Level One
Regulate
Learn to facilitate breathwork one to one. Nine months, eighteen modules, two retreats in person, and a trio that walks the whole way with you.
You cannot initiate anyone if you cannot regulate yourself.
The name is the syllabus.
This is Level 1 of a three-level facilitator training. It is called Regulate, and the name is the syllabus: by the end you know how to come back yourself, and how to bring someone back.
There is no module on how to run a powerful session. That is deliberate.
Within a few months of finishing this level you will have your hands on a person lying down, with their nervous system open, without defences, and without the capacity to tell you no. Everything here is arranged around that fact.
Regulate
One to one. Your own regulation, and the person in front of you.
You are hereContain
The group field.
Initiate
Deliberate threshold work. The Vision Quest proper.
This training is for you if…
- You already work with people in a room: bodywork, therapy, movement, coaching.
- You want to facilitate breathwork one to one, and you want to do it safely.
- You are ready to work on your own body before you touch anyone else’s.
- You want the mechanism before the mysticism, without losing the reverence.
- You can give this nine months. Not a weekend.
- You have your own therapy, or you are willing to start. It is part of the training, not an extra.
No prior breathwork qualification is required.
What this is not
It is not a certification to work with trauma. It is not an alternative to therapy, and knowing the difference is clinical competence, not modesty. And it is not a weekend.
Four blocks, one rite.
The blocks follow the structure of a rite of passage: separation, threshold, return. That is the structure of every session you will ever facilitate. Each module answers one question.
Foundation
Modules 1 to 6
- 1What is this material?
- 2Where did it really come from?
- 3What is the structure of what happens?
- 4What is the mechanism?
- 5Why does the body close?
- 6And what about yours?
Separation
Modules 7 to 9
- 7Who is this, and can they do this today?
- 8What are you going to ask of their breathing?
- 9How do you feel them without going in?
Threshold
Modules 10 to 15
- 10What am I looking at?
- 11Where do I stand while this happens?
- 12Whose pain is this?
- 13How do I hold myself there?
- 14And the hand?
- 15Do you go far once, or a little many times?
Reincorporation
Modules 16 to 18
- 16How do you bring something back without ruining it?
- 17How do you ask without taking the person out of the body?
- 18What do they take out of the door, without you?
Competence you can feel in your hands.
- Take an intake that gets the full clinical picture without turning the person into a case.
- Know every contraindication by heart, without looking it up.
- Tell tetany from neurogenic tremor, and know that confusing the two makes you intervene in exactly the wrong direction.
- Stay on the shore: completely present, reading everything, and not crossing.
- Touch with continuous consent, with a hand that asks rather than states.
- Pendulate instead of pushing for a single heroic crossing.
- Bring someone back with something in their hands that survives Monday.
- Hand over tools that do not need you.
Rigour is not the enemy of reverence.
This course asks you for rigour, so it owes you rigour. Three markers run through every module.
- Established physiology. Measured, replicated, in the textbooks. You can rely on it.
- Clinical model. Maps built by serious clinicians over years of practice. Useful, often very useful. Not proven.
- Tradition and image. What the old words and practices carry. Not evidence. Memory, and worth keeping.
On lineage
You will not be told that shamans have been doing this for ten thousand years. Modern breathwork was born in the 1970s, out of psychedelic psychiatry, as a substitute for LSD. Module 2 says so out loud. The real historical depth in this work is elsewhere, and it is true: the word spirit is as old as human language. That is more than enough.
How the nine months unfold.
A module opens every two weeks. The first week is yours: read, practise every day, write. In the second you take it to your trio and to the live call.
Block A · Foundation
Six modules, on yourself. Your notebook starts in the first week. With your trio you sit in a witness circle. You do not practise on anyone yet.
Block B · Separation
Intake, breathing patterns for 1:1 work, attunement. Your first practice with your trio, by video and at gentle intensity.
First retreat
In person, with me. I read your notebook with you. Attunement is taught in the room. You receive sessions and practise intake and dose with me watching.
Block C · Threshold
What happens at the threshold, and how you stay on the shore while someone crosses. Boundaries, your own regulation, touch, pendulation.
Block D · Reincorporation
Felt sense, inquiry, and what the person takes home. The block nobody teaches, and the one that decides whether anything changes.
Second retreat
Touch is taught and practised. TRE. The five minutes of Module 11 are assessed, and you facilitate your final session. The level closes together.
Supervised practice
Five sessions with volunteers, one group supervision call, then the certificate. The village gives the new name after the return. Not before.
Nine months of real support.
Eighteen modules
Designed lessons, one every two weeks, each with a PDF to keep.
Live calls
One per module, ninety minutes, with me. Twenty-seven hours in all, recorded.
Your trio
The same three people for nine months, meeting once per module with a clear practice.
Two retreats
In person, where the body learns what the text can only name.
Your notebook, read
Read with you at both retreats, with written feedback after the first.
Supervision
The live calls hold it, and a group supervision call closes your volunteer sessions.
Certification
Vision Quest Breathwork Facilitator, Level 1. For 1:1 sessions.
A path forward
Level 2, Contain, for the group field. Then Level 3, Initiate.
Real change asks something.
Ten minutes of practice. Ten minutes is enough. Skipping it is not.
