I am reaching the end of Breathwork Facilitator training with Breathing Space. Breathing Space is an amazing online Breathwork School founded by Benedict Beaumont and Jennifer Nolan. This has been nearly a year long undertaking, with over 400 hours of study, assignments, and practical skills assessment. You can draw some similarities to Yoga Instructors who also undergo 200 - 500 hours of training to be certified.
As I reflect on all of the training, which consists of online content, Zoom meetings every other week for two hours, practical assessment, book reports, blogs, daily breathwork, weekly breathwork, and a graduation project – what was the most valuable were the group sessions. Of course, the online content was very important to learn, and was the basis for how to do breathwork, what it is and how to run a great session.
There is nothing replicable or repeatable about a particular group of people – a cohort – coming together, to share their experiences and knowledge with each other. The collective wisdom held between us was immense.
At first, as with most classes or circles, we were hesitant about speaking or sharing our perspectives or stories. But as the months went on, I got to know these unique breath workers more and more, and each person had something so wonderful and special to bring to the facilitation of breathwork.
This training was unlike any other training I have experienced – either online or in person. I believe I can pinpoint the reason why.
It was the complete and well-defined container; the sacredness of the space that was created every time we started a session. There was a reverence that matched the level of an energy healing session or some other spiritual service.
Not trying to bash my other spiritual teachers; they also start trainings with meditations or grounding of some sort, but this felt very different. Maybe it was the level of commitment of the group or the small class size?
It wasn’t perfect. Not everyone was present for every single session. Certainly, I had to miss class a few times for vacation or other conflicts. It mattered… but it also didn’t – the number of people at the meetings had little to no effect on the sacred circle or the learning or community.
We truly became teachers for each other, which is the intention of facilitator training. I learned so much more than the technical aspects of breathwork, however. The peers in my group were from across the country, and across the globe. They had come with different life experiences and training, that I was so humbled to witness. Everyone had their own unique style and presence, and that was encouraged.
That was the other thing I loved about this training – we weren’t programmed to be carbon copies of our teacher. From the start, we were fully guided to teach breathwork using our own voice, in our own way. It really came through as confidence in our own abilities and holding space for each other.
I can see how my journey from last April to now has dramatically shifted. I went from feeling so nervous every time I would be called upon to lead a short breathwork to now leading hours long group sessions confidently with ease, like the embodied healer I am.
I researched five different online breathwork schools, even with the “Discovery Calls” and ultimately selected Breathing Space. Breathing Space had the most comprehensive curriculum, a very structured trauma-informed training, and access to a community of breathwork teachers and students.
At the heart of Breathing Space, on the other end of the discovery call, is Ben. Ben is one of the founders of Breathing Space. The values of the school, or foundational principles, are not there as marketing fluff. Ben embodies them: Connection, Accessibility, Empowerment, Exploration. Ben is one of those teachers that never makes you feel dumb or talks down to you. From the first day, he treated every single student as a peer. He is the very best kind of instructor: giving you the tools so you can create your own journey. I feel so lucky to have had him guiding my training this whole year.
I know this is sounding like an infomercial. I have been putting off writing this last blog because I know this is my last blog for my facilitator training requirement. It’s because I don’t want this to end. Even though it has been time-consuming, hard work, and a lot of intense breathwork sometimes, the community created is one I am proud to be a part of.
Is this it? Is this the end? Nope. I am now a Certified Facilitator in the Breathing Space community, and the best part is that it does not end with the training. Thanks Ben.