22-Day Breathwork & Trauma Awareness Teacher Training in Goa, India

The first week is Module 1, the 8-Day Breathwork Intensive. This is where you do your own healing. Days follow a rhythm of morning meditation, extended breathwork sessions (mostly the connected, conscious types—think rebirthing and holotropic-style work), and trauma-awareness theory grounded in clinical understanding. Expect to process old material; people cry, laugh, and sometimes feel nothing at all. The teaching is careful here—Keghani Mardikian, a registered social worker with EMDR training, brings a strong trauma-informed lens, so nothing gets pushed further than you're ready for.

Week two and three shift into Module 2, the Facilitator Training. You learn how to hold space: how to sit with someone in a big emotional release, when to intervene, how to build a safe container that doesn't collapse under the weight of someone else's pain. You'll practice on each other, get feedback from the teachers, and work through the ethical side of facilitation—consent, boundaries, referral processes. It's hands-on, and by the final days you're running full-length sessions with real support from the team.

What makes this different from a standard breathwork course is the blend of ancient and clinical. Kristine Niranjana brings the spiritual lineage—she's trained with Dan Brulé, studied in Buddhist temples, done a master plant dieta in the Amazon—while Keghani provides the evidence-based trauma therapy framework. Joris, with years at Samma Karuna in Koh Phangan, adds the somatic and emotional-integration piece. You get the ceremonial texture (cacao, fire ceremonies, kirtan) alongside actual psychology.

Location matters here. Goa in January is dry and warm, and Nalanda Retreat is a proper Goan-Portuguese property with two pools, a beachfront restaurant, and gardens that run down toward the Arabian Sea. You're not stuck in a conference room; breaks are spent in the ocean. It's the kind of place that makes a 22-day training feel less like bootcamp and more like an extended, purposeful holiday.

What's included

- 21 nights accommodation in a shared room at Nalanda Retreat - 2 daily meals (breakfast and dinner) - Water, tea, and coffee throughout the day - Welcome drink - Teacher training course and certification - Certificate upon successful completion - Evening activities (kirtan, movie night) - Course manual - Pre and post retreat support from the team

What's not included

- Airport transfers - Flights costs - Travel insurance - Visa fee - Additional treatments - Private room upgrade (available at extra cost)