Louisville Teen Retreat
Registration now closed!
July 28th – August 1st, 2023
Cedar Ridge Camp in Louisville, KY
→ All scholarship requests will be met. Transportation assistance available – contact us.
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
Age
15 to 19 years
Cost
Sliding scale tuition, based on household income, up to $2,000. All scholarship requests will be met! Learn More.
Duration + Location
5 days, 4 nights
Cedar Ridge Camp
Louisville, KY
Application Deadline
July 14, Midnight
Dates
Starts: July 28, 2023
Drop-off: 4:00 pm
Ends: August 1, 2023
Pick-up: 1:00 pm
COVID-19 Policy
Who’s teaching?
Our world-class Teachers and Assistant Teachers share their diverse lived experiences and mindfulness practices with every teen on retreat. They honor humanity in its many forms, allowing each attendee to be authentic and show up exactly as they are. Please click on their profile photos to read more about each of our teachers.

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 Inward Bound in various capacities since 2015, and he’s a proud graduate of Inward Bound Mindfulness’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.”

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 Inward Bound, 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.

Erin Oke

Erin teaches meditation and is the Executive Director at the Consciousness Explorers Club, an innovative contemplative community based in Toronto. Her focus is on meditation for self-care and emotional well being and she has taught mindfulness skills in health care, education, corporate and non-profit settings. She has guided meditating teenagers on Inward Bound’s Toronto Teen Retreats and taught mindfulness to high schoolers for KidEvolve. She served as Youth Programs Coordinator for EHM from 2007-2018, running a centre providing free programs for low-income children and youth designed to foster confidence and creativity. She also studied and worked in theatre for many years, and loves to infuse her teaching with a sense of play and creative exploration. Erin is passionate about the confluence of meditation practice and social justice, and using mindfulness in the service of caring better for oneself and others.

Jamal Washington


Bridge Kiley

My name is Bridget Kiley (she/her). I commonly go by my nickname, Bridge. My work centers around mental health (therapy) services, body-centered healing, and writing.
Being human can be messy and hard! My work makes room for the full spectrum of human emotions and experiences and is informed by social justice, LGBTQ+ affirming, and Health at Every Size frameworks.
Learn more about Bridge at bridgekiley.com.
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
Registration is now closed.
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 Inward Bound! 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.
