Vivation Teacher Training
May 22 – June 5, 2027 | Joyful Journey Hot Springs, Colorado
Now Enrolling
Learn the only breathwork method with a codified, step-by-step system for guiding clients to permanent emotional freedom: pleasurably, rapidly, and with a skill they keep for life.
Why Become a Vivation Teacher?
Most breathwork teachers can give clients a powerful session. But when it's over, then what?
Without a structured path, you're improvising session to session, hoping each one adds up to something that lasts. Your clients feel better for a day, maybe a week. Then the old patterns return. Because the root was never resolved. And you have no system for taking them deeper.
Vivation changes that equation completely.
The Seven Basic Lessons give you what no other breathwork training does: a codified, step-by-step system to walk your clients from emotional pain to genuine mastery, in days, not years. Each lesson builds on the last. Your clients know exactly where they are, where they're going, and why it's working. And the method itself is physically pleasurable and produces resolution, not just release, at the sensation level.
Here's what that means in practice:
Your clients learn to resolve what's driving the pain, permanently, and they learn to do it on their own. That's not a side effect. That's the design. Vivation's explicit goal is to make your clients so capable that they never need another session. They become autonomous, and they become your most powerful referral engine, because they tell everyone who made that possible.
And the method is radically forgiving. There is no way to do it wrong. Distraction is just more material. The moment your client notices they drifted, they're already back. That safety architecture means you can guide anyone with confidence: anxious beginners, skeptics, people who've been burned by other modalities.
That's what makes Vivation teachers untouchable in the market: you're not selling sessions. You're teaching a skill. You have a proven roadmap. And the results speak for themselves, because they're permanent.
What You'll Be Able to Do
A clear offer your clients actually commit to
You won't be cobbling together techniques or hoping each session lands. You'll have a clear, structured offer your clients can understand and say yes to: a complete path from first session to mastery, with their progress visible at every step. That's the kind of clarity that makes people commit.
Confidence built on depth, not just certification
This method has been refined since 1979: nearly five decades of real-world development. That depth means you can address a wide range of client needs with genuine assurance, because the method has already encountered and solved for them. You're not learning something new and untested. You're carrying forward a lineage.
Clients who stay, refer, and grow
Because the Seven Basic Lessons are a complete path, not a single session, your clients experience real momentum. They feel it working. They come back for deeper work. And when they reach autonomy, they send everyone they know. The business model rewards depth, not volume.
A career that compounds over time
The need for emotional resilience and genuine well-being grows in any economy. As a Vivation Professional, you're offering something people need more, not less, when life gets hard: a skill that works in real conditions. And you're backed by the Vivation Professional Association and a heritage brand that has been producing results since 1979: a network of experienced practitioners offering guidance, peer support, and ongoing development. You're not launching alone.
Taught by the lineage. Supported by its finest.
Taught by the lineage.
Paul Hughes
Lineage Holder & Director, Vivation International
Paul Hughes is the world's most experienced Vivation instructor, having guided more than 20,000 people in 33 countries since 2001. As Director of Vivation International and the method's official lineage holder, he carries the complete transmission of Vivation directly from its creator, Jim Leonard, and trains and certifies the next generation of Vivation professionals worldwide.
Paul creates a training environment that is both rigorous and deeply safe, where you can be challenged, make mistakes, and grow without judgment. His teaching is precise yet relaxed, demanding yet warmly supportive. The kind of space where real skill gets built.
“Paul Hughes is the most gifted Vivation Professional I’ve ever taught. I rest easy knowing the future of Vivation is in his hands.”
Jim Leonard, Creator of Vivation
In Their Words
Voices from across the Vivation community.
Jim Leonard
Creator of Vivation
“Paul Hughes is the most gifted Vivation Professional I’ve ever taught. From early on I saw in him that rare blend of heart, intellect, insight, and compassion that would make him a luminary in the world of Vivation. I rest easy knowing the future of Vivation is in his hands.”
