8-Day Cacao & Microdose Facilitator Training
A nervous system informed approach to ceremony
Cacao and microdosing (psilocybin) have long been used for inner exploration, insight and connection by gently opening awareness.
In this facilitator training, you learn how to work with these medicines in a conscious and responsible way. We explore their effects on the brain, nervous system and states of consciousness, what research shows, and how – when held with care – they can support a shift from habitual patterns into embodied awareness.
Ceremony has existed across cultures as a way to pause, listen and reconnect. Today, more people feel drawn to these spaces, yet guiding them asks for clarity and responsibility.
This 8 day training brings both worlds together: the depth of ceremonial practice and a grounded, nervous system-aware approach to facilitation.
We weave plant medicine, somatic practices and ethical space-holding into a clear framework, so ceremonies are not about intensity, but about depth and integration.
Information
- Duration
8 days
- Start
April 10th
- Dates
10–12 Apr | Fri–Sun
1–3 May | Fri–Sun
28–29 May | Thu–Fri4-Week microdosing journey sessions
18 Apr | 20:00 | Zoom session with Merel
17 May | 20:00 | Zoom session with MerelNot the right moment just yet?
Leave your details here and we’ll let you know when new start dates are announced.- Course hours
10:00-17:00
- Price
€ 1,650.- incl. VAT (and € 1.363.64 excl. VAT)
Now with a special Early Bird discount for the first 5 participants of € 121
Early Bird (5/5): sold out.
- Included
- 8-Day Facilitator Training
- 4-Week Zoom guided microdosing journey
- Cacao ceremony
- Microdose ceremony
- The opportunity to assist in cacao and microdose ceremonies after completing this training
- Certification
- Level
You don’t need a previous diploma
When you feel called to hold space
People are drawn to this training for different reasons.
For some, a ceremony or circle once touched something meaningful. For others, the wish grows while guiding yoga, coaching, bodywork or community spaces. And for many, the motivation is personal: a desire to understand your own inner process more clearly, to deepen what you have experienced in ceremony, and to learn presence first with yourself and perhaps later with others.
You may feel curious about what it means to hold such a space yourself. This training supports that step carefully and gradually. It honours both the depth of ceremony and the responsibility of guiding others.
You don’t have to already be a facilitator, and you don’t have to have everything figured out.
A sincere interest in awareness, presence and human connection is enough.
A grounded and nervous system informed approach to ceremony
Cacao and microdosing have long been used for inner exploration, insight and connection, softly widening awareness and illuminating what usually stays unseen.
Rather than pushing experiences, this training invites a gradual movement from conditioning to conscious embodiment. Plant medicine supports this process, while safety, presence and integration form the foundation.
You’ll learn how safety, regulation and nervous system readiness shape how participants move through ceremonial experiences. You’ll know when to slow down, when to invite reflection, and when subtlety is more supportive than intensity.
Cacao is approached as a heart-opening plant ally for presence and connection. Microdosing is explored as a supportive catalyst, helping to make unconscious patterns visible and create space for awareness and integration over time.
What makes this Facilitator Training unique?
✓ An immersive 8-day training that balances personal experience, facilitation skills and nervous system informed practice
✓ Learn from an experienced, interdisciplinary teaching team of five facilitators with years of expertise in cacao, microdosing, somatic work, nervous system regulation and ceremonial space-holding
✓ A grounded and ethical approach to plant medicine, rooted in consent, pacing, safety and integration rather than intensity
✓ Trauma-informed and nervous system aware, supporting autonomy, regulation and readiness in ceremonial settings
✓ Held in a beautiful, inspiring location in the heart of Amsterdam
✓ The opportunity to assist in DNYS cacao & microdosing ceremonies after completing the training
✓ Trusted training institute with over 10 years of experience in yoga, meditation, breathwork and facilitator trainings
✓ Ceremonial work that gently opens awareness, supporting the journey from conditioning to conscious embodiment
Meet our teachers
Merel Maria Meessen
Merel Maria Meessen works at the intersection of yoga, breathwork, nervous system awareness and plant medicine. With over fifteen years of personal experience working with psilocybin truffles, she has been guiding ceremonies since 2020, including high-dose truffle ceremonies as well as mini-dosing and Yin-based ceremonies at De Nieuwe Yogaschool. Music and singing are a natural part of her work, supporting depth, presence and connection.
