Introduction

You know Gaia.
You know how all her retreats and workshops are under the ‘F**k It Be You’ title.
And you probably know that this is the essence of the idea –

That there’s a Hidden Source to most of our problems.
And it’s related to not being fully ourselves.
So when we find a way to be ourselves again, we can resolve many of our problems.

This Hidden Source work is deep, profound and life-changing.
Again, you know that already.

Gaia has developed the process from her long experience as a therapist and practitioner, and in particular, her training in NARM (developmental trauma work), Somatic Experiencing (trauma healing), Voice Dialogue and energy work.

And you’ll have seen, on retreats and workshops, Gaia’s ‘apprentices’.
They are now ‘trainees’ – because this is a deep 3-year training in this Hidden Source work.

So if you fancy learning from the Gaia Source about this life-changing work, and going through a thorough training in Gaia’s methods, techniques and unique processes, and deepening your own personal journey in the process…

And emerging with a way to use this Hidden Source work in your own practice and life,
Then read on…

The Training in a Nutshell

The training happens over 3 years with Gaia, in 4 modules each year, in a mixture of dedicated training time and joining Gaia’s groups, so:

• 2 residential retreats (eg. in Spain, Italy, Turkey, etc.)
• 1 workshop in the UK
• 1 dedicated Trainees’ workshop in the UK.  

You will also receive membership of Gaia’s ‘F**k It Be You University’, a rolling monthly programm of deep workshops and live online groups. 

And you will receive 1-to-1 support from Gaia (4 times a year) at a special trainees’ price.

-The Hidden Source –
at the Heart of the Training

Yes, there is a ‘Hidden Source’ to most of our problems –
and it relates to not being able to be fully ourselves in the here and now because we had to adapt and fit in as young ones, when our needs weren’t met.

We lose connection to important feelings and parts of ourselves that are necessary to feel empowered and whole in everyday life.

This is the essence of Gaia’s Hidden Source process (and you’ll learn each element in depth) –

To take just one element as an example –
‘The Lids’…

You will receive in-depth training about how the 5 Survival Styles of the NARM system work.
And you’ll also learn to spot how these are revealed in various adaptive personality types – ie.  as –

• ‘people pleasers’
• ‘perfectionists’
• ‘helpers’
• ‘loners’
• ‘super-woman-man’

The Flow of the Training

There is a flow to your training in the Hidden Source.

It is clearly important to have a deep understanding of the many therapeutic concepts that underpin the Hidden Source.

And as part of the F**k It Be You University you will be following a progressive explanation of all the concepts that will complement what you learn on the retreats and from Gaia personally.

And there are then many other elements to the training flow. 
Here’s another colourful chart –

To take just one step as an example –
‘Deep Processing’…

On each retreat, Gaia uses a principle process related to each of the 5 survival styles. 
These are her 5 Hidden Source Processes.
Each process often lasts a couple of days, and you will be part of learning it deeply and supporting it for others.

So, over the course of the 3 years, you’ll learn all 5 Hidden Source processes –

• Restart Process
• ‘I matter’ Process
• Fear to Love Process
• Circle of Inclusion Process
• Self-love Process

And you can, of course, use these processes in your own practice (if you have one).

A Professional Journey

Maybe you already work in this field (as a practitioner, coach or therapist for example).
And you’ve experienced Gaia’s work and want to learn more – about both the therapeutic sources of her Hidden Source work, and how she works with people in groups.

Or you’re simply passionate about learning more about this Hidden Source work, and learning from Gaia in how she works –
and see that one day you’re likely to use it in the way you make a living (so you might be moving towards becoming a practitioner, coach or therapist).

You might also be thinking about how you could use this training in your existing job (eg. in your business environment, as a consultant, or in any care or support work).

This is, then, a professional journey.
You will receive a certificate of participation at the end of your training.
You will be able to use the processes and techniques that Gaia uses and teaches.
You will be then be able to use this work in your own practice or develop a new practice for yourself.

This is now a ‘training’, but it started out as an ‘apprenticeship’.
The word apprenticeship comes from the Old French aprentiz meaning ‘someone learning’ and the Anglian suffix -scip, meaning ‘state, condition of being’. An apprenticeship is when someone is in a state or condition of learning from a master in a field.

Though Gaia would baulk at describing herself as a ‘master’, she is certainly a magic master in her field, and this definition is a good description of the programme. By working, in the field, hands on, next to Gaia, the process of learning is deep.

So part of this ‘training’ works by taking part – in this different role – in retreats and weekends and with Gaia’s mentorship. The learning then also happens through participating, witnessing, exploring and through shadowing Gaia in her work with groups. You’ll also be holding an active support role in the groups (when you are ready and when the exercises allow it) so that you can gain lots of experience.

In these ways, trainees learn the different aspects of Gaia’s approach, and can experience and explore the different exercises and processes that Gaia uses. The core of the work that you’ll both experience in your own process and learn how to use with others is the ‘Hidden Source’ work.  This is the structure behind ‘F**k It Be You’.

And these are some of the skills that Gaia uses in her work on the retreats and weekends, and will share with you (which is mix of the best training she’s received and the best practices she’s developed herself over 20 years):

• NARM (Neuro Affective Relational Model) relating to developmental trauma
• Somatic Experiencing (a whole practice relating to how the nervous system responds to traumatic stimuli)
• Voice Dialogue (Part Therapy)
• Breathwork and sounding
• Qigong and Energy Work
• Gaia’s 5 ‘Hidden Source Processes’
• Gaia’s ‘Relational Energy’ (the energetic body in psychological and relational patterns)
• Gaia’s ‘Social Engagement Movement and Touch Work’
• Gaia’s ‘Emotion of Water’ (ie. emotional processes in hot and cold water settings)
• Gaia’s ‘Art of Play’

You’ll find the training mixes hard and soft skills.  There is the structured nature of the evidence-based teaching founded in ‘NARM’ and Somatic Experiencing, and there is the wealth of ‘soft’ skills related to energy and intuition.

Trainees will also be able to develop one of the skills that defines Gaia’s approach: the ability to tune in to the clearest part of oneself and into the group and know what is needed, thus becoming very present, and able to sense and establish the correct rhythm, mode and response for the group work.

Most people experience Gaia’s work as ‘seamless’ and deeply intuitive. 
The trainees will get see behind the curtain:
as to how Gaia plans the groups and manages to create or choose each exercise and pace the group-work in such a way that deep processing is possible for each participant. So you’ll be able to witness, experience and then explore this ability for yourself. As the programme is very experiential, trainees can gradually integrate their learnings into their own practice (personal and professional) –
And thus learn how to run groups themselves.

During the Retreats there are get-togethers – separate from the work with the group –  where the trainees get together with Gaia for training sessions, which include discussing the work, teaching the background, trying out exercises, sharing their own processes and intentions and difficulties.

A Personal Journey

Although this heading is after the one of ‘The professional journey’, Gaia (like many other therapists and teachers) sees that the ability to support others is directly linked to the clarity of our own inner state.

The training is (and has been for all participants) therefore a deep journey of self-healing. Gaia:
“Once we are clear of our own personal survival dynamics, we are able to approach others with full respect and full ‘seeing’ without pushing them or feeling as if we are going to ‘heal’ them. Instead we enter into a compassionate (compassion for ourselves first and then for the other), heartfelt and respectful journey of exploration and curiosity with our clients.”

This personal journey is an integral part of the training. It will change the relationship you have with yourself.  And it will support you in any therapeutic or holistic work you do or are planning to do. 

Gaia’s work has at its core the work with ‘developmental trauma’. It is a work of dis-identification:  it enables people to drop the behaviours and personality traits that are learnt and adaptive (because of childhood experiences and attachment dynamics) and therefore not functional or authentic, developing instead a deep ability to be present, connect, relate and live life fully.

