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Somatic Breathwork Facilitator Training
Where Breathwork Integrates Somatic Healing, Bodywork, Science & Trauma-Informed Practice
A professional-level certification for those seeking depth, integrity and embodied, safe facilitation. Learn to guide others through functional and somatic breathwork with confidence, presence and trauma-informed care.
Somatic Breathwork is a powerful tool for transformation when held in a safe, supportive and ethically informed container. At Breathing Tree, we train practitioners to integrate functional and somatic breathwork, bodywork, science, somatic therapeutic skills, nervous system regulation, coaching and trauma processing techniques so that every session you facilitate is grounded, empowering and profoundly effective.
NOW BOOKING FOR 2026
Embark on a comprehensive and deeply embodied 10 month in-person and on-line somatic breathwork facilitation training. This programme emphasises safety, clinical competence and genuine personal integration offering far more than technique alone.
To apply for the 2026 Somatic Breathwork Training Cohort, please read the full details below.
WHAT THIS TRAINING OFFERS
A 400+ hour professional training pathway both online and in-person including:
400+ structured training hours
Two in-person immersion training weeks in the UK
Three supervised live public facilitation sessions
Monthly online training with Rebecca Dennis & Philip Parker every 3rd Saturday from 09.00 to 16.00 and 2nd Wednesday from 19.00 to 20.30
Lectures from experts in neuroscience, trauma, psychology, physiology, compassionate space holding, science of breath & more
Comprehensive teaching in anatomy, breath science & nervous system regulation
Supervision + mentoring opportunity throughout and access to a supportive training community
Membership to the Breathing Tree online learning platform
Curated themes & playlists for your future sessions
TRAUMA-INFORMED LEARNING: HOLDING SPACE WITH INTEGRITY
Supporting someone through somatic breathwork is profound and complex work. It can open doors to releasing trauma, unearthing memory, reconnection and deep personal insight but only when held within a container of genuine safety and trauma-informed care. At Breathing Tree, we teach somatic breathwork in a way that honours the nervous system, respects personal pacing and places emotional safety at the centre of every session.
You’ll discover how to create spaces where clients feel safe, grounded, supported and empowered to make choices that honour their own limits. You’ll learn to attune to subtle shifts in breath, body and nervous system, using language, presence and touch ethically and compassionately. This training cultivates the confidence to witness without judgment, to allow without interfering and to collaborate without taking over, keeping the client at the heart of their own healing process.
Trauma-informed breathwork isn’t simply an approach, it is a discipline, a responsibility and a profound act of respect. Within this training, you will develop both the knowledge and the embodied presence to hold safe, compassionate and transformative space for others.
WHO THIS TRAINING IS FOR
This training is for individuals who feel a genuine call to support others through embodied, breath-centred approaches and who want to do so with care, depth and integrity.
It is designed for people who are ready to explore somatic breathwork as a powerful, body-based modality, whether as a new direction or as an addition to existing skills and who value safety, self-awareness and responsible facilitation.
This training may be a strong fit for you if:
WHAT YOU’LL WALK AWAY WITH
This training equips you to lead somatic breathwork that is safe, grounded and genuinely transformative for your clients and for you.
Inside the training, you’ll learn how to:
This is more than a certification. It’s a solid foundation for breathwork facilitation built on trust, embodiment and long-term sustainability so you can meet people where they are and guide them with safety and care.
THE BREATHING TREE PHILOSOPHY
Respecting The Personal Journey
Each person’s experience with breath and emotions is unique. A gentle approach allows facilitators to honour individual journeys, recognising that some may be navigating trauma, high anxiety, physical or emotional sensitivity. This gentle approach creates a safe space for exploration and healing.
Encouraging Natural Flow
Breath is an innate and natural process. By adopting a gentle approach, we encourage participants to connect with their breath in a way that feels organic and effortless. This fosters a greater sense of ease, allowing individuals to discover their natural rhythm without force, pressure, or the feeling of ‘doing it wrong’.
Building Trust & Safety
Establishing trust is essential in any therapeutic setting. A gentle, compassionate approach fosters a safe and supportive environment where participants feel comfortable expressing their experiences and emotions. This sense of safety is not only fundamental to building a strong therapeutic relationship, but also vital for deep healing and lasting transformation.
Promoting Awareness
Gentle somatic breathwork encourages awareness, helping individuals become more attuned to their bodies and emotions. This heightened awareness allows participants to process their feelings in real-time, fostering emotional resilience and self-acceptance.
Facilitating & Supporting Sustainable Change
Gentle techniques are powerful and can help promote long-lasting change by allowing participants to integrate their experiences at their own pace. This gradual approach encourages sustainable growth, as individuals learn to listen to their bodies and honour their needs.
