We have prepared these FAQs that will help you navigate our new retreat offerings. For guidelines, please refer to this link.
Insight Timer step offers retreat hosts a powerful way to promote their in-person experiences to a highly engaged global audience. Your retreat is automatically featured across key touchpoints—including your Teacher Profile, the Teachers Tab, post-meditation screens, notifications to your followers, and our dedicated Retreats website—helping you reach both your existing community and new students. Insight Timer also collects a secure 10% non-refundable booking deposit, while you receive the remaining 90% directly from participants. Listing is free, co-hosting is supported, and our team is here to help every step of the way. It’s a trusted, high-visibility platform to help you fill and promote your retreat.
1. What are the fees and costs associated with publishing Retreats on Insight Timer?
When a participant books a retreat, Insight Timer charges a non-refundable deposit that's 10% of the total cost. This deposit acts as our booking fee and is therefore kept by Insight Timer. You will collect the remaining 90% of the payment directly from the participant on the due date you have specified for the balance payment to be due.
Listing retreats on Insight Timer is free.
2. How do I list a Retreat?
You can add your retreat listings by filling out the form on the Teacher Dashboard. Simply:
- Log in to your Teacher Dashboard.
- Scroll down and click 'Retreats' on the left menu.
- Fill out the form and submit your retreat listing for review.
If you're co-hosting the retreat with another Insight Timer teacher, you can add them in the 'Co-Host' section in Step 3 (Info). The retreat will display on both co-host profiles on the app and on the website, expanding its reach, but all bookings will be handled through the teacher account that originally created the listing. Please note that this section is optional.
Please refer to this step-by-step guide on how to fill out the retreat form.
3. What happens after someone makes a booking?
We will send you an email with the participant's details so you can contact them within 2 business days to finish their registration and organize the balance payment.
4. How will Insight Timer promote my retreats?
Your retreat will be promoted across several key areas on Insight Timer:
Teachers Tab: Retreats are featured prominently in the “Teachers” tab on the Insight Timer app.
In-App Notifications: When you publish your retreat, we also send an in-app notification to all your followers, letting them know you have an upcoming in-person experience.
Post-Meditation Screens: After users finish a meditation or attend one of your Live Events, your retreat will be displayed on the post-meditation screen, reaching people already engaged with your content.
Retreats Website: Your retreat will appear on our dedicated Retreats Website, giving it visibility to a wider audience actively exploring retreat options.
Your Teacher Profile: It will also be visible on your teacher profile within the app, making it easy for your followers to discover and book.
5. How can I promote my retreat to the Insight Timer community?
Here are some suggestions that can help you promote your retreat:
- Host Live Events: Utilize live events to showcase your expertise, build an engaged audience, and connect with potential attendees.
- Leverage your Content: Regularly produce and share high-quality, engaging, and relevant content that resonates with your audience.
- Engage with the Community: reply to reviews and interact with users to build meaningful connections with your audience.
- External promotion: share your retreat link through external channels and invite people to join (emails, social media, etc).
6. Where do I add information that has not been specifically requested in the retreats upload form?
These can be added to the FAQs for your retreat (found in Step 12 on the upload form).
7. What is the process for editing retreats?
If you need to make changes to your retreat, please contact us at retreats@insighttimer.com. Our team will review your request and either revert the listing to draft mode so you can make the updates yourself, or we can make the edits on your behalf.
8. Why are retreats required to have a minimum price of $200 for multi-day retreats and $100 for one-day retreats, and could this requirement change in the future?
Because the retreat platform is brand-new, each listing carries fixed start-up costs such as secure payments, support, marketing, and so on, that we must cover. As booking and listings grow and those costs drop, we plan to lower (or remove) the minimum price requirement so teachers can offer a wider range of prices.
To meet the current threshold, consider adding extra value, e.g., include a 1:1 coaching call, offer meals or materials, extend the retreat by a day, and so on, so the package feels worth the higher price while still serving your audience.
9. When are balance payments due?
You can set a window of 0 to 150 days before the retreat for participants to pay the remaining balance. For example, with 120 days, cancellations 120 days or more before the start date receive a full refund of the remaining balance, while cancellations within 120 days are non-refundable unless due to unforeseen circumstances. You will also be able to add your cancellation policies and payment plan options. You can refer to this article for more information.
10. I need to collect a deposit from each participant to be able to organize my retreat.
The retreat listing form does not include a deposit option by default. However, we understand how important deposits are when planning a retreat. Our team can manually enable this feature for you upon request. Please email us at retreats@insighttimer.com and we’ll add the deposit functionality to your listing.
11. What happens if a participant wants to cancel?
Participants will reach out to you directly to request a cancellation; you will then have to decide how the request fits in with your cancellation policy. Teachers must do their best to accommodate requests from guests where reasonable.
We invite you to watch David Gandelman's experience on promoting his retreat on Insight Timer. His story is an inspiring example that we hope encourages you to share your transformative retreats with our global community.
If you have any questions or concerns about Insight Timer Retreats, please reach out to us at retreats@insighttimer.com.