Northern California Teen Retreat
Registration now closed!
June 21st – 26th, 2023
Black Mountain Retreat Center in Cazadero, CA
→ Scholarships and 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 $2,500. Learn More.
Duration + Location
6 days, 5 nights at Black Mountain Retreat Center in Cazadero, CA
Application Deadline
June 7, midnight
Dates
Starts: June 21, 2023
Drop-off: 4:00 pm
Ends: June 26, 2023
Pick-up: 1:00 pm
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.

Em Morrison

Em loves nothing more than creating safe, fun, and healthy spaces for teens and adults to flourish. She’s taught mindfulness at after school programs, summer camps, and on young adult and teen retreats. She began practicing meditation in 2011 because she was having the best day of her life (just kidding). She is honored to have the chance to share the tools that have brought her so much joy, contentment, and peace in her life.

Zac Ispa-Landa

Zac Ispa-Landa (he/him) is a teacher, father, beekeeper and student of the Dharma. Since a young age, he has been deeply curious about the nature of mind, magic, dreams, and the mystery of consciousness. He’s practiced and studied meditation for 20 years – primarily Vipassana (insight) meditation and, more recently, Vajrayana Buddhism. His practice is supported by a broad and eclectic mix of teachings and methods. For the last five years, his primary teacher has been Lama Rod Owens.
At Inward Bound, he is a lead teacher on teen retreats and core faculty in the Teacher Training Program. He’s also a Senior Lecturer in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont and works with people throughout the country as a mindfulness teacher and Dharma facilitator.
He believes we are living in unprecedented times that call for new ways of knowing and being and is devoted to awareness practice as a path towards individual and collective liberation. His practice is inspired by interdependence, diversity, mystery, and the possibility of awakening.
Zac lives in Winooski, Vermont with his partner, son, and tens of thousands of honeybees.

Lawrence Schuessler

Bio coming soon!
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.
