Cacao & Microdose Facilitator Training
A nervous system informed approach to ceremony
Feel called to facilitate cacao and microdosing (psylocybin) ceremonies in a way that is safe, embodied and grounded?
Working with plant medicine asks for more than technique. It asks for presence, sensitivity and an understanding of what happens in the body, the brain and the nervous system.
Cacao and microdosing have long been used to support healing, insight and connection by gently opening awareness and making the unseen visible.
In this upcoming facilitator training, you’ll learn how to work with cacao and microdosing in a conscious and responsible way. You’ll explore how these medicines affect the brain and states of consciousness, what is known from scientific and therapeutic research, and how plant medicine can support healing when held with care.
We bridge ancient ceremonial wisdom with modern understanding, weaving together plant medicine, somatic practices, nervous system awareness and ethical space-holding; so ceremonies are not about intensity, but about depth and integration.
Ready to dive deep into the art of holding ceremonies?
Reserve your spot and take the first step into conscious, embodied facilitation.
Information
- Duration
8 days
- Start date
Friday April 10th
- Dates 2026
Training Dates:
April 10th-12th: Friday, Saturday & Sunday
May 1sh-3rd: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
May 28th & 29th: Thursday, Friday
Zoom sessions:
May 17 at 20.00 Zoom session with Merel
April 18 at 20.00 Zoom session with Merel
- Course hours
Course hours: daily 10:00-17:00
- Price
€1,650.- incl. VAT (€1,363.64 excl. VAT)
Now with a temporarily Early-bird discount of €121,- with the code: EARLYBIRD-CACAO-APRIL
- Included
- 6 Class Card to support your own practice
- 4-week Zoom guided microdosing journey
- You’ll have the opportunity to assist in cacao and microdose ceremonies after completing the cacao & microdose facilitator training
- Certificering
- Level
You don’t need a previous diploma
A grounded and nervous system informed approach to ceremony
Cacao and microdosing have long been trusted as support for healing, insight and connection, softly widening awareness and illuminating what usually stays unseen.
Rather than focusing on peak experiences or dramatic shifts, this training invites a slower, more attuned way of working. We explore how transformation is supported through context: how experiences are prepared, guided and integrated into daily life.
You’ll learn how safety, regulation and nervous system readiness shape engagement in ceremonial spaces; knowing 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.
In this way, ceremony becomes a space where perception can shift gently, awareness deepens, and insight can arise without force.
Healing, in this view, is not created by a substance alone, but by how experiences are held and integrated over time.
What makes this 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 classes/workshops after completing the cacao & microdose facilitator training
✓ Trusted training institute with over 10 years of experience in yoga, meditation, breathwork and facilitator trainings
✓ Ceremonial work that gently opens awareness, allowing what is unseen to become felt, met and integrated
✓ Gently opening awareness, making the unseen visible for integration
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.
sign upMeet 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
Who is the Cacao & Microdosing Facilator Training for?
This training is for you if you: ✓ Feel drawn to facilitating cacao and/or microdosing ceremonies in a grounded and ethical way; ✓ Already guide groups or individuals (for example as a yoga teacher, bodyworker, coach or facilitator) and want to deepen your skills in holding ceremonial space; ✓ Are interested in working with plant medicine without pushing experiences, but by creating supportive conditions for awareness and transformation; ✓ Feel called to deepen your own presence, embodied leadership and facilitation skills; 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 YoganetwerkLocation
The DNYS Academie Cacao & Microdose Training takes place at De Nieuwe Yogaschool in Amsterdam. This will be your second home during your training days. You’re always welcome at our beautiful historic school with its bright studios and community living room of the DNYS Café.
De Nieuwe Yogaschool Laurierstraat 109 1016 PL Amsterdam
You can easily get there from Central Station, walking (15 minutes) or by public transport.
Public transport
From Central Station take tram 13 or 17, get off at Rozengracht – Marnixstraat stop (two minutes walk)
Parking
Prefer to come by car? Q-parking is around the corner and is a 15-minute walk. Q-parking Marnixstraat 250 1016 TL Amsterdam
Free intake call
Do you have questions or are you unsure if the training is right for you? You’re always welcome for a free personal intake call to discover if we are a fit. No strings attached.
Discover
In our studios in Amsterdam and Leeuwarden
Yoga as Medicine for the Modern Mind
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Hypnotic Harp Cacao Concert (with optional mini dose of psilocybin)
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Tantric Manifestation Ceremony For The New Year (Womens Only) with heartwarming cacao with Afke
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New Year Truffle Ceremony with Merel
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Gratis evenement: Nieuwjaars Soul & Sound Healing met Margaretha en Rene
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4-week Advanced Ayurveda Training (deepening of the first series) with Jolijn
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Core Intelligence & Awareness: The Art of Moving from Within (January 22nd & 29th)
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New Year Grounding Circle with Carmen
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Women's Ceremony with Ella
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Yogatherapie opleiding – Start 24 Januari
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Basisopleiding Yogatherapie
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Vinyasa Yoga Opleiding – 200 uur
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Vinyasa Yoga Opleiding – 200 uur – Start 24 Januari
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Verbinding met de Engelen – Een middag van Licht, Liefde en Bescherming met Margaretha (Dutch)
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Zwangerschapsyoga INSCHRIJVING ALLEEN VIA THE HOUSE OF BALANCE (zie link onder 'BOOK NOW')
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Tantra Introduction with Stef: a Journey to Feel,Flow and Connect
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Yoga Nidra & Healing the Inner Elements with Moena
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Yoga Nidra & Healing the Inner Elements with Moena 11, 12 & 13 of February (30 hr)
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The Foundation of Alignment: Understanding the Architecture of Asana with Kim
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Heart Fire: Soul-Activation Retreat Day with Simon
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Women's Ceremony with Ella
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Yin Yoga Opleiding – 200 uur
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Yin Yoga Opleiding – 200 uur – Start 21 Februari
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Nervous System Winter Rituals with Andres Galindo
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Face Yoga with Debbie
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Moon Immersion with Hoyte
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