issues related to power, ethics, difference, and complexity with creativity and care. After studying performance and critical race theory as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse, Eric earned a Master of Bioethics degree (M.B.E.) focusing on trauma and health equity from Harvard Medical School, a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) in social ethics and contemplative studies from Harvard Divinity School, and an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in child protection from the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Eric currently studies the intersections of embodiment, mortality, and moral development as a doctoral student at Fielding Graduate University. He has collaborated with iBme in various capacities since 2015, and he’s a proud graduate of iBme’s Teacher Training Program. Eric is a lover of dance who believes in the power of art, community, and contemplative practice to change the world. His personal practice and professional collaborations strive to honor the wisdom of philosopher and community organizer Grace Lee Boggs: “To transform the world, we must transform ourselves.”

B. Anderson

B. Anderson (they/them/theirs) has been working as a meditator and transformative justice space holder for over six years. B. calls up the traditions, legacies, and medicine of their southern Black American, Jamaican Maroon, and Choctaw ancestry as their healing arts praxis.
In 2008, B. 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.
B. Anderson is a member of the board of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, 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. B. 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.

Nina Bryce

Nina [she/her] supports people in cultivating embodied presence as a way of coming home to themselves. She is a mindfulness facilitator rooted in multiple lineages of meditative practice, including both stillness and movement. Starting with her spiritual roots in her Jewish-Buddhist upbringing in a family of meditators, through her teen years as a student and eventually teacher of yoga, and into her training in Buddhist spiritual care and secular mindfulness education, Nina is grateful for a life path that has allowed her to explore contemplative practice in many forms. Nina holds a Master of Divinity, focused in the Buddhist Ministry Initiative, from Harvard Divinity School. Through her graduate studies as an M.Div, she is trained in facilitation of multifaith contemplative practice, interfaith chaplaincy, and leading mindfulness programs in both religious and secular settings, ranging from teen camp at a monastery to the cancer floor of a hospital. Her formal meditation practice and teaching has been shaped most by the Insight Meditation tradition, in which she was raised and continues to practice, and by the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Nina is also trained as an RYT-200 yoga teacher in Vinyasa and Kundalini yoga, and her approach to leading mindful movement is informed by both yoga and modern dance. Nina is currently training as a non-denominational Spiritual Director with Still Harbor. She completed the iBme Mindfulness Teacher Training in 2018, and has been involved with iBme teen and college mindfulness retreats since 2014. She especially loves LGBTQIA+ mindfulness community, both as a participant & as a facilitator. As a Mindfulness Director with Mindfulness Director Initiative, she currently leads mindfulness programs at Harvard College. Nina is energized by working with young adults, because she believes that these years are ripe with potential for inquiry into core questions of who we are and how we relate to the world. She is inspired by the way that youth long for, and create, spaces where they can reflect honestly on their experiences, learn to take care of themselves and others, and build authentic, loving communities that support deep well-being and freedom.
Suggested Age
15 to 19 years
Cost
Sliding scale.
Learn More.
Duration
6 days, 5 nights
Application Deadline
July 5, midnight
Dates
Starts: July 19, 2022
Drop-off: 4:00 pm
Ends: July 24, 2022
Pick-up: 1:00pm
COVID-19 Policy

What happens on retreat?
Meditation
Learn mindfulness practices such as breath + body awareness + mindful walking. Beginners welcome!
Workshops
Explore activities like painting, improv, and writing poetry. Pick + choose what interests you, or lead a workshop yourself!
Dance Party
Dance + get weird without worrying about what other people think of you at our online dance party.
Small Groups
Laugh, get 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 to talks about relationships, emotions + applying mindfulness to daily life.
Yoga
Move + release through guided daily yoga practice.

“iBme helped me grow to be the kind of person who I am, which is a person who’s calm and centered and has the skills to just breathe in moments where it feels like I’m not able to breathe and life is going by so fast.”
– Betye A.N., teen
Why go on retreat?
Feel More Connected
We’ll offer your teen tools to open their heart + connect more deeply with themselves – and with you!
Help Them Find Their Tribe
Let your teen develop meaningful relationships in a community where they’ll be accepted for who they are.
Take the stress off
You don’t have to provide for every aspect of your kid’s mental + emotional well-being. Let us do the work!
Peace of Mind
Worry less, knowing your teen has a support system.
Make 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.
Find Your Center
Gain tools to calm yourself down, even in high-stress situations.
Make Happiness Easier
Learn how to release tension, pain + self-judgment so you can feel light inside.
Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin
Love + accept yourself exactly as you are.
Want more information?
Sign-up to get more details & reminders for our next retreat.
Is iBme for me?
This retreat is for you if you…
- Want to connect deeply with other caring, playful people. Dorks welcome!
- Are interested in knowing yourself more deeply
- Are willing to try something new
This retreat is not for you if you…
- Your parents are forcing you to come
- You’re struggling with serious mental health issues
- You’re doing this instead of going to therapy

“I used to struggle a lot with who I was and trying to fit in. iBme helped me become a lot more accepting not only of myself, but of others. Everybody’s so accepting and caring – really open and willing to share. You always have a friend at iBme.”
– Nikita M., Teen Retreat Alumni