For Montessori Guides, educators and parents ready to become the prepared adult children need most.
Through neuroscience, Montessori philosophy, emotional awareness and embodied breathwork, you'll learn to confidently guide children through regulation, while building your own presence and awareness.
Early childhood experiences leave imprints that can last a lifetime.
And because of this, our ability to hold space for the child in our care, react with greater awareness, and understand their needs is a crucial skill to cultivate.
Maybe you worry that your own energy, your own fast pace, is quietly shaping their experience. Or maybe you've already done enough inner work to feel grounded and steady, but don't know how to translate that into an environment that could best serve a child. Now you want the children in your care to feel what you've learned to feel for yourself: truly seen, held, and honored.
Natalia Bennett
Founder, Happy Breathing® · Creator of the SomaFlowBreath Method
Natalia Bennett, the founder of Happy Breathing, is a seasoned educator, facilitator, and leader. She has been the Director of Mountain West Montessori School in El Paso for over 25 years. She holds a postgraduate degree in Montessori Education and is a certified Montessori guide specializing in early childhood development.
Natalia is also certified in Somatic Breathwork, Transformational Breathwork, and is the creator of the SomaFlowBreath Method. Her life's mission is connecting adults and children deeply through the transformative practices of Montessori education combined with the healing and empowering force of the breath. Natalia resides in El Paso, Texas, with her husband and four amazing children. She enjoys painting, hiking, and cooking with her family, embracing life's beauty through mindful living.
- 25+ years, Director of Mountain West Montessori School
- Postgraduate degree, Montessori Education
- Certified Somatic & Transformational Breathwork Facilitator
- Creator of the SomaFlowBreath Method
Built for the adults children learn regulation from.
Not for those looking for quick behavior-management techniques without personal transformation.
A path of transformation, for the adult first.
You will embark on a broad range of coursework that will guide you to make a child feel truly seen, heard, and worthy — a gift that instills lifelong resilience, autonomy, and creativity. Before you learn to guide the children in your care, this work is designed to resource, ground, and shift you first.
Loving Inquiry — the sequence at the heart of the Happy Breathing Method
A way of accompanying a child through challenging emotions and moving them outward, rather than suppressing or managing them away. Children learn to feel a sensation, name the emotion attached to it, connect it to the need underneath, and choose a breath pattern to move toward the state they need.
Sensation
Notice what the body feels, before any story is attached to it.
Emotion
Put language to the sensation, expanding awareness of the inner world.
Need
Connect the emotion to the human need underneath it.
Regulation
Choose a breath pattern to move toward the state that's needed.
The foundation of our work
Prepare the Adult
The prepared adult is the foundation of the prepared environment. Building your capacity so children feel safe, seen, and held.
The Body is the Centerpiece
Wisdom is lived through the body, not isolated in the mind. We cultivate interoception and full-body sensation first.
We Follow the Child
Rooted in Montessori philosophy — allowing the child to follow their own curiosity when picking any direction.
Curiosity, not Correction
We meet sensation, emotion, breath, and need with curiosity rather than correction.
Two ways to bring it to children
Full classroom album
A complete educational album that resources you with presentations, environment-prep recommendations, and personal preparations — paired with video demonstrations of every breath pattern and an audio playlist to run your sessions.
Individual guide
A step-by-step guide walks you through working with an individual child, at home or in the classroom — including how to prepare the environment so a child can eventually work with the materials on their own.
Online coursework
Six modules are unlocked every two weeks, presented in tandem with:
- Six live Saturday sessions at 8am MDT (every two weeks)
- Downloadable documents and practical tools
- Written reflection and integration assignments
- A full year of continued community, learning, and support
In-person retreat & certification
Our culminating event — a four-day in-person retreat where you'll embody the methodology for a full weekend: integrate SomaFlowBreath practices into daily life, take part in four full breath sessions for deeper embodiment and alignment, and practice Happy Breathing facilitation sessions (group & 1-on-1) as you develop fluency, receive feedback, and earn your official certification.