This Hidden Source work is deeply healing of old wounds and life-long distortions of identity (such as low self-esteem, self-judgment and shame), and is actually based in present-moment experiencing.

It is heart-centred, experiential and has a scientific base.

Who can apply?

Up until now, either Gaia has invited people to join the programme, or those who know Gaia and her work (and have see the trainees present on retreats and workshops) have asked about joining the programme.

Trainees generally have some training in the holistic or therapeutic arts, or are in training, so they can integrate this approach and all the learnings into what they do or are learning to do. 

The training however is also open to people who don’t have previous training or a practice: and that usually means people who have joined after having participated in a lot of Gaia’s retreats / workshops / 1-to-1s, or having been part of the ‘F**k It Be You University’ for a year or two.

If you know Gaia already, and are interested in discussing the possibility of joining the training programme, do email her (eff-it-living@outlook.com) to start the conversation.

If you’ve not met Gaia, then do attend a workshop or retreat, or work with her in 1-to-1s, so that you get to experience this work first-hand.  Then you can take the conversation with Gaia from there.

This training is original and unique.  This training is not part of a wider training, or a sub-discipline of a wider discipline (such as counselling or coaching) and thus not part of a wider regulatory body. It is an original and unique training growing out of the work that Gaia has been doing for 20 years, under the umbrella of ‘F**k It’ and ‘F**k It Be You’, drawing on a variety of formal trainings as well as her own developed practices. 

The Price and What Is Included

This Hidden Source training is a 3 year programme.
There are 4 modules each year:

• 2 retreats per year (ie. attendance on existing F**k It Be You retreats)
• Dedicated training time with Gaia during the retreats (ie. separate from group sessions with participants)
• 1 weekend in U.K. (ie. existing F**k It Be You weekend)
• New: A long weekend in the U.K. dedicated to trainees only, for training, sharing, exploration and deep processing.
• New: Free membership of the F**k It Be You University for the duration of your training (worth £324 a year)
• New: A ‘buddying’ system, where trainees work in pairs in online 1-to-1 sessions to support each other, develop work and explore new ideas together.
• Participation to a self-run Trainees’ Facebook private page sharing with other apprentices
• In last year only: one 1-to-1 coaching session with John on making a living using this training (ie. either incorporating this into your own practice or launching your own idea)

The price for this training is £1,970 per year.
This can be paid in one instalment (January) or two (January and June) or with a £600 deposit in January and a staggered payment plan over the year.

For booking each year’s modules, Gaia will inform trainees of the programme before it becomes public (so usually in November / December) and also the dates for the dedicated trainee long weekend, so trainees have time to plan ahead.

Accommodation is paid separately, and is at a special Trainee rate (details below).

At the end of the three years you’ll receive a certificate of participation in this F**k It Be You Hidden Source Training

What terms you can use when incorporating this training into your own practice.
This is training in Gaia’s ‘Hidden Source’ work.  And you can use the phrase ‘Hidden Source’ in your work and literature if you acknowledge Gaia at some point in your references. 

You can clearly integrate whatever you learn, and whatever principles you learn, into your own practice (and use the term ‘Hidden Source’ as above).  You can state that you have a certification of participation in this training programme of F**k It co-founder Gaia Pollini, but this is not a training in F**k It. You’ll be able of course, if you wish, to mention in your literature that you have trained with Gaia Pollini and John C. Parkin (founders of F**k It), and that you use a F**k It approach, but please not under any ‘F**k It’ title.

As an example – 

Jon Imondi is a second-year trainee.
He has an interest in presence and – working with Gaia – he has become really aware of when people move from the heart rather than the mind.
In the training, looking at his survival mechanisms, he’s become present to how much pressure he used to put on himself and has thus become curious about working in this area… ie. where people explore their own journeys, free of pressure.
He’s currently exploring this work under the title ‘No Expectations’ – and is experimenting with how to use elements from the Hidden Source process within this context. He will explicitly mention the Hidden Source process, then, in his materials and teaching, and acknowledge Gaia within that.
And the Hidden Source elements will, then, be an integral part of his teaching in how to drop that sense of pressure and live more in the present, working with others, as part of a whole, and without expectations.

