When choosing a breathwork training, the credentials and experience of those teaching it should be one of your first considerations. Below you’ll find the background and qualifications of Megan Ashton, founder and course leader of the Unity Breathwork Training, alongside Ida-Marie, the trauma therapist who guides much of the mental health and trauma-informed components of the program.
You will also find brief introductions to our eight additional course contributors, each bringing their own depth of expertise and lived experience to support a well rounded and deeply integrative learning journey.
Megan, Unity Founder & Lead Teacher
Megan is the founder and lead teacher of Unity Breathwork. She is joined by nine additional experts from the field who contribute to the training, bringing a wide range of specialist knowledge and experience.
Megan brings deep passion and extensive real world experience to every aspect of the program. She has been facilitating breathwork for nearly nine years and has worked in the wellness field for more than 20 years. Before founding Unity, she spent several years collaborating with eight other international breathwork training schools, which gave her a uniquely broad and in depth understanding of the field.
A Background Built for This Work
Her background spans far beyond breathwork alone. Megan holds certifications in clinical hypnotherapy, yoga, reiki, and holistic nutrition — disciplines that directly inform the way Unity approaches the whole person.
Add to this a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies and years of professional experience in wellness research, writing and marketing, and you begin to understand why the business and marketing segments of this training are as strong as the facilitation ones. Most breathwork trainings leave you certified but lost when it comes to actually building a practice. Unity doesn’t.
This breadth means the training doesn’t just teach you how to facilitate a session — it gives you an integrated understanding of the body, mind, nervous system, spirit, and the real-world skills to build a sustainable career around your work.
The curriculum itself was intentionally designed to support all learning styles — with a thoughtful mix of video lessons, live sessions, written content, and experiential practice. It is also structured to be genuinely ADHD-friendly, with bite-sized modules and varied formats that keep engagement high without overwhelming.
A Rich Lineage, Thoughtfully Woven Together
Unity’s curriculum is rooted in a rich and carefully considered lineage. Megan trained with Alchemy of Breath, whose foundations trace back to Clarity Breathwork — itself rooted in Rebirthing, one of the oldest and most foundational breathwork traditions in existence. This lineage runs through the heart of everything taught at Unity.
Before founding Unity, Megan also spent two years teaching for Make Some Breathing Space, one of the UK’s most respected breathwork schools — an experience that profoundly shaped her approach to facilitation and training.
Further methodologies are drawn from her time working alongside Owaken, Neurodynamic Breathwork, Biodynamic Breathwork, Oxygen Advantage, Breath Masters, and 9D Breathwork — each contributing something distinct to the depth, range, and richness of what Unity offers today.
Research, Evolution & Evidence-Informed Practice
From these foundations, Unity has continued to evolve in its own direction — shaped by Megan’s experience working with thousands of breathers, ongoing insight from the field, and an unwavering commitment to depth, integrity, and safety.
Megan has authored dozens of research-based articles on the science of breathwork — covering topics including the physiology of breath, trauma, and the understanding of experiences such as tetany and panic that can arise in Connected Breathwork sessions. This grounding in research directly informs the curriculum and ensures that what is taught at Unity is not only experientially rich but scientifically literate and evidence-informed.
Trauma-Informed to the Core
Central to that commitment is the way trauma-informed care is woven into every aspect of this program — not as a checkbox or marketing gimmick, but as a thread that runs through everything. This is made possible in part through the contribution of Ida-Marie, a licensed therapist with 30 years of clinical experience and a certified Unity facilitator, who leads much of the trauma and mental health segments of the training (more on Ida-Marie below).
This training is for those who recognize the depths that Connected Breathwork can bring people to — and who feel called to learn to guide others safely to their tender edges with skill, presence, and genuine care. Megan intentionally caps class sizes to ensure every student receives personalized attention, real mentorship, and the support they need to graduate not just certified, but as a truly confident and responsible leader in the field.
You can find out more about our leading trauma-informed breathwork training here.
Ida-Marie, Lead Contributor for the Unity Breathwork Training
Ida-Marie is a certified breathwork facilitator and licensed mental health and addictions therapist with over 20 years of clinical experience. She serves as a lead contributor to the Unity Breathwork Training, teaching much of the trauma and mental health seminars.
