words from teens
Since our teen retreats commenced in 2010, many young people have shared what their retreat meant to them. Read what they have to share.
explore upcoming retreatsThis experience forever changed my life. It restored my faith in humanity and gave me a sense of peace with myself and others that I have never had before.
— Jessamine
I opened up and was happy with myself and I haven’t seen myself like that since I was a little kid.
— Kevin
It amazed me how loving everyone was, no matter your background, skin color, sex, or anything else.
— teen
I am surprised by the person I was and the person that I became on such a short retreat.
— Sean
The most important thing I learned was that when it feels like I can’t trust anything in my life, I can always trust my body. That feels really reassuring.
— teen
I learned that our thoughts and our personalities are fluid and changeable. There’s a gap between stimulus and action, and that is what gives us choice.
— Jeremaya
The last night, four other people and I were all having a hard time, and we went and sat in a circle under the stars and shared our stories and listened and supported each other. It was incredibly relieving and meaningful.
— teen
I understand now that every single person has unique struggles of their own and spreading pure love and kindness can leave such a huge impact on others lives.
— Opal
I’m taking home the ability to be grounded even in a time when everything seems unstable or scary.
— teen
The most important thing I learned is that we all have our own strengths and it’s important to hold space for everyone to share their story; so really, how to take compassion and use it in the real world.
— teen
I find a renewed and transformed gratitude for my time on Inward Bound retreats. Every day at work, as I encourage teens to sit with uncomfortable emotions, to ground themselves in their bodies, and to hold whatever suffering is expressed, I think, Inward Bound was the best education I’ve ever gotten.
— teen retreat alum
I realized that I have control of the decisions I make and I can ALWAYS make time to meditate.
— Nya
