Six-Week Cohort — Breathcraft

Why a cohort

People running hard things recognise each other.

The particular way your nervous system holds the weight of leading a company, a team, or a significant body of work — the always-on, the decisions that don't stop, the way rest reads as risk — is not something most groups understand from the inside.

This cohort is for people who do. The work goes faster in a room of peers. The accountability is structural. The container is tight: six weeks, six seats, no drift.

What you leave with

A working operating system. Not a vague "felt better."

A nervous-system audit you can read — where your body is holding, when, in which contexts, and what it's costing you.
Specific protocols for the moments that actually break you — the bad email, the high-stakes call, the conversation you've been avoiding, the night you can't sleep before the meeting.
A daily 10–15-minute practice calibrated to your specific system, not a generic wellness routine.
Five other high-performers who saw you do the work. That matters more than people expect.
An optional path into 1:1 work, if you want to go deeper after.

Curriculum

Six weeks. Each week compounds the one before.

Structured group work paired with real-world application and homework that builds week over week.

Orientation: lineage, framework, what the six weeks do. First full guided session — whole body, light traversal. Group integration. Each person leaves with a personal read on their starting state.

Homework: Daily 10-minute foundational practice. A written audit — where I'm holding tension during the workday, in which contexts, and what it's costing me. Brought to Week 2.
What happens in your body when the bad email arrives, the call gets escalated, the runway shortens. The mechanics of the stress response — the brace, the spike, the rumination loop. Tools to interrupt it in the moment, plus how to rebuild capacity over time.

Homework: An in-the-moment protocol you deploy the next time a stressor lands. Daily practice continues.
The body that doesn't power down at night. Pre-sleep regulation, the patterns that quiet the system, the morning protocol that doesn't start the day in fight mode. Includes a private 1:1 session with João this week — a mid-cohort calibration to read your specific system before the heavier weeks.

Homework: A pre-sleep practice + a morning protocol. Daily check-in on sleep quality.
The nervous system you make decisions from matters more than the framework you make them with. Operating from clarity instead of contracted urgency. How to find groundedness before high-stakes calls.

Homework: A pre-decision protocol. Daily practice continues.
Co-regulation, the held breath of difficult conversations, the throat that strangles the thing you actually wanted to say. Working with another nervous system in the room.

Homework: A pre-conversation breath protocol. A practice of paying attention to your own state during charged moments.
What's the operating system you carry into the next year? Personal protocol design. Closing integration. What's next — into the daily practice, into 1:1, or both. Includes a private 1:1 session with João this week — a closing integration to lock in your personal protocol and map what comes after the cohort.

Homework: Your personal protocol document. Continuing daily practice — now calibrated to you.

Two hours per session. In person at the dojo in central Lisbon, or online if the cohort is remote.

The Homework

Not optional. Not negotiable.

Between sessions: 10–15 minutes per day. Brief assignments after each session, designed to rewire specific patterns between calls. This is where the change compounds.

Showing up once a week and skipping the homework produces 20% of the result.

Apply for the cohort

Investment

Pay in full

€2,400

per seat · six seats per cohort

Six 2-hour group sessions
Two private 1:1 sessions with João (Week 3 and Week 6)
Weekly homework with written check-ins
Private group chat for the six weeks
Closing integration session

Who this is for

For you if

Founders, co-founders, operators at startups and scaleups
Executives running teams or business lines under load
Senior creatives shipping work that matters and bleeding to do it
People who run something — a company, a team, a body of work — and feel the cost in their body
People who want structure and accountability, not a vibe

Not for you if

Anyone in acute mental-health crisis — different work and requires a different specialist
People who want to be passive in the process
People looking for a single transformational weekend — this is compounding, weekly work

Upcoming Cohorts

Cohorts run approximately quarterly.

Next cohort — TBA 6 seats

Apply

Three questions. I reply within 48 hours.

The application takes two minutes. Fit matters in a small room. If it's a fit, I confirm your seat and send details. If it's not, I'll tell you honestly — and point to what might serve you better.

Apply for the cohort

FAQ

Do I need prior experience?

No. Week 1 is full orientation and a first guided session. The work teaches itself from there.

Can I do this and the 1:1 work at the same time?

No, pick one. The cohort is designed to be complete on its own. Many clients move from cohort to 1:1 afterward.

Online or in person?

Both run. In person is in central Lisbon. Online cohorts meet on video at a fixed weekly time.

Missing a session?

One miss is fine — I will do a 30-minute catch-up call. More than one and the cohort will not work for you.

Pay from my company?

Yes, many do. I can provide an invoice suitable for reimbursement under professional development or wellbeing budgets.

What's the difference between the cohort and 1:1 work?

The cohort is a structured curriculum delivered in a group container — six weeks, fixed sequence, designed to give you an operating system you can carry forward. 1:1 is six months minimum, fully calibrated to your specific system, slower and deeper. Many clients do the cohort first, then move into 1:1.

Six weeks. One operating system you carry forward.