Also teacher in:
Various workshops
Marjolein Vos
Marjolein facilitates monthly cacao and truffle ceremonies at De Nieuwe Yogaschool. In her monthly sessions, she weaves together Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga and ceremonial cacao to support deep states of relaxation, presence and embodied awareness. Her work is grounded, gentle and attuned, creating spaces where participants feel safe to rest, reflect and soften.
Also teacher in:
Various workshops
Mariken Hogenhout
Mariken is co-founder of De Nieuwe Yogaschool and has dedicated her work to exploring how awareness, embodiment and the nervous system shape our capacity for growth and healing. Drawing from meditation, trauma-informed practice, ethics and consciousness studies, she creates spaces where depth can unfold without overwhelm.
Founder of DNYS Academie. Also founder in:
Basisopleiding yogatherapie, Ademcoach opleiding, Meditatie tot Zelfrealisatie training, Online 100-uur Yin opleiding
Charlotte Simons
Charlotte Simons is a medically trained physician and integrative practitioner who brings a unique bridge between Western science, holistic healing and somatic experience. After graduating as a medical doctor in 2011, she spent seven years working as a military physician, where she developed a deep understanding of how stress and physical load affect the body and nervous system. This experience led her to pursue yoga training and later integrative therapies such as acupuncture and complementary care.
Also teacher in:
Basisopleiding Yogatherapie, Vinyasa yoga opleiding, Yin yoga opleiding
Arben Sinani
Next to teaching different types of yoga, Arben facilitates transformative sound journeys that help quiet the mind and release tension from the body, creating space for inner stillness and balance to arise naturally. Within the Cacao & Microdosing Facilitator Training, Arben hosts a workshop on the magic of sound healing to support deeper transformation within a safe space.
Also teacher in:
Various workshops and trainings
A profound personal journey
While this is professional facilitator training, it is also a deeply personal path. Over 8 days, you will: ✓ sit in multiple ceremonies ✓ experience guided inner journeys ✓ explore your own relationship to cacao and microdosing. Before you guide others, you first travel inward. That’s the reason this training is not only focussed skill-building, but also on your personal integration and development.
Building experience and confidence as a spaceholder
Completing the training is not the end of the learning process. We recognize that confidence and clarity as a facilitator grow through experience and continued practice. After finishing the program, you are invited to join our monthly cacao and microdosing ceremonies as a spaceholder. This offers the opportunity to deepen your understanding of the work, observe and assist experienced facilitators, and continue learning within a supportive and grounded setting.
This training is for you if you
✓ You feel drawn to circles or ceremonial spaces – such as cacao ceremonies, meditation groups or women’s circles – and want to learn how to hold them in a grounded way. ✓ You may already guide yoga, coaching, bodywork or circles; or you simply feel ready to step into a more active role. ✓ You want to learn to facilitate in a grounded and ethical way. ✓ You are interested in plant medicine as a path of awareness and connection, not intensity or spectacle. ✓ You long to deepen your own presence, embodied leadership and inner stability, whether or not you plan to facilitate professionally right away.
Sign up
Certification
Students who complete the training receive a diploma and can officially register with Het Nieuwe Yoganetwerk.
View Het Nieuwe YoganetwerkInvestment
The investment for the Cacao & Microdose Facilitator Training is € 1,650.- incl. VAT (and € 1.363.64 excl. VAT).
Would you like to pay in installments? Feel free to send your request to administratie@denieuweyogaschool.nl
Location
The Cacao & Microdose Facilitator Training takes place at DNYS Academie, part of De Nieuwe Yogaschool in Amsterdam. This will be your second home during your training days. At our beautiful historic school you will always find a place where you are welcome. Relax in our bright studios, or unwind and connect in the community living room of DNYS Café and enjoy some delicious homemade food.
De Nieuwe Yogaschool
Laurierstraat 109
1016 PL Amsterdam
From Amsterdam Central Station
– Walking: approx. 15 minutes
– Public transport: tram 13 or 17, get off at Rozengracht / Marnixstraat (2 minutes walk)
By car
– Parking is available on the street or at Q-Park Marnixstraat (approx. 15 minutes walk):
Marnixstraat 250, 1016 TL Amsterdam
Frequently asked questions
Yes, all classes are in English.
