International Birth, Breath, and Death Study Trip
Calling all who hold space for birth, breath, and death…
June 1-9, 2025
Puerto Rico
Join Amy Wright Glenn, founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death, Wilka Roig, founder and president of ESFIM, and Tobie Spears, founder and director of Be Humanitarian for transformative personal and professional learning and renewing experience on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. We gather to nourish deep personal insight, group study/reflection centered upon birth, breath, and death, service, and remarkable cultural exploration!
Participants will engage in a cross cultural study experience coming to more deeply understand how birth, breath, and death are understood in diverse settings around the world. We engage in daily group study, service work, self-care practice, and meaningful interactions with local birth and death workers. This year, participants will have the opportunity to honor their powerful dedication to deepening awareness of birth and death practices within the context of contemporary Puerto Rican life as well as personal discovery through a variety of wellness practices. All classes are taught by Amy, Wilka, Tobie, and local birth, breath, and death midwives and teachers.
Mornings will begin with meditation, song and/or body centered wellness practice. Days are dedicated to the independent and group study and significance of birth and death practices while day excursions let us explore cultural sites, local markets, and natural wonders. Participants will engage with social justice work supporting a local non-profit.
Register now before prices go up
Monthly payment plans are available
Early Bird Pricing: Now until November 30, 2024 ($2900)
Holiday Pricing: December – January ($3100)
Full Price: February – March ($3200)
Last Minute Louie Pricing: April ($3300)
All Participants Must be Paid in Full by May 1, 2025
*Tuition covers lodging, food, and the Birth, Breath, and Death curriculum/program.
Airfare not included.
Be Humanitarian has been working to improve the lives of Guatemalans in need for the last 10 years. We have a thriving community with our own preschool, nutrition program and sewing center in a remote area of Guatemala. At Be Humanitarian we believe our duty is to improve the lives of those in need. This eye-opening experience was created to offer volunteers a hands-on experience exploring Guatemala and learning about life. While in Guatemala volunteers will be provided the tools to know exactly how to make a difference in the lives of others so that volunteers feel fulfilled and connected to the world around them. Our service vacations combine service learning and leadership, allowing volunteers to learn about global development issues, such as poverty or public health, as well as solutions being put forth within the communities we support.
Espacio Formativo para la Integración de la Muerte (ESFIM) is a formative space that was born in 2020 within the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (EKR) Foundation MexicoCentro. In 2024, after a deep journey, it took shape and its own strength because of the growth of interest in issues around processes of transition associated with life and death, both physical and symbolic. ESFIM is the nucleus from where we form Compassionate Companions and Life, Death and Transition Doulas who collaborate as volunteers of the EKR Foundation Mexico Centro. ESFIM is part of the first Latin American collaborative network of institutions with endorsement to train and certify non-medical professional companions in transition processes of life, death and grief, promoting the formation of companions who develop the quality of compassion and the ability to accompany others to deepen their personal development, driven by their own transition processes.
Tobie Spears holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Utah and completed a Certificate in Criminology from the University of Utah. Tobie is grateful to have one awesome husband, two amazing daughters and three crazy cats. Tobie is the Founder of the nonprofit Be Humanitarian where she leads humanitarian-minded expeditions to explore Guatemala while paying it forward. Since 2007, Tobie has been working as a birth and postpartum doula where she has volunteered with the Utah Doula Association as President, Vice-President, Mentoring Chair, and Retreat Chair in service to birth and postpartum doulas across the state of Utah. Tobie has assisted families through the excitement of birth, the sorrow of loss, and has a particular focus/expertise in supporting people through postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Tobie is honored to be able to offer private consultations for individuals as they travel through life’s journey as a Holding Space Consultant for The Institute. Learn more.
Wilka Roig, MTP, MFA, PLC is a transpersonal psychologist, death activist and doula, grief counselor, dream worker, educator, ordained minister, facilitator, writer, Taoist Arts instructor, musician, photographer, performance artist, silversmith, baker, truth-teller. She is co-founder and director of Espacio Formativo para la Integración de la Muerte (ESFIM), founder and director of Fundación Elisabeth Kübler-Ross México Centro, co-founder of Red Latinoamericana de Acompañamiento en la Muerte y el Duelo, end-of-life doula instructor and BIPOC and International Advisor for the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and faculty of The Art of Dying Institute’s Integrative Thanatology Certificate Program. Wilka is curriculum coordinator and faculty for the International Birth, Breath, and Death Study Trip program, curriculum coordinator and instructor of Inner Immersion, and Latin America Outreach Coordinator of The Last Ecstatic Days. Her interests include neurobiology of trauma, loss, grief, and relationships, conscious living & dying, birds, stars, confectionery arts, and wine culture.