Grof® Breathwork Weekend Workshop

There are many forms of breathwork available today that offer techniques for relaxation, nervous system regulation, stress reduction, or physical vitality. This is something completely different.

Grof® Breathwork is an invitation to go somewhere deeper.

You may encounter forgotten experiences.

You may move through powerful emotions.

You may experience profound physical release.

You may encounter symbolic or archetypal imagery.

You may experience a sense of connection, unity, or transcendence.

Or your journey may be something entirely different.

There is no "right" experience.

There is no predetermined destination and no experience you are expected to have. Your psyche determines the journey.

The structure of this weekend is intentionally similar to an immersive psychedelic retreat: preparation, a carefully held inner journey, time for reflection and integration, and a supportive community around the experience. The primary difference is the modality. Instead of a psychedelic substance, the breath becomes the catalyst.

You will have the opportunity to experience one facilitated Grof® Breathwork session as a breather and one as a sitter, allowing you to experience both sides of the process. The weekend will also include preparation, facilitated group time, and opportunities to begin making meaning of what emerges.

Friday, March 12, 2027

5:30 PM: Arrival and Registration

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Opening Circle, Introduction to Grof Theory, Breathwork Preparation

Saturday, March 13, 2026

8:00 AM: Arrival

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Breathwork Session 1

12:30 - 2:00 PM: Lunch break

2:00 - 5:30 PM: Breathwork Session 2

6:00 - 7:30 PM: Sharing Group(s)

Sunday, March 14, 2026

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Sharing Circle & Closing

Participants are required to attend the full workshop.

This is a non-residential workshop. Participants are responsible for coordinating and paying for their own lodging, food, and transportation.

Food

There are plentiful food options within walking distance of the venue, including the next door Hip Vegan restaurant. Other local favorites include Little Sama, The Nest, Sakura, The Dutchess, and Yume. There are also a few grocery stores nearby including Rainbow Bridge, Westridge Market, and VONS.

Lodging

If you live outside of the area, there are several lodging options. There are boutique hotels in the main area, including The Ojai Valley Inn, Chantico Inn, and The Lavender Inn. You may also find Airbnbs throughout Ojai, Meiner's Oaks, Oak View, and Ventura. If you prefer to camp, Camp Comfort is a great option. Regardless of where you stay, we recommend being within a 30-minute drive of the venue, as the expansive nature of Grof Breathwork can make longer drives taxing.

Grof® Breathwork is a transformative experience designed to facilitate deep self-exploration and healing. Due to the intense physical and emotional nature of the practice, certain health conditions may pose risks during breathwork sessions. To ensure the safety and well-being of all participants, please review our health considerations before registering for a workshop. You may also view our health questionnaire prior to registration.

We strive to create a welcome and inclusive community that engenders a sense of belonging, respect, openness, and safety in order to facilitate a personally meaningful process for each participant.  Our intent is to support all participants in their work of self-exploration and discovery. Thus, limited sliding scale opportunities are available. Please inquire directly with Gianna at gianna@grof-legacy-training-usa.com.

The workshop will be supported by the following lead facilitators, and will also be comprised of apprentices from the training program.

Jay Dufrechou

Jay Dufrechou, J.D., PhD is the Director of Grof Legacy Training USA, the United States branch of the international training organization founded in 2020 by Stanislav and Brigitte Grof. Along with Marianne Murray, Jay leads the teaching and facilitation team for Grof Breathwork training programs in the US.

In the mid-90s, while working as an attorney, experiences of “spiritual emergence” changed Jay’s understanding of the cosmos and led him to the doctoral program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP), now Sofia University, to follow and integrate his experiences. Earning a Ph.D. in 2002 in Transpersonal Psychology, Jay has taught for various transpersonal-related schools and supervised dissertation research, often involving Stan Grof’s work.

Jay first experienced Stan Grof’s Breathwork in 1995, immediately realizing the power of the technique for personal growth and healing. He came back to breathwork in the mid-2000s and started the facilitator training path in 2009, receiving certification in 2015. He has worked as a holotropic breathwork and Grof Breathwork facilitator across the US, as well as in the UK, Europe, Canada, India and China.

When not traveling for work in Grof programs, Jay divides his time between Helena, Montana, and Panama City Beach, Florida, where he lives with his partner Rob Sharp. Jay is the proud father of three children and “papa” to three grandchildren.

Marianne Murray

Marianne is an eclectic and experiential practitioner in the field of learning. Her academic studies include master’s degrees in transpersonal psychology and mindfulness-based psychotherapy and a doctoral degree in transformative learning and change in human systems. Integral to her work has been her training with Stanislav Grof – she completed the Grof Transpersonal Training in 2001, is a certified GROF® Breathwork facilitator, and has facilitated holotropic breathwork in the US, UK and Europe, Kenya, and India. She is certified also as a facilitator of Bert Hellinger’s systemic constellation work and completed her training as a massage therapist, both of which inform her practice as a facilitator.

Marianne had the good fortune to study with Stan during the mid-1990s, both in breathwork training and as a student at CIIS. Living into Stan’s insights on the nature of consciousness and his cartography of consciousness catalyzed not only deep personal healing, but also radically informed her work with group facilitation in the field of personal learning and change.

A faculty member at the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Marianne has been intimately involved with the development of their Leading by Being curriculum and helped to establish the Academy’s overall pedagogy. Topics that motivate her include: somatic awareness as an integral aspect of learning (and un-learning) as we explore unconscious, and semi-conscious, beliefs and biases. The role of facilitator presence in individual and group learning and healing. Now in her mid-70s she can’t help but ask, too, what is the conscious completion of a life’s journey?

Marianne is senior faculty/teacher for the GROF® Legacy Training USA, serves on the Board of Directors for GROF® Legacy Project, and is a Mind and Life Fellow.

Colleen Reid

Colleen Reid is a certified Grof® Breathwork Facilitator, Spiritual Emergence Coach®, and Integration Coach, and serves as one of three senior faculty members of Grof® Legacy Training USA.

She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Dartmouth College and a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University. Before turning her full attention to work with consciousness and transformation, Colleen spent many years in environmental conservation through fieldwork, research, nonprofit leadership, and consulting. From 1997 to 2002, she also competed internationally in skeleton at the World Cup and Olympic levels.

Colleen’s life was profoundly transformed in February 2014 by a spontaneous spiritual awakening and period of deep spiritual emergence. The experience permanently changed her understanding of consciousness, self, and the sacred, and ultimately redirected the course of her life. During this period, she discovered Holotropic® Breathwork and credits the work not with causing, but with catalyzing, her awakening.

In 2014, Colleen began intensive training in the Grof lineage and was certified in Holotropic Breathwork and Transpersonal Psychology through Grof Transpersonal Training® in 2015. Her additional studies include certification in Spiritual Emergence Coaching® through IMHU and a year-long program in global mysticism with Andrew Harvey and Mirabai Starr. She later founded BodhiBreath®, offering teaching, spiritual emergence coaching, psychedelic integration, and breathwork workshops.

Today, Colleen’s work with Grof® Legacy Training USA is the central focus of her professional life, where she teaches, facilitates, and mentors new generations of practitioners. She brings to this work both extensive training and lived experience with expanded states of consciousness. Her deepest passion is creating safe, grounded spaces in which people can access the innate healing intelligence of the psyche and discover the transformative potential of their own inner process.