Jo Oliver
Vivation Teacher
“The training was mindblowing, packed with transformational experiences and connecting conversations. Paul is a dedicated and passionate teacher with a tremendous wealth of knowledge to share. Truly amazing, though, is the journey thereafter: the follow-up support has been like no other course I’ve attended, both from Paul and from fellow ‘Vivers.’ Vivation is a fun yet profound life skill, and the magic continues to unfold.”
Keely O’Connor
CEO & Founder, Prosperitas Agency
“Vivation took my life in a completely new direction. For a modality this powerful, the thought of teaching it might overwhelm you, but the structure, education, and ongoing guidance from Paul have been nothing short of phenomenal. His teaching style is potent yet relaxed. The professional support has been extraordinary: 1:1 calls, group coaching, accountability, and my fellow Vive pros have become real supports. It is a true gift to use this tool, and an even greater gift to share it.”
Mike Maher’s Journey Through the Vivation Teacher Training
An In-Depth Interview with Paul Hughes on the Teacher Training Experience
Your Training Path
Overview
The Vivation Teacher Training is designed to build real confidence and capability, not just conceptual understanding. You'll learn the method deeply through your own experience, then learn to teach it with the same precision. Our approach develops both personal mastery and professional excellence, so you're not just certified, you're genuinely ready.
Module 1: Vivation Foundations
Prerequisite Reading and Study Materials
To ensure a comprehensive understanding of Vivation principles and practices, you'll complete a curated reading list before attending the in-person training.
- Essential Readings: Vivation: The Skill of Happiness and Vivation: The Science of Enjoying All Your Life
- Additional Resources: Selected books on ethics and self-improvement, plus in-depth articles on Vivation theory and practice
Module 2: The Vivation Breakthrough Experience (Days 1–4)
This is where the method becomes yours.
In four intensive days, you'll learn Vivation as a complete, embodied skill. Not by reading about it, but by living it. You'll move through all Seven Basic Lessons, experience the full range of Vivation formats, and build the foundation of personal mastery that makes you credible as a teacher.
What's included:
- The complete Seven Basic Lessons — Vivation's proven, step-by-step path from emotional resistance to genuine freedom and autonomy
- Eyes-Closed Sessions — deep guided sessions building skill and confidence
- Cold Water Vivation — the Nordic way: sauna warmth and the clear, cold Skagerrak sea, integrating intensity with pleasure and relaxation
- Eyegaze Sessions & Mirror Gaze — advanced relational and self-contact practices
- Vivation-with-Music and Vivation-in-Tandem
- Vivation-in-Action — learning to use the skill in real life, not just on the mat
- Values and Purpose Process and Vivation & Creativity
By the end of Module 2, you'll have a direct, personal experience of what Vivation can do. You'll feel in your body why this is worth sharing.
Module 3: Teacher Clinical Training (Days 6–13)
After one day of rest and integration, you begin the real work of becoming a teacher.
Module 3 is eight days of intensive clinical training: learning to guide others through the Seven Basic Lessons with precision, safety, and the warm authority that defines great Vivation teaching.
What you'll learn and practice:
- How to teach the Seven Basic Lessons — session by session, with direct feedback from Paul Hughes
- Reading your client's process in real time — learning to see what's happening in the body and adjust your guidance accordingly
- Holding space with confidence — how to be present, supportive, and precise without over-directing
- Hands-on practice with fellow trainees — you'll guide and be guided, refining your skill through real sessions and constructive feedback
- Advanced session formats — how to offer and lead cold water, eyegaze, and Vivation-in-Action sessions with clients
- Ethics, boundaries, and professional standards — the integrity framework that protects you and your clients
- Business development and marketing — practical strategies for building a sustainable Vivation practice
Modules 2 and 3 together form a single 13-day immersive retreat: 4 days of breakthrough experience, 1 day off, 8 days of clinical training. You arrive as a student. You leave ready to teach, carrying a skill, a system, and a depth of confidence that only comes from having done the real work yourself.
Module 4: Mentorship & Certification
After the retreat, a three-month program of guided support brings you to full certification.