Six modules. One transformation.
Becoming the Prepared Adult
Explore the foundations of the Happy Breathing philosophy, Montessori principles, nervous system regulation, and why the adult is the most important part of the prepared environment.
Sensations Before Emotions
Learn how children experience sensations before they experience emotions. Practice using the Sensation Cards to develop interoception, body awareness and observation.
Naming the Emotional Experience
Introduce the Emotion Cards and Emotional Wheel. Learn how language expands emotional awareness and helps children recognize, name and understand their inner world.
Discovering the Need Beneath the Emotion
Using the Needs Cards, understand the human needs underneath every emotional experience and guide children from reaction to response, toward understanding and connection.
Breath as a Regulation Tool
Master the Animal Breath Cards, Centering Breath Cards and Breath Pillow. Learn when to use each breathing practice and how breath becomes an accessible pathway back to regulation.
Integration & Facilitation
Bring every element together inside real educational environments. Practice sequencing the materials, facilitating experiences with confidence, and preparing for certification.
In-Person Embodiment, Facilitation & Certification
We come together to experience everything we've learned and move through it in a real-life environment — facilitating future group and one-on-one sessions with confidence and lived experience. Meet your cohort and share a healthy, nutritious lunch together.
The Happy Breathing Method Toolkit
A $167 value — included with your certification.* All cards are full color, laminated, and come in an organic cloth bag, ready to bring into a classroom or home.
Sensation Cards
48 cards that help a child decipher what their body feels like, building the skill of sensing and naming physical sensations.
Emotion Cards & Emotional Wheel
48 emotions, with a chart, plus a simplified 8-card set for younger, non-reading children.
Needs Cards & Needs Wheel
47 needs, discovered and refined over six years of working directly with children, each with a definition and a circular wheel chart.
Animal Breath Cards
11 breath patterns, each connected to an animal children already love, matched to the intention of the breath.
Centering Breath Cards
Simple, portable breathing tools children already know — used to open sessions and as everyday practices at home or school.
Breath Pillow
A 1lb lavender-seed pillow with a card pocket. Placed on the belly, it makes the diaphragm's movement visible — activating the vagus nerve and supporting regulation.
Facilitation Resources are included alongside the physical toolkit: the 45-lesson digital Montessori album, presentation videos, audio playlist, and the individual / group setting guides described above. These materials work equally well in therapy settings, traditional classrooms, and homes — not only Montessori classrooms.
* If this toolkit was previously purchased, $167 will be discounted from the course's total purchase price.
Added Free Gift!
Echoes of My Soul
A self-driven, 21-day reflective journey supporting the adult's own emotional awareness. 15 minutes a day of emotional integration through breathwork meditations — process and release what you've been holding inside, creating space for healing. Delivered on a separate course platform for your daily practice.
What our community says
"My students are learning to name what they feel and put it into words — not just act it out."
"As a mom, it's such a relief to finally have tools my kids can actually use to self‑regulate and reconnect."
"Every inhale and exhale means something different to me now — Natalia gave breath a whole new meaning."
This year's cohort kicks off September 26th.
See if this is the right fit for you.
Complete a short application to see if this experience is the right fit for you.
Apply for the Happy Breathing MethodNo risk: if you don't feel like the coursework resonates with you in the first month, we'll refund you in full, no questions asked.
Before you apply
Do I need previous breathwork experience?+
No.
Is this only for Montessori Guides?+
No. The methodology is valuable for educators, parents, therapists and caregivers.
Will I receive certification?+
Yes, after completing the required coursework and certification experience.
Become the adult children need most.
Children are not longing for perfect adults. They are longing for prepared ones. As we meet every two weeks, we'll support each other along this journey of inner work and capacity building — becoming the resource that meets a child's needs and brightens their experience for the rest of their lives.