In detail –

This is Gaia talking about how it can work with crediting her and the work –

“It does really depend on the context.
And I’m thinking how I acknowledge the various trainings I’ve had when I use them.
Recently I’ve been talking about the NARM elements I use, and also Voice Dialogue, but I say different things in different places.
Sometimes I just reference NARM and the founder of that, Larry Heller.  Sometimes I go into a lot more detail about what it is.

So for this Hidden Source work, at it’s simplest, when you use the work, if you could refer to it as ‘Gaia Pollini’s Hidden Source Process’ and say that you are training in it (or trained in it) with Gaia.

If you want to go into more detail (and this might help whenever you’re writing about the process, on websites, or Facebook etc., or you’re explaining it in more detail to a client or an audience), here are some words that could help the explanation –

This is a revolutionary idea – that there is a ‘hidden source’ to most of our problems.
And that hidden source relates to us not being fully ourselves – that we’re learnt to cut off from certain feelings and expressions and parts of us (from early childhood) in order to fit in.

But that when we learn to be more ourselves again, to feel these feelings again, the problems start to resolve automatically.

And that’s the revolutionary bit – we can resolve many problems, just by being more ourselves.
This is ‘Gaia Pollini’s Hidden Source Process’ and I’ve trained in this process with Gaia.

That’s it. “

Prices of Venues

The venues are paid separately.
Gaia has agreed a special price with the venues for the trainees. Just ask Gaia. The payment will be made directly to the venue, just as for the guests, 6 weeks before the retreat itself.  Our team will remind you when payment is due, and give full details about how to make the payment (as we would with regular guests).

The Trainees’ Community

There is a team of trainees which is already in community.
You’ll have access to a private Facebook page, and meet in person (with some or all during the retreats and events and, of course, during the annual dedicated apprenticeship weekend training workshop).

You’ll be able to share and support each other. So that this becomes another supportive and healing aspect of the programme.

And more about Gaia (in case you didn’t know already)…

Gaia Pollini, 20 years of therapeutic support.

Gaia is co-author of the F**k It books and co-founder of the F**k It movement.  Many people have experienced her ‘magic’ over the years in retreats and workshops.  Gaia intuitively understands what is needed for people. She is a powerful healer.  She seems to be able to say just the right thing at just the right time.

She allows people to feel safe and secure.  And yet free and strong enough to be themselves.  She creates huge liberating experiences in all the work she does.  So that many people return again and again for a re-charge and ongoing support throughout their lives.

What a lot of people don’t know, is the foundation of Gaia’s profound therapeutic work. And that, behind the free-flowing, intuitive ‘magic’ element – there is method, research, years of training, experience and therapeutic insight. This has been Gaia’s passion and work for more than 20 years.  This is what she lives and breathes and you can learn a lot of that by being and working with her. This is what is behind her F**k It Be You Hidden Source processes.  

And here’s a little glimpse of the therapeutic underpinning of her powerful work:

• Gaia is a NARM Practitioner  (i.e. she is a specialist in the ‘Neuro Affective Relational Model’ which concerns childhood attachment issues and resolutions)
• Somatic Experiencing Practitioner / Trauma Therapist (this is a specialist trauma healing methodology).
• She is an Integrative Breath Therapist and Rebirther (this is deep instruction in ‘breathwork’).
• She is a trained Voice Dialogue Facilitator.
• She is a Clinical Hypnotherapist (with additional clinical specialist modules)
• She is a Qigong Practitioner and Energy master, with 20 years’ experience
• She has counselling skills training
• She is a master of the Chinese tea ceremony and Chinese teas – and their healing effects.
• Gaia is continually adding to her training experience. She is currently training in ‘Continuum‘, a practice using breath and sounds to dissolve trauma patterns in the body and in the nervous system.