Level I

Grof Breathwork Facilitator Training

 

Our Level I Program focuses on the theory and practical techniques supporting facilitation of Grof Breathwork. Grounding in facilitation of Grof Breathwork provides essential understandings and skills to support facilitation of experiences in all holotropic states of consciousness, including psychedelic experiences, as well as working with people in spiritual emergency or the dying process.

 While not focusing on psychedelics facilitation, our Breathwork Facilitator Program situates Grof Breathwork within the context of the psychedelics renaissance and Stan Grof's long history of working with psychedelics. Grof Breathwork facilitators will learn to offer Grof Breathwork as:

• preparation and experiential training for those interested in psychedelics work;
• an integration tool for those experiencing the challenges and potentials of psychedelics work; and/or
• an alternative to working with psychedelics, equally powerful for many people.

Our own internal work is the most important work we can do on the path of holotropic facilitation. Our program encourages and provides structure for self-investigation and self-reflection. Mentoring and support for individual and community transformation are integral parts of our programs. In Level I. participants will work with one of the members of the core facilitation team in mentoring groups of six participants, with ongoing feedback and support by a learning group. Level II will continue mentoring with an apprenticeship focus. Throughout our programs, attention will be given to community building and group process. Our program leaders and facilitators hold the intention to offer as much transparency and openness to feedback from participants as possible.  

In addition to training in holotropic theory and practical techniques, our program assists in the development of Grof Breathwork workshops around the United States, often in partnership with our Level I trainees as well as more experienced Grof Breathwork practitioners. From as early as acceptance into the Level I program, participants are encouraged to envision and assist with the organization of Grof Breathwork workshops in their home areas. 

These workshops not only provide opportunities for the public to experience Grof Breathwork, but also offer places for our participants to begin facilitation work in team settings in various places around the USA.

Our Application Process

Training in the facilitation of Grof Breathwork involves a serious commitment of time, money, heart, and openness to transformation. The hallmark of facilitation in the Grof lineage involves bringing  a somatic-based presence, grounded in ethics, compassion and mature boundaries, to our work with people who are courageously embarking on holotropic journeys. Our application helps us get to know your interest in this work, prior relevant experience, and intentions for future work. We also ask you to indicate your completion of our prerequisites or plan for completion.

After your application, we will arrange a Zoom interview with you and a senior staff member (unless we know you well from prior participation in our workshops). We ask for a $100 application fee to cover our time in this process. If you enroll in the program, this fee is applied to your deposit for your first unit. If it appears that joining the program is not appropriate, we will refund your application fee. If you decide to withdraw your application, we generally do not refund the application fee. Click here for the application. 

Structure of Level I

Level I consists of four units, with each unit comprised of one Online Module and one Experiential (or In-Person) Module. All the Experiential modules in 2024-2025 will take place in Ojai, Californiia, using the Sane Living Facility, with participants making arrangements for their own meals and lodging. 

The cost to participants for each unit using the Sane Living Facility is $2,500. We request a $500 deposit at the time of registration for a unit. With the participant's first unit, the $100 application fee is applied to the deposit at registration, meaning a deposit of $400 for the first unit. The balance of of $2,000 for a unit is due approximately one month prior to beginning of the Online Module associated with the unit. Early bird payment is available in the amount of $1,800. We offer two options for payment plans for the $2,000 balance, one involving monthly payments of $500 and a second offered through the Afterpay Application made available through our Kajabi website. 

Level I is self-paced in that participants may enroll in successive units on their own timing. Because we have learned that many participants plan to move steadily through the four units of Level I, we offer "starts" of Unit I from time to time with admission of up to 30 people. Those who continue through the remaining three units following a "start" will enjoy the benefits of working with a "core group" through Level I.

As some participants delay their continuation, we will fill in units with new applicants willing to join existing "core groups" with a tailored plan to bring them up to speed on the learning to date in that core group. In some instances, core groups may merge depending on enrollment. 