Cultivating Compassion
A gentle approach to functional and advanced therapeutic methods embodies the principles of compassion and empathy, both for oneself and for others. This nurturing mindset fosters a sense of connection and community, reinforcing the idea that we are all on this journey together.
At Breathing Tree, we believe that breath is the foundation of life and a gateway to deeper awareness and personal empowerment. Our ethos is centred around the idea that by cultivating a mindful relationship with our breath and body, we can unlock our potential, release emotional blockages, and connect with ourselves and others on a profound level. Breathing Tree represents growth, grounding and the interconnectedness of all beings, reminding us that just as a tree flourishes by drawing nourishment from the earth and sky, we too can thrive by embracing our breath and the present moment.
We embrace and advocate for a gentle approach to breathwork because we recognise the profound impact that safety, compassion and mindfulness can have on our practice and the individuals we serve. Here are several key reasons why this approach is essential.
By choosing a gentle approach to somatic breathwork, we create an inviting, safe and nurturing space where individuals can explore their breath, body and subconscious with curiosity and kindness. This philosophy not only enhances the effectiveness of the practice but also deepens the connection between facilitators and participants, ultimately leading to a more enriching experience for all involved.
TRAINING FORMAT
Online Sessions (mandatory)
- Saturdays once a month, 09.00 to 16.00
- Some sessions include guest lecturers
- Modules Content Released Each Month Consisting of Reading Material and Video
In-Person Immersion Weeks
- Two 6-day immersions in London, United Kingdom
- 09.00 to 1700 daily
- Full attendance required
- Two workshops facilitated by students
- Breathing Tree Manual provided for students
Ongoing Learning & Support
- Monthly online supervision & Q+A sessions
- Breath circles for students (scheduled as needed)
- Required reading
- Case studies + written reflections
- Open-book test highlighting any knowledge gaps
- Continued personal breath practice and journal
- Peer support group
- Alumni access
- Listing on Breathing Tree website upon qualification
KEY DATES
Immersion 1
3rd – 8th November 2026
Immersion 2
22nd – 27th February 2027
FULL ONLINE & IN-PERSON DATE LIST
Wednesday 23rd September 2026, Online orientation
Saturday 26th September 2026, Online
Wednesday 14th October 2026, Online
Saturday 24th October 2026, Online
November 2nd – 7th 2026, In person Immersion
Wednesday 18th November 2026, Online
Wednesday 9th December 2026, Online
Saturday 12th December 2026, Online
Wednesday 6th January 2027, Online
Saturday 16th January 2027, Online
Wednesday 10th February 2027, Online
Saturday 20th February 2027, Online
22nd – 27th February 2027, In person Immersion
Wednesday 10th March 2027, Online
Saturday 20th March 2027, Online
Wednesday 7th April 2027, Online
Saturday 24th April 2027, Online
Wednesday 12th May 2027, Online
Saturday 22nd May 2027, Online
Wednesday 9th June 2026, Online
Saturday 19th June 2027, In person London
Saturday 17th July 2027, In person London
(Wednesday Monthly Meet Ups Online 7pm – 8.30pm)
INVESTMENT
Total Investment
- 10 month training, includes all online & immersion weeks tuition & resources.
Additional Costs
- Required reading material
- Optional personal mentoring sessions
- Travel, meals (and accommodation if you’re travelling from outside the London area) for immersion weeks at Indaba Yoga studio, 18 Hayes Place, London, NW1 6UA.
Bursaries
We offer three bursary places per cohort, awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, each providing a £1,000 reduction in course fees. These are intended for applicants who can demonstrate financial need or hardship and a strong commitment to their professional development in breathwork facilitation.
Bursary Application
Application is via email only at breathingtreetraining@gmail.com and your bursary application should include:
1. A brief explanation of your circumstances and why a bursary would enable you to participate
2. How this training aligns with your professional goals and your commitment to trauma-informed practice
Bursary applications are reviewed thoughtfully and bursary places are awarded at the discretion of the Breathing Tree Training Team. Please take the time to provide a considered application — we want to support those truly committed to this work.
TRAINERS & GUEST EXPERTS
REBECCA DENNIS
Rebecca Dennis is the Lead Trainer and Founder of Breathing Tree, a London-based breathwork training school with an international reach. With over two decades of experience in holistic and alternative therapies, Rebecca is widely respected for her depth of knowledge, embodied teaching style and her ability to translate complex nervous system science into practical, transformative breathwork practices. Her work is grounded in a deep belief that conscious breathing is central to wellbeing, health and inner peace and that when we learn to work with the breath, profound change becomes possible.