Program Structure:
- Three group mentoring sessions with Paul Hughes — one-hour calls providing direct guidance, Q&A, and support as you begin practicing and teaching
- Monthly development milestones to keep you on track and building momentum
Month 1: Foundation Building
- Daily Practice — a minimum of 60 minutes of daily Vivation practice to deepen your embodied mastery and build the authentic foundation for teaching
- Theory Deep Dive — guided study of Vivation's core principles, preparing for the oral examination
Month 2: Skill Enhancement
- Advancing Your Practice — focus on rapid integration and precision, developing the ability to guide clients through increasingly nuanced emotional terrain
- Professional Development — refine your teaching delivery, practice the Seven Basic Lessons with real clients, and develop your client acquisition strategy
Month 3: Mastery and Certification
- Private Oral Examination — a one-on-one exam with Paul Hughes demonstrating your understanding of Vivation theory, principles, and practice
- Teaching Demonstration — submit proof that you have successfully taught the complete Seven Basic Lessons to at least one person. This is the final milestone: you've done the real work
- Business Launch — finalize your practice strategy and transition into active teaching
Upon Certification
You join the Association of Vivation Professionals: listed, backed, and supported by a lineage that has been producing results since 1979. You're not just certified. You're part of something real.
Joyful Journey Hot Springs
Moffat, Colorado · San Luis Valley · 7,700 ft
May 22 – June 5, 2027
14 days · Sangre de Cristo Mountains · Natural artesian hot springs
Natural artesian hot springs, wide open skies,
and the kind of quiet that lets real work happen.
Your training takes place at Joyful Journey Hot Springs, a quiet, beautiful retreat center in Colorado's San Luis Valley, at 7,700 feet, surrounded by the 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Three natural artesian hot springs pools sit at the center of the property, and they're part of the training itself. This venue was chosen for a reason.
Warm Water Vivation is one of the most powerful formats in the entire method, and one of the most profound experiences available in breathwork. Immersed in warm mineral water, the body relaxes at a depth that isn't possible on dry land. That depth of relaxation allows integration to reach layers that other formats can't access, including pre-verbal patterns and some of the earliest emotional imprints we carry. You'll learn Warm Water Vivation during the Breakthrough Experience, practice guiding it during the Clinical Training, and have access to the pools every day of the retreat.
Beyond the pools, the setting is simple, spacious, and deeply peaceful. Cool high-desert air, clear mountain light, and plenty of room to breathe. The Great Sand Dunes National Park is 40 minutes away. The spiritual community of Crestone is 30 minutes away. On your rest day, you won't be short of places to explore.
Explore Joyful Journey Hot Springs →Your Investment
One price covers your complete training, mentorship, certification, and AVP membership. You book your lodging and meals directly with Joyful Journey Hot Springs.
- 14-day immersive training
- 3-month mentorship program
- Full professional certification
- AVP membership
- All teaching resources & materials
- Airport transportation
Saves $240 over the payment plan
Register: Pay in FullPayment plans run directly through Vivation, with no credit check and no third-party financing. The plan closes on December 20 so your final payment completes before the training begins.
Once you've registered, contact Joyful Journey Hot Springs to book your room and mention the Vivation Teacher Training. You have two options:
- Shared room with one other student
- Yurt shared with one or two other students (2- and 3-person yurts available)
Joyful Journey will give you current prices for each option. We pair roommates thoughtfully before the training, so you can leave that part to us.
Meals: breakfast and dinner are included with your lodging. For lunch, there are several restaurants nearby and we make group lunch runs, or you're welcome to bring your own food. Your stay also includes daily soaking in the hot springs.
Booking from outside the US? Email is easiest.
Your Next Step
If you've read this far, something here is speaking to you. That's worth listening to.
Becoming a Vivation teacher is not a small decision, and it shouldn't be. It asks for your time, your honesty, and your willingness to be changed by the work before you ever guide anyone else through it.
Here is the part most people have backwards: you don't have to arrive ready. The training is what makes you ready. The method is proven, the system is complete, and the lineage stands behind you from your first breath to your certification and long after it.
If this isn't your moment, that is completely okay. No one belongs in this room who had to be talked into it.
But if something in you has quietly already decided, the only thing left is to begin.
Scroll up to choose your room and register. Or if you'd rather talk it through with me first, let's have a real conversation.