A module to read, a meeting with your trio and a live call. About three hours a week in all.
All of you. A notebook from the first week, and your own body before anyone else’s.
How you become certified.
Nothing here is graded. You are assessed on what this course values: the dose, the shore, the return, honesty. Never on how far a session went.
- Both retreats, complete.
- Your notebook, complete.
- The four gates.
- Two recordings and three written pieces.
- At least four in five of the trio meetings and of the live calls.
- Five supervised sessions with volunteers after the second retreat.
| Gate | When | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Your ring | End of Block A | Name your most closed ring, in sensation and not in concept. |
| 2 · Contraindications | Module 7 | All of them, from memory. You guide no one before it. |
| 3 · Your resource | Module 15 | Described with an address: where it is, what size, how you get there. |
| 4 · The final session | Second retreat | A full 1:1 session, from intake to closing, watched by me and by a colleague. |
Miguel Sevilhano
Trauma-informed therapist for twenty years · Osteopath · Ceremonialist
I have worked with bodies since 2005. I started as a massage therapist, trained in osteopathy and cranio-sacral therapy, and spent years going deeper into trauma: Compassionate Inquiry with Gabor Maté, Reich, bioenergetics.
Vision Quest Breathwork grew out of that path. First one to one, then in groups, then in men’s work and rites of passage. I work with men and with women, and the deeper aim has always been the same: to reclaim the humanity within us.
I have been writing this training for three years. It is the training I would have wanted: rigorous about the mechanism, honest about where things come from, and serious about the person lying down.
My own healing has been my greatest teacher.
Miguel
Join the next cohort.
One payment at enrolment.
A €500 deposit at enrolment, then 5 monthly payments of €500.
Included
- Eighteen modules and their PDFs
- Twenty-seven hours of live calls
- Your trio for nine months
- Both retreats (the training itself)
- Feedback, the four gates and the final session
- Group supervision and the certificate
Not included
- Accommodation during the retreats
- Meals during the retreats
- Travel to the retreats
Refunds: cancel more than four weeks before your cohort begins and you are refunded what you paid, less the €500 deposit on the payment plan and any transaction fees. After that, no refunds, but you may move your place to the next cohort once.
You will have questions.
Is this online or in person?
Both. The modules, your trio and the live calls happen online. The two retreats happen in person, with me. You cannot be certified without both retreats.
How long is the training?
Nine months of training, with a module every two weeks. Then six weeks of supervised practice before the certificate.
How much time do I need each week?
About three hours: ten minutes of practice every day, the reading, and every two weeks a meeting with your trio and a live call. Plus the two retreats.
What if I miss a live call?
The calls are recorded. Watch it and send me three lines. You need at least four in five of the live calls and of the trio meetings.
Do I need breathwork experience?
No prior breathwork qualification is required. The training is designed for people who already work with people in a room: bodyworkers, therapists, movement teachers, coaches.
What style of breathwork does it teach?
Breathwork for 1:1 work, adjusted with four dials: rate, depth, ratio and pause. Always with the dose in mind. You learn to read what happens, to stay on the shore while someone crosses, and to bring them back.
Is this trauma therapy?
No. It is not a certification to work with trauma, and it is not an alternative to therapy. You learn enough about trauma to recognise it, to keep people safe and to know when to refer.
Who should not take this training?
Fast, deep breathing is not for every body. Pregnancy, epilepsy, heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, psychosis and a history of stroke are among the contraindications. Others, like panic attacks or psychiatric medication, need a conversation first. Everyone sends me a health form before Module 2.
I am pregnant. Can I join?
Not in this cohort. Pregnancy is a contraindication for the breathing in this training. Write to me and we will look at a later one.
When can I start working with clients?
Not during Level 1. After the second retreat you give five supervised sessions to volunteers. After those, and a group supervision call, you are certified to work one to one.
What does the certificate allow me to do?
To facilitate Vision Quest Breathwork one to one. Working with groups is Level 2.
What comes after Level 1?
Level 2, Contain: the group field. Level 3, Initiate: deliberate threshold work, the Vision Quest proper. Both are in preparation.
What language is the training in?
English.
Where and when are the retreats?
The first retreat is after Module 9 and the second after Module 18. You receive the dates and the place when your application is accepted.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. You pay a €500 deposit at enrolment and the rest in 5 monthly payments of €500. The total on the payment plan is €3,000. Paying in full is €2,800.
Are accommodation and meals included in the retreats?
No. The price covers the training. Accommodation, meals and travel during the retreats are yours to arrange and pay for.
What is the refund policy?
If you cancel more than four weeks before your cohort begins, you are refunded what you paid, less the €500 deposit (payment plan only) and any transaction or exchange fees. Within four weeks of the start date there are no refunds, but you may transfer your enrolment to the next cohort once. Accommodation and travel you have booked are not covered by this policy. If your circumstances change, write to me at miguelsevilhano@gmail.com as soon as you can. I would rather know early and find a way through together.
How do I apply?
Fill in the form at the end of this page. I read every application myself and reply within [NUMBER] days.
Your place is waiting.
Each cohort is small, so that every trio is held and every notebook is read. Tell me who you are, what work you already do with people, and why breathwork.
Or fill in the form below.