Please visit our Training Calendar for information about the starts of core groups for Unit 1 and the dates for the offering of Units 2, 3, and 4. 

Online Modules

The Online Modules of Level I are:

• Holotropic Paradigm
• Holotropic Facilitation
• The Psychedelic Renaissance
• Overview of Special Considerations and Contraindications

We offer an optional Online Module in Group Process at no additional cost to all participants in any unit. 

Each four-week Online Module consists of:

• readings
• video recordings of lectures from Stan Grof
• weekly discussion items in the online module space
• quizzes to encourage integration of the material
• weekling meetings on Zoom (typically on Sundays from 10am to noon Pacific Time)
• a short reflection paper at the end of the unit. 

We anticipate that participants will spend from 10 to 12 hours per module week in Online Module participation. We post the Syllabus for the unit, and make the videos available, approximately one month prior to the start date of the module. This allows participants to spread out the time spent on the module over two months rather than one month. 

Video recordings of Stan's lectures will be drawn from the series of lectures that Stan recorded with the Science and Nonduality and Shift Network programs. We are grateful for the use of these lectures through arrangements made by Stan and Brigitte Grof. 

Stan and Brigitte plan to join us from time to time in our Online Modules and through video conferencing during experiential modules. 

Experiential Modules

The Experiential (or In-Person) Modules of Level I are not directly tied to the content of the Online Modules but both formats follow a progression of learning in theoretical and experiential content.

Experiential Modules run for a full seven days, from 6pm on Sunday through noon on the following Sunday. The week is divided into two parts. Sunday through Thursday evenings involves the closed training group, including two breathwork sessions. Each participant will "breathe" and "sit" once. Most of the day on Friday will offer free time for integration and rest, as well as hold the possibility for meetings with mentor groups and individual conversations with the facilitation team and other participants. 

Friday evening at 6pm begins the public workshop portion of the training week. We will be joined by up to 20 members of the public who will have registered for a weekend breathwork workshop consisting of two breathwork experiences (with each participant breathing and sitting once). Some members of the training group will have the opportunity to breathe and/or sit in the public workshop. Others will assist facilitation on the floor. 

We learned the format of holding a public breathwork workshop as part of facilitator training from our colleagues Lenny and Elizabeth Gibson, who carry forward the Grof training lineage in their Dreamshadow program centered in New England. Among the advantages are inviting new energy into the training experince and gradually orienting trainees towards presenting our work to those not yet familiar with the Grof paradigm or Grof Breathwork. As trainees progress through the four units of Level I, all trainees will have the opportunity to begin working on the floor as part of the facilitation team during the public workshops. 

The Experiential Modules focus on development of facilitator presence, bodywork fundamentals, ethical considerations, integration practices, and community. Participants will gain familiarity with best practices for set and setting for nonordinary state work, responding to common challenges, integration practices, organizing workshops, typical ethical challenges, and working in community. The emphasis during Experiential Modules is on experience, reflection about experience, and gradual development of skills and confidence in facilitation, always in the context of personal and group reflection. 

Mentor Program

Participants in each unit will be invited into a mentoring group of approximately six participants who will meet together with one of our facilitation team members for small group discussion. Each unit will offer two group meetings with the mentor group and the possibility for individual conversations with mentors. Mentors are drawn from the core staff for the Experiential Modules in the series in which the participant has enrolled. 

Completion of Level I

Completion of Level 1 of our Grof Breathwork Facilitator Program will be celebrated by an online gathering approximately two weeks after a participant has completed all four units of Level I.

Completion of Level I prepares participants for advancement into Level II of the Grof Breathwork Facilitation Program and/or application to our Grof Psychedelics Facilitation Program, anticipated to launch in 2025.

Click here for details about our Level II program and here for preliminary description of the Psychedelics Facilitation Program.  

(Background photo by AussieActive on Unsplash,)  

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