Rebecca’s expertise spans breathwork, trauma release, somatic modalities, polyvagal theory and nervous system regulation. She holds a Diploma in Anatomy alongside ITEC Diplomas in Swedish and Sports Massage, giving her teaching a strong anatomical and physiological foundation. Her training journey includes co-trainer level experience with some of the most influential figures in the field, including Judith Kravitz, Donna Farhi and Max Strom, among others. This rich lineage informs a teaching approach that is both rigorously informed and deeply intuitive, with a strong emphasis on safety, embodiment and trauma awareness.
An accomplished author, Rebecca has written three books, including Let It Go and Breathe – A Practical Guide To Breathwork, with her work featured in Amazon and Sunday Times Best Seller lists. Through Breathing Tree, she offers professional trainings, workshops and immersive learning experiences for those wishing to deepen their personal practice or train as breathwork facilitators. Known for her warmth, clarity and grounded presence, Rebecca creates learning environments that are inclusive, empowering and profoundly supportive—inviting students to not only learn breathwork, but to truly live it.
PHILIP PARKER
My breathwork journey
Philip Parker is a breathwork facilitator, somatic counsellor and breathwork facilitator trainer at Breathing Tree. But before he was sitting with others, he was the one searching.
From the outside, life looked successful and stable. On the inside, something felt off. Philip lived with high-functioning anxiety masked as ambition, patterns of co-dependency that kept him over-giving and unexplained physical symptoms his body couldn’t ignore. He was achieving, but not at ease.
Everything shifted when he discovered breathwork through Rebecca Dennis. In those early sessions, Philip experienced what true safety in the body felt like for the first time. Breathwork helped him regulate his nervous system, uncover buried emotions and open a door to understanding the patterns driving anxiety and relationships. It wasn’t a quick fix but it was a profound reconnection.
Life Changing
Philip went on to train, committing not just to learning techniques but to doing his own inner work. He came to understand that transformative breathwork requires more than skill and knowledge from the facilitator, it requires presence, self-awareness and the ability to create real relational safety. Healing happens in relationship and facilitation, therefore, carries deep responsibility.
Today, through Breathing Tree, Philip’s mission is clear: to train grounded, ethical and self-aware facilitators. He believes the most effective practitioners understand their own stories, nervous systems and relational dynamics so they can hold secure, attuned space for others. You cannot expect to hold clear space for someone else without the willingness to examine your inner landscape and commit to ongoing inner work.
GUEST EXPERT TEACHERS
Emma Gilmore – Fascia, Anatomy and Physiology
Founder of the School of Bodywork and the Bodywork Clinic Emma is an expert on how trauma is held within the system.
Emma’s passion for the benefits of bodywork is enthusiastically transmitted through her national and international teaching. An advanced bodywork therapist specializing in Fascia Informed Bodywork, with a deep knowledge of human anatomy, fascia and the delicacy of the human condition, Emma shares her knowledge of how physical and emotional trauma manifests in our physiology causing pain, discomfort and pathologies, as well as the potential for its release through bodywork. Emma is currently researching a book on the manifestation of trauma in the body.
Having been a bodywork therapist for over 30 years, Emma shares her detailed knowledge in an accessible and engaging way; she encourages students to quiet their own system, to enable a deep listening, thus the client’s system can express itself in safety.
Gillian Steer – Body Memory and Intuition In The Healing Space
Gillian has been working as a therapist in the fields of Body Memory, Emotional Freedom Techniques and massage for just shy of 40 years.
She describes herself as a facilitator helping to translate the body’s pain, discomfort or illness. Her unique method and approach to unlocking true health and potential comes from years of continuous study of a diverse range of healing techniques.
Working with clients, not on them, she listens to what the body is holding. Sometimes it is the soul whispering, sometimes it is trauma that’s stuck in the tissues needing a voice and other times it’s energy that needs clearing away so the client can feel themselves again. Gillian’s unique technique is guided using her hands and of course her inner knowing. Above all she says ‘keeping myself out of the way and simply listening to the story the body is telling me is key to my technique and the healing process’.
Martin McPhilimey – Breath Science
Martin is a renowned authority in Breath Science, bringing together an impressive blend of expertise as a Respiratory and Sleep Scientist, Exercise Physiologist, and Behavioural Science Practitioner.
With over 15 years of experience in research, clinical work, and training, Martin is not only an accredited coach and mentor but also a passionate advocate for healthy, connected living. Martin is the founder of both The School of Breath Science and Performance Through Health and works with a vast range of high performers worldwide.
Committed to his vision of creating a world where people can achieve optimal health and happiness his unique blend of academic rigor, clinical expertise, and personal passion positions him at the forefront of the Breath Science field, making him a trusted figure in helping others achieve their best health and raising the standard of scientific understanding in the breath and wellbeing space.
