Inward Bound Mindfulness

Young people deserve our best attention and the greatest support we can offer, especially when it comes to teaching them the tools and resources they need to nurture their minds, spirit, and bodies.

We stand on the foundation of a 35-year lineage of teen mindfulness which began with retreats offered in Barre, Massachusetts in 1989. Since our humble beginnings, we have grown to be the national leader in immersive mindfulness education with our beloved teen retreats having been offered to 4,000+ alumni.

With a belief that justice and equity are at the center of youth wellbeing, our offerings also include specific programs for affinity groups such as BIPOC and LGBTQIA+. Programs aimed at more systemic impact include our internationally accredited Teacher Training program and custom programming in partnership with schools and youth-serving organizations across the country. Our programs seek to complement and amplify the impacts of in-school programs and to expand the value and capacity that youth-serving professionals have for sharing in-depth mindfulness experiences with youth.

At their core, the diverse community of Inward Bound teens and adult leaders seek to create healthier inner and outer worlds. They come from the edges of toxic dominant cultures with the belief that another way of living is not only possible, but a fundamental right. Our extensive network of 120+ staff, teachers, health coordinators, and mentors are experts in the fields of youth development, mental health, and education, and have lived experiences that deeply reflect the teens they serve. They exemplify authenticity, compassion, and respect, upholding a strong code of ethics. In fact, some of our leaders today were participants in the first teen retreats offered in 1989.

Perhaps our most distinctive capacity for success is our Collaborative Leadership (CL) System which emphasizes shared decision-making and robust feedback, and creates more pathways for community members, especially youth, parents, and partners, to have increased input and investment. This organizational structure, which has no Executive Director, is the result of our equity commitments and examinations of how power is distributed within our organization. It was researched and developed for three years with the consult of international leaders in the field before being fully launched in January 2020. At the core of the CL System are the full-time staff and five standing committees that include a 9-member Youth Advisory Committee and 6-member Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee. Need-based stipends are available to support committee member participation.