Questions
Before we talk.
Clear answers about Foundations, The Getting Started Session, how we start and practical details. If yours is not here, email thejoemcgowan@gmail.com.
What is Foundations?+
Foundations is a personalised four-session online experience combining conversation, breathing education, facilitated breathwork and reflection. It’s for people who feel caught up in constantly thinking, doing and reacting, and want more presence, connection and choice in everyday life. While I take on my first clients it’s £300 at a founding rate (or £150 + £150), with five founding places to begin with. If you’d like to try the work first, The Getting Started Session is a single 60-minute session for £60.
What is The Getting Started Session?+
A 60-minute one-to-one breathwork session online, to get a real experience of your breath. You’ll learn a new technique you can use straight away. If you join Foundations within 30 days, the full £60 comes off your £300 fee.
What happens across the four sessions?+
Foundations moves through four natural areas: Discover (90 minutes), exploring your life and your breath; Explore (75 minutes), understanding how your breathing works; Experience (105–120 minutes), a deeper guided breathwork experience; and Integrate (75 minutes), bringing it into everyday life. These are areas to explore, not a fixed curriculum, and each session adapts to you. It usually takes around six to eight weeks.
Will I do conscious connected breathwork?+
Possibly, in the third session. It is only included after screening and consent, and only if it’s appropriate and safe to facilitate online. It is never guaranteed or required.
Is this grounded in science?+
The work draws on the physiology of breathing: how the diaphragm and ribs move, how breathing patterns relate to physical and emotional states, and how slower, more conscious breathing can help you feel more settled. Alongside that is guided experience and personal reflection. No medical claims, nothing you have to believe in.
Who is it for?+
People who feel caught up in constant thinking, doing and reacting, and are curious about living more presently. You don’t need a problem to fix. Curiosity is enough.
What is ARC?+
Three interconnected principles: Awareness, understanding ourