Every facilitator holds a specialism.
The programme was built by the founders for themselves first. Then each part of it was handed to a specialist: five people, each holding one part of your time on the island.
Five specialists. One sequence.
Clarity isn’t random. It is designed, and the design follows the order the body works in. Each part of the programme is held by the person who specialises in it, so you never have to think about the method. Only about what you came to decide.
01
Breathe
The body first.
Wim Hof Method breathwork and cold exposure.
02
Move
Then movement.
Somatic movement, yoga, and raw nature.
The bridge
Sound & stillness
Then quiet.
Sound in nature as the bridge to stillness. A sound bath to close each day.
03
Connect & decide
Then the decision.
An honest room of eight, and a coach who brings the method: before, during and after.
The quotes come from each facilitator’s own practice, not from a Neighbours Hub cohort.
Breathe
Samir Javed
Wim Hof Method · Level 3 Instructor
Leads the reset at a physiological level. Cold exposure and breathwork as tools for nervous system regulation and sharper decision making.
Our lead practitioner. A founding member of the Wim Hof Method in Australia, Samir has been involved with Wim Hof since 2010 and was the first person from Australasia to learn from him in person. He has spent more than a decade helping establish the method across Australia and Asia.
In Furnas, he guides breathwork and cold exposure designed to regulate the nervous system and support a return to the parasympathetic state, where clarity, calm and better decisions become more accessible.
You can’t think your way to clarity in a stressed body. The body gets there first.
- Involved with Wim Hof since
- 2010
- Credential
- Certified advanced Wim Hof Method instructor
- On the island
- Breathwork and cold exposure. The foundation of everything: regulation at the body level, before anything else.
Words from Samir’s practice*
“The breathwork was amazing. It was the first time for me doing the ice bath. Samir was very supportive. I survived and surprised myself by completing it.”
“I loved the whole experience. The facilitators were experienced, supportive and great communicators.”
* Reviews of Samir’s own practice, not of a Neighbours Hub cohort.
Connect & decide
Rob Paynter
Executive Coach · 20 years in C suites · CBT
Guides decision making and integration, and specialises in decision making under uncertainty.
Rob spent twenty years inside C suites. He brings more than a decade of coaching, counselling and mentoring to the programme.
Your next decision is only as good as the room you make it in.
- 7 to 14 days before you arriveCalibration
Every guest has a private session with Rob to name the decision they are carrying and set a clear intention.
- On the islandThe decision work
Room to reflect on what you are carrying. The coach brings the method. The room pressure tests your thinking. You do the deciding.
- After you leaveIntegration
A second calibration, and practical tools to sustain a stronger state of mind, so the clarity survives contact with your calendar.
- Years inside C suites
- 20
Why it is in the programme
6×
Across more than 1,000 major business decisions, the decision process mattered roughly six times more than the quality of the analysis.
Lovallo & Sibony, McKinsey Quarterly, 2010, read the study
Words from Rob’s practice*
“Robert clearly draws on a wealth of experience. He has a wonderful coaching style and gave me the freedom and space to take the conversation where I needed to.”
* Reviews of Rob’s own practice, not of a Neighbours Hub cohort.
Move
Carolina Lino
Yoga · Somatic Movement
Uses movement to support clarity and mental focus. Specialises in somatic practices for high performance professionals.
Here, movement is not a workout. It is the second lever of the programme: restoring the body’s capacity to regulate so the mind can follow. Somatic work and yoga that slow thinking down rather than speed it up, set against the raw nature of the valley.
Your best decision will not happen at your desk.
- On the island
- Somatic movement and yoga, alongside time in raw nature.
Why it is in the programme
90minutes
A ninety minute walk in nature measurably reduced rumination: the loop your brain runs when a decision won’t resolve.
Bratman et al., PNAS, 2015, read the study
Words from Carolina’s practice*
“Carolina gives you great confidence. The feeling was magnificent. Goodbye stress, goodbye problems. You just let yourself go.”
* Reviews of Carolina’s own practice, not of a Neighbours Hub cohort.
The bridge · Sound & stillness
Jorge Valerio
Handpan · Sound in Nature
Uses movement and sound in nature to transition out of mental noise. The bridge between physical regulation and stillness.
By the time the body has been regulated and moved, the mind is often the last thing still running. Jorge’s work is the transition: the handpan, played in the landscape, so the move out of mental noise happens through the senses rather than through effort.
- On the island
- Handpan and sound, played outdoors in the landscape.
Why it is in the programme
Natural sounds lower stress and lift positive feelings. Water sounds showed the strongest effect on health outcomes.
Buxton et al., PNAS, 2021, read the study
Words from Jorge’s practice*
“An experience unlike anything I had encountered before. The handpan in that landscape created a stillness I didn’t know I needed.”
* Reviews of Jorge’s own practice, not of a Neighbours Hub cohort.
The bridge · Sound & stillness
Nuno Amendoeira
Sound Healing
Uses sound to unlock presence and internal stillness.
Since 2005, Nuno has worked with Tibetan singing bowls and other instruments to create meditative spaces where sound supports release and restoration.
His sound bath closes each day’s programme: a space to pause, release, and return to yourself.
- Working with singing bowls since
- 2005
Words from Nuno’s practice*
“Nuno made the experience really relaxing. It was a special moment for both of us.”
* Reviews of Nuno’s own practice, not of a Neighbours Hub cohort.