Level 3

MOVE + BREATHE + FEEL + HEAL

Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice (ISTP)™

Training in Breathwork & Bioenergetic Unwinding

Breath, Emotions, Energy, and the Body

October 5th. - 11th., 2026

At Pacific Shores, Nanoose Bay, BC Canada

A 7-Day Immersion Training and Healing Retreat

Designed to deepen personal healing while cultivating professional competence through experiential learning, clinical application, and supervised practice.

TRAINING IS NOW FULL

TUITION

$3,500 CAD

…..

[Accepting 10 Students ]

Integrative Somatic Breathwork Certification

The greatest teachings are revealed through the journey of healing oneself. As we courageously meet our wounds, embrace our humanity, and open to transformation, we awaken a deeper wisdom that lives beyond knowledge and technique. This wisdom is born through experience, nurtured through self-compassion, and refined through presence.

Ratha Chek

Founder of ISTP

The Art of Self-Inquiry, Embodiment, and Felt Wisdom — One Breath at a Time

Breath is the bridge between the seen and the unseen, the body and the soul. It carries the story of our inner experience, revealing what words alone cannot express. When we bring loving awareness to the breath, we begin to listen more deeply—to the wisdom of the body, the whispers of the heart, and the guidance of our deeper knowing. As we soften into presence, the breath becomes a doorway to healing, self-discovery, and transformation.

Life’s challenges, losses, and unresolved wounds can leave energetic imprints within us, shaping how we feel, relate, and move through the world. Through conscious breathwork, we gently awaken the body’s innate healing intelligence, creating space for held emotions, forgotten memories, and stagnant energy to surface, be witnessed, and released. In this sacred process, we reconnect with felt wisdom—the living intelligence that speaks through sensation, emotion, movement, intuition, and energy.

Upon completing ISTP™ Levels 1 and 2, the invitation is to turn inward and embrace the path of healing yourself. Before we can fully guide others on their healing journey, we are called to walk our own. The deeper our capacity to meet ourselves with honesty, compassion, and courage, the more authentically we can accompany others in their unfolding.

Within a safe and heart-centred healing circle, you are invited into a journey of self-inquiry, embodiment, and awakening. Together, we create sacred space to explore and release patterns that no longer serve, heal old wounds, cultivate resilience, and deepen connection with self, others, and the greater flow of life. As layers of protection soften and the heart opens, a profound remembering becomes possible—a return to the truth of who you are beneath the stories, the conditioning, and the pain.

Each breath is an invitation. Each moment of awareness, a step toward wholeness.

Ratha Chek

Founder of ISTP

Integrative Somatic Breathwork & Bioenergetic Unwinding

Integrative Somatic Breathwork™

A Journey of De-Armouring, Embodiment, and Soul Retrieval

This immersive training is designed to deepen personal healing while cultivating the knowledge, skills, and embodied presence required to facilitate transformative healing work. Through experiential learning, clinical application, and supervised practice, participants develop both personal insight and professional competence.

Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ is a transformative practice that supports the release of body-held trauma and unconscious patterns of protection that may limit emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. Often referred to as “armouring,” these protective patterns develop in response to overwhelming experiences and are held within the body as chronic muscular tension, restricted breathing, and habitual emotional suppression.

During times of stress or trauma, the breath naturally becomes shallow as a means of protecting the nervous system from emotional overwhelm. Over time, these adaptive responses may become embodied as unconscious holding patterns that restrict vitality, emotional expression, and authentic connection to self.

Drawing upon the pioneering work of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich and his theory of segmental armouring, Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ explores the seven primary regions of the body where unresolved emotional experiences may be held. Participants learn to recognize the physical, emotional, and energetic expressions associated with each segment, bringing awareness to long-held tensions and protective patterns that often exist beyond conscious awareness. For Reich’s article, view HERE

Rooted in the ancient yogic practice of Pranayama, meaning “expansion and regulation of life force through breath,” breathwork has long been recognized as a pathway to heightened awareness, healing, and spiritual awakening. Within the ISTP™ framework, conscious breathing serves as a gateway to emotional release, nervous system regulation, expanded self-awareness, and deeper connection to one’s innate healing intelligence.

As physical and emotional armouring begins to soften, energy may flow more freely throughout the body’s seven primary energy centres, or chakras. This process supports greater harmony between body, mind, and spirit, fostering a profound reconnection to one’s authentic self. Many participants describe this experience as a remembering—a return to wholeness and a reclamation of aspects of self that have been hidden beneath layers of protection. Within ISTP™, this process is understood as a journey of soul retrieval and integration.

Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ combines conscious breathing practices with movement, sound, myofascial release, and bioenergetic unwinding to facilitate the safe release of emotional and physiological holding patterns. Guided by the principles of titration, pendulation, resourcing, and self-regulation, the process honours each participant’s unique pace and capacity. Rather than revisiting trauma through intellectual analysis alone, participants are invited to engage directly with embodied experience, allowing emotions, sensations, and insights to emerge organically and safely.

Through this work, individuals develop the capacity to recognize and release unconscious patterns of suppressing, avoiding, numbing, controlling, or disconnecting from their experience. In doing so, they cultivate greater emotional resilience, self-awareness, presence, and freedom.

Level 3 Certification Training

Level 3 is an immersive seven-day certification training held on Vancouver Island for students who have successfully completed ISTP™ Levels 1 and 2.

