Registration closed: Northeast New Year’s Teen Retreat
December 28th, 2022 – January 1st, 2023
Prindle Pond Retreat Center in Charlton, MA
Please review our COVID-19 Policy before applying.
Ring in 2023 with meditation, merriment, and meaningful conversations!
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 $2,000. Learn More.
Duration + Location
5 days, 4 nights at Prindle Pond Retreat Center, Charlton, MA
Application Deadline
December 14, midnight
Dates
Starts: December 28, 2022
Ends: January 1, 2023
COVID-19 Policy
Who’s teaching?
Our world-class 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.

Ofosu Jones-Quartey
Teacher

Teacher
Ofosu Jones-Quartey is a meditation teacher and musician from the Washington DC area. He has been teaching mindfulness and meditation to young people and adults since 2004. He is currently the male voice on the Balance meditation app and he teaches meditation and mindfulness classes and retreats around the country when travel is possible and virtually when it is not. Ofosu has taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight and more.Ofosu is also an accomplished hip hop artist and author. He recently released an album entitled “In This Moment” and has performed at the Kennedy Center in support of the project. His live events are considered a hip-hop and meditation experience and he is a member of the DC Chapter of the Recording Academy. Ofosu’s children’s book “You Are Enough” is currently available on Amazon, a follow up children’s book will be released in Fall of 2022.Ofosu’s philosophy is that everyone is deserving of their own love and compassion and that inner work is the way in which we begin to change the world for the better. All of the work he does in the world is meant to support this idea. Ofosu currently lives in Rockville, Maryland with his wife and their four children.

Erin Oke Teacher

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.

Zac Ispa-Landa Coordinating Teacher

Zac Ispa-Landa has practiced and studied insight meditation, mindfulness, and other awareness practices for over 20 years. He’s deeply inspired by the role contemplative practices can play in supporting our individual and collective journey toward flourishing and sustainability. He became devoted to awareness practices in his early 20s and has spent thousands of hours in meditation and 100+ days on silent retreat.
At Inward Bound, he has the joy of teaching Teen Retreats, Harvard Retreats, and the Mindfulness Teacher Training Program. He’s also a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at University of Vermont, where he designs and teaches courses on environmental justice, beekeeping, environmental assessment, sustainability, and mindfulness. His work focuses on mentoring students in developing their capacity to create conditions for positive change in complex socio-ecological systems. He has many years of experience creating transformative education environments with a focus on contemplative practices, nature connection, and relationship. As an ecologist, beekeeper, meditator, and father, Zac has deep respect for interdependence, diversity, complexity, self-organization, gratitude, and the transformative power of awareness. He aspires towards embodied liberation, wisdom, and compassion in all domains of his life.
Zac lives in Winooski, Vermont with his partner, son, cat, and tens of thousands of honey bees.

Tanzanite Msola Assistant Teacher

Tanzanite has a long-term interest and passion in supporting young people academically, emotionally, and helping them achieve a creative outlet. Tanzanite has spent the past 6 years in Massachusetts working with young people from all different cultural and economic background, with all levels of ability and disability. Now, as a recent transplant to NYC, Tanzanite currently assists with the Awake Youth Project at the Brooklyn Zen Center. Tanzanite was introduced to meditation at a young age by attending the Insight Meditation Society’s (IMS) Family and Teen Retreats. As Tanzanite leaned into ‘adulthood’ she returned as a staff volunteer for IMS Teen Retreats and for Inward Bound Mindfulness Teen Retreats. Tanzanite has found it truly rewarding and a privilege to witness the positive effects of hands-on projects, building a personal connection, and understanding that each moment is a learning experience through mindfulness. Tanzanite is excited to continue chillin and growing with the Inward Bound family.
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!
Sign up for updates on future retreats.
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.