Michele Anne Barocchi – Neuroscience and Altered States
Michèle defines her experience as a long journey that, through different disciplines and techniques, has led her to work with the human body and its capacity for self-healing.
Her journey began with a PhD in Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of California, Berkeley. The lifestyle of a doctoral student can be very stressful, and Michèle found relief in the regular practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. She soon realized that she had found a simple yet powerful tool for connection. Breath saved Michèle’s life on more than one occasion, motivating her to use this practice to support others in their personal journeys, helping them achieve greater unity and connection.
In 2015 she was involved in a nearly fatal car accident, she used breath to stay conscious until help arrived. Her accident resulted in the amputation of her left leg giving her the opportunity to explore non-physical forms of connection and healing. Currently, Michèle is the co-founder of MAPS Italia, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of psychedelic medicine, research, and therapy and advancing psychedelic science and its therapeutic applications and benefits for mental health and well-being.
Paula Shaw – Modern Wisdom, Ancient Teachings
Paula Shaw is a spiritual guide and mentor who supports individuals on their journey of self-discovery and transformation. Her work blends astrology, tarot and intuitive insight, drawing deeply from over a decade of study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism, as well as influences from Western esoteric traditions and Vedic wisdom.
With more than 15 years’ experience and over 15,000 sessions with clients worldwide, Paula helps people uncover hidden truths, karmic patterns, and the deeper cycles shaping their lives. Meditation and mindfulness are her daily anchors, and she is passionate about sharing these tools to support clarity and presence in uncertain times.
Through Soul Sessions and astrological guidance, Paula offers grounded, soulful support—helping others align with their inner wisdom and the greater rhythms of life.
Donna Lancaster – The Art of Compassionate Holding
Donna wears many hats. She is the acclaimed author of two books – ‘The Bridge, a 9 step crossing into authentic and wholehearted living’ (Penguin Life, 2022) and ‘Wise Words for Women’ (Happy Place Books/Ebury 2023) and writes regularly for her Substack subscribers – A Pilgrimage for the Soul. She ran a busy 1:1 and couples practice in London for many years whilst also co-founding and facilitating The Bridge Retreat supporting people to grieve and heal from heartbreak and loss.
Donna worked for the Hoffman Institute for over 12- years and is a highly experienced group facilitator and intuitive coach. Having worked internationally for over 30 years in a wide variety of environments she has had the fortune of being trained by many great teachers including Sobonfu Somé, David Richo, Caroline Myss, Andrew Harvey, Robert Holden, Giten Tonkov and Quanita Roberson to name a few. Donna brings a wealth of experience as a guide and trauma informed space holder and her work has been featured in The Telegraph, Psychologies, Evening Standard, Huffington Post, Balance, Conde Nast and Tatler.
Aimee Rai – Nervous System Regulation and Trauma Informed Space Holding
Aimee is an integrative therapist and movement & meditation teacher specialising in trauma and somatics, as well as the founder and lead trainer at ISOHH – International School of Holistic Healing.
In addition to having trained with some of the most respected names in the field including Ariella Schwarz, Gabor Mate, Pat Ogden, Linda Parnell, Eric Gentry, Rob Preece and Miles Neale, much of the form of Aimee’s work and teaching has been shaped by her own experience, personal suffering, and pursuit of freedom over the last two decades.
Weaving together the science and psychology of trauma, with the art of meditative, contemplative and somatic practices, Aimee’s hope and intent is to always offer an approach that is truly holistic, highly effective, and deeply human at its heart.
Sat Dharam Kaur – The Art Of Compassionate Coaching
Sat Dharam Kaur has been practicing as a naturopathic doctor since 1989, with a focus on women’s health, cancer and mind-body approaches to healing. Sat Dharam has been studying, hosting, working and teaching with Dr. Gabor Maté since 2012, and structured his work in a format that could be taught to others, which is now the Compassionate Inquiry Professional Online Training. Since 2019, much of her naturopathic practice has included Compassionate Inquiry.
Her educational background includes a BA with a major in psychology and English literature, and a B.Sc. in biology from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She completed postgraduate studies in naturopathic medicine at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto and taught stress management and women’s health at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine for 10 years. She has written three books on women’s health and has presented at numerous conferences.
Sat Dharam is an expert instructor in Kundalini Yoga, which she has practiced and taught for over 45 years. She has developed yoga-based curriculums in addiction recovery, trauma and breast health and trains teachers globally in those specialties.
Sat Dharam lives with her husband in an off-grid home on 105 acres of beautiful land and takes care of fruit trees and a large garden. She enjoys hiking, cycling, and communing with plants. She has three adult children and two grandchildren.