The certification program includes:

Seven days experiential immersion training
twenty two online learning modules
Forty-two hours of documented practicum experience
Seven group consultation and mentorship online sessions
Ongoing mentorship and professional support as needed

Certification in Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ is awarded upon successful completion of the seven-day immersion training and forty-two documented practicum hours.

Group consultation, supervision, and mentorship are provided separately at a fee of CAD $500 and are not included in the tuition.

Enrollment is limited to ten participants to ensure a safe, supportive, and deeply experiential learning environment. Registration closes once capacity is reached.

At Pacific Shores, Nanoose Bay, BC Canada, View HERE

1600 Strougler Rd. Nanoose Bay BC V9P 9B7

Daily Practice & Integration

Each morning begins with guided breathwork and meditation practices designed to enhance somatic awareness, regulate the nervous system, and support embodied presence prior to training activities. This consistent daily practice provides a foundation for experiential learning and clinical application throughout the program.

As the day closes, participants are invited to unwind and integrate their experience in spaciousness and ease. Evenings are intentionally unstructured to allow time for rest, integration, and personal reflection. Participants are also encouraged to engage with the natural environment surrounding Pacific Shores Resort & Spa as part of their overall training experience.

Date & Time Details

Arrival: October 4th
Departure: October 12th

Daily program schedule: View HERE
Accommodation: View HERE

Healing begins with awareness. Transformation begins with a single breath

Ratha Chek

Founder of ISTP

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ Certification Training, participants will be able to:

Develop an understanding of the anatomy and physiology of breathing, including the therapeutic applications of breathwork and key pressure points utilized in de-armouring practices.
Explore Wilhelm Reich’s theory of segmental armouring and explain the rationale for protective responses held within the seven primary areas of tension throughout the body.
Describe the foundational principles and core components of Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ and its application in facilitating emotional release and trauma integration.
Identify patterns of energetic activation and emotional charge within the body and understand how these manifest through sensation, movement, posture, and breath.
Cultivate the ability to discern when to facilitate expansion, resourcing, containment, integration, and discharge within a breathwork session.
Conduct comprehensive body-based assessments and collaboratively develop trauma-informed care plans that honour the unique needs, strengths, and healing goals of each client.
Design and facilitate meaningful rituals and ceremonies that support healing, transformation, intention-setting, and integration through the creative use of heart-centered presence and imagination.
Apply Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ techniques to facilitate de-armouring processes within the seven primary segments of tension held in the body.
Strengthen clinical and facilitation skills through a minimum of 48 hours of documented practice sessions, supported by group consultation, supervision, and reflective learning.
Deepen personal embodiment and self-awareness through participation in individual ISTP™ healing sessions facilitated by experienced faculty trainers

Program Components

Online self-directed learning modules
Eight-day in-person experiential training
48 hours of documented practicum experience
Seven group consultation and mentorship sessions
Personal ISTP™ sessions with faculty members as needed
Ongoing mentorship and integration support

This training is designed to cultivate both professional competence and personal transformation, recognizing that the most meaningful healing work emerges through the integration of knowledge, embodied practice, self-awareness, and lived experience.

COURSE CONTENT, View HERE

Prerequisites

Learners must have successfully completed the following requirements prior to enrolling in Level 3 Certification Training:

Completion of ISTP™ Level 1
Completion of ISTP™ Level 2
Completion of the Bodywork Certification Program (View Here)

Level 3 Certification Requirements

To be awarded Certification in Integrative Somatic Breathwork™ (C-ISTP™), participants must successfully complete all of the following requirements:

Complete 24 online self-study course modules
Attend and participate in the 7-day immersive retreat training
Complete a minimum of 48 hours of documented practicum sessions*
Participate in online clinical group consultation and supervision sessions with Ratha Chek
Receive and experience personal ISTP™ sessions as part of the training process
Demonstrate competency in the application of ISTP™ principles and practices

Practicum Requirements

The required 48 hours of documented practicum experience may be obtained through one or more of the following:

Practice sessions within your training cohort
Practice sessions with friends, colleagues, or community members
Sessions conducted with your own clients, where appropriate and within your professional scope of practice

Certification Outcomes

Upon successful completion of all Level 3 requirements, graduates may:

Use the professional designation Certified in ISTP™ (C-ISTP™)
Refer to themselves as Trained in Integrative Somatic Breathwork™
Integrate ISTP™ principles and breathwork practices into their existing professional work, where appropriate to their training and scope of practice
Apply for advanced mentorship and professional development opportunities within the Institute
Pursue a pathway toward becoming an ISTP™ Faculty Trainer, subject to additional training, experience, and Institute approval

Level 3 represents both a professional certification and a personal journey of transformation. Through dedicated study, embodied practice, supervision, and self-exploration, participants deepen their capacity to facilitate healing while continuing their own path of growth, integration, and self-discovery.

At the heart of ISTP™ is the understanding that the deepest learning comes through direct experience. Your personal healing journey is the ground from which wisdom, compassion, and embodied presence emerge. As you develop a deeper relationship with your own emotional, physical, and spiritual healing, you strengthen your capacity to support others with authenticity and integrity. In this way, healing becomes both a personal practice and a sacred responsibility—one that is informed by experience, guided by self-awareness, and rooted in compassion.