Our instructors do speak Dutch as well, so if anything is unclear during the training, don’t hesitate to ask.
Not necessarily. Many participants feel drawn to facilitating women’s circles, while others wish to work in mixed groups, one-on-one sessions, yoga settings or therapeutic contexts. The training focuses on how to create safe and intentional ceremonial space. The form you give it afterwards can be your own.
8 Days. The training is an intensive where practice and theory are combined to professionally train you as a nervous system informed ceremony facilitator.
During the course, there are various moments when you, as a student, practice facilitation under supervision. You will receive constructive feedback on this. There is no official exam.
Yes. Upon completion of the training, you’ll receive a certificate from Het Nieuwe Yoganetwerk.
Het Nieuwe Yoganetwerk is the network of yoga teachers, trainers and coaches educated through De Nieuwe Yogaschool. Both the training institute and the network share core values of safety, connection, integrity and equality.
Would you like to know more? Visit the website of Het Nieuwe Yoganetwerk for additional information.
The training takes place at De Nieuwe Yogaschool in Amsterdam.
Location:
De Nieuwe Yogaschool
Laurierstraat 109
1016 PL Amsterdam
We recommend wearing comfortable, soft clothing that allows you to move easily and sit comfortably for longer periods.
In our studios, we practice barefoot or in socks, so we advise bringing a pair of warm socks, especially during colder days.
Microdosing refers to taking very small amounts of a psychoactive substance – in this training, psilocybin truffles – in a way that does not cause strong perceptual changes or hallucinations.
Microdosing is often used to gently support awareness, reflection and presence, while staying fully grounded and functional. In this training, microdosing is approached responsibly with education and clear ethical boundaries.
Ceremonial cacao is pure, minimally processed cacao that has traditionally been used in ceremonial and community settings.
Cacao is known for its heart-opening qualities and its ability to support presence, connection and embodied awareness. In this training, cacao is used as a gentle plant ally to support inner exploration and ceremonial space-holding.
No. Microdosing is always optional.
You can fully participate in the training without microdosing. The focus of the training is on facilitation, space-holding and embodied awareness, not on personal use of substances.
For those who choose to explore microdosing, the training includes an optional 4-week microdosing journey, supported by guidance and reflection moments in between the training weekends.
A nervous system informed approach means that we take into account how the body and nervous system respond to experiences, stimulation and change.
In practice, this means learning how safety, pacing, regulation and choice support depth and inner exploration. Rather than pushing experiences, we work with attunement, presence and respect for individual boundaries.
Yes. This training is suitable for people who are new to facilitation as well as those who already have experience.
You don’t need to see yourself as a “facilitator” yet. Curiosity, openness and a willingness to learn are more important than experience.
No prior experience is required.
All practices are introduced carefully and accessibly, and participation in microdosing is always optional. The training is designed to meet you where you are.
Yes. Participants may join to deepen their understanding of ceremonial work, embodied awareness and conscious facilitation, even if they don’t plan to facilitate professionally right away.
The training can support both personal development and future facilitation.
Yes. After completing the training, there may be opportunities to gain experience by assisting or holding space during selected cacao and microdosing ceremonies at De Nieuwe Yogaschool.
These opportunities are offered based on readiness and availability.
Psilocybin truffles are generally safe, and no prior experience with truffles or plant medicine is required. However, there are certain situations in which the use of truffles is advised against.
Please read the contra-indications carefully. Let us know in advance if any of these apply to you, or if you have doubts.
If you take any medication, please inform us by email beforehand so we can check for possible interactions. Your information will be treated confidentially and shared only with facilitator Merel, if necessary.
You can read more about psilocybin and contra-indications here.
If you’re unsure whether one of these indications applies to you, feel free to reach out so one of the facilitators can explore the possibilities with you.
Email: mariken@denieuweyogaschool.nl
Sneak preview workbook
Curious about what you will be learning? Receive a preview of the workbook and get a sneak peek into the Cacao & Microdose Facilitator training.
Free intake call
Are you unsure whether the Cacao & Microdose Facilitator training is right for you at this moment? You’re very welcome to book a free personal intake call to discover if we are a good fit, no strings attached. We are happy to help you decide.