Ida-Marie’s career spans residential treatment, specialized clinical settings, academia, and private practice. She spent eight years working in residential treatment facilities, where she developed deep expertise in dual-diagnosis care — supporting clients navigating both mental health disorders and substance use disorders simultaneously.
It was here that she came to understand the profound connection between addiction and trauma. She also spent several years working in an eating disorders clinic, as well as teaching as an adjunct instructor at the university level.
For the past eight years, Ida-Marie has been in private practice, working with the full spectrum of mental health conditions including PTSD, severe trauma, dissociation, personality disorders, and psychotic disorders.
Her integration of breathwork into her clinical background reflects a genuine passion for holistic healing — and a deep belief in the transformative power of this work. You can find out more about Ida-Marie here.
-> Feeling inspired? Book a Breathwork Training Discovery Call with us.
A Faculty Built From Real-World Experience
Unity founder Megan leads the training with a deeply hands-on approach, staying closely connected to every student throughout the journey. She also believes in the power of cross-pollination — bringing together a diverse group of experts, each at the top of their field, to share their knowledge and lived wisdom with students.
Every contributor in the Unity Breathwork Training is also a graduate and actively facilitating breathwork. They don’t just teach this work — they’ve lived it from the inside out.
Rachael is based in Washington, D.C. With 25 years spent working for the US Congress and advocating on global humanitarian issues, she brings a rare and grounded real-world perspective to her work as a breathwork and energy practitioner. In the Unity training, she is one of our lead contributors, covering topics including the spirituality of breathwork, harnessing intuition, and energetic awareness, alongside select modules on the business of breathwork. A deep personal passion for astrology also weaves its way through her practice and perspective.
Sarah is a bodyworker and wellness entrepreneur originally from Ireland, now based in San Francisco. She owns and operates three successful luxury spas, bringing a refined understanding of the body and healing touch to her work. In the Unity Breathwork Training, Sarah contributes to the segments on intuitive and safe touch.
Holly is based in Portland and brings deep expertise in breath awareness and integration. In the training, she teaches both of these foundational areas, helping students develop the skills to hold space for meaningful transformation after a breathwork session.
Karen is a successful wellness entrepreneur in Washington who previously worked supporting leading female politicians before transitioning fully into the wellness space. She holds multiple certifications in addition to her facilitator training, including Oxygen Advantage® Functional Breathing Instructor, Restorative Breathwork® (IAYT), and Pranayama (YA), and is currently working toward certification in Tension and Trauma Release Exercises (TRE®). In the Unity Breathwork Training, Karen contributes to the business seminar as well as several other modules throughout the program.
Mike is based near Toronto (in Whitby) and specializes in working with tetany as well as shadow work. He brings his knowledge of both areas into the training, offering students practical and experiential insight into these important dimensions of the breathwork experience.
Cari is based in California and is a successful and exceptionally humble entrepreneur, as well as a naturally gifted sound practitioner with a passion for the voice as a healing instrument. She teaches students how to incorporate simple instruments intuitively to support and deepen the breathwork journey.
Jasmina is based in Serbia and holds a degree in Translation Studies and a TESL certificate, having spent years teaching German, English, and French before her path led her toward health and wellness. A long-standing passion for psychology has deepened her understanding of healing. She is certified in connected breathwork and holds an additional certification in functional breathing through the Oxygen Advantage, bringing the same precision and clarity that defined her language work to how she teaches breath. In the Unity training, Jasmina contributes to the functional breathing segments of the program.
Kirsten is a highly experienced breathwork facilitator, retreat leader, and teacher based in Portland, with regular offerings in Peru. With a background as a plant medicine guide, she brings a rich ceremonial depth to her work that is rare in the breathwork space. In the Unity Breathwork Training, Kirsten contributes to topics including ceremonial breathwork and the art of creating a safe, intentional container for clients.
If you’re ready to get certified and committed to learning everything you need to hold space safely and confidently, find out more about the Unity Breathwork Training here.
