How to Choose a Breathwork Facilitator

Most people are simply looking for someone who can hold breathwork for them, either in a 1:1 session or in a group setting. This is especially true if we're looking for in-person work and live somewhere rural, or somewhere with limited breathwork professionals.

Often, we get excited when we finally find someone. But I want to remind you not to give your power over so easily just because you've connected with a breathwork professional.

Here are my recommendations before signing up to work with them.

Most importantly, ask questions and do some homework.

These are the answers I would be looking for before I would allow a breathwork professional to work with me:

1. Where did they train?

Can you find any details about their training online, and is it sufficient for you?

2. Are they insured?

If they aren't, walk away. For me, professional insurance is part of the sacred scaffolding of running a responsible breathwork practice. It tells me that someone takes both their work and their responsibility to the people they serve seriously.

3. What type of breathwork do they offer, and is that what you're looking for?

Is it breath therapy? Is it functional breathwork for physiology and performance? Is it Conscious Connected Breathwork?

Know what you're searching for, and make sure they offer what you need. The term "breathwork" spans many variations and is a very broad search term.

4. Are you looking for a ceremonial experience with shamanic aspects?

If you are, make sure your facilitator isn't simply making things up, performing, banging drums and sweeping feathers.

Ask where they trained, who their mentor or teacher is, what their shamanic practice is, and whether they're walking within a specific lineage or tradition.

Ceremony carries responsibility. You have every right to understand where the practices being offered to you actually come from.

5. If you're attending an in-person group session, ask about the support team.

How many participants are typically there, and do they use a support team?

If they do, ask about that team.

Are they trained as supports, or are they random people who've been called in? Is there enough support for the number of people in the room?

This happens far too often. People bring in support for large groups and festivals and assume that therapists, trauma coaches, somatic practitioners, and massage therapists can simply step in. It’s important to understand that supporting a breathwork room requires its own skill and understanding.

My team are graduates of my own training. Before that, I worked with trusted colleagues trained in other modalities, but I personally instructed and trained them in how I manage the space, how the room works, and what they are not allowed to do, including key trauma awareness and contraindication spotting. I simply won't let just anyone support me.

In a group session, every person on my support team is an extension of me. They are representing my work and my medicine, and I take that responsibility seriously.

If you've never experienced breathwork before, you may not yet realize the profundity and preciousness of this work. It really is incredible! And that is exactly why you have every right to ask your facilitator these questions; to make sure you're met with the highest level of ethics and with the alignment of medicine you need.

When you find the right breathwork facilitator, you will likely walk with them for a long time.

It's worth putting in the effort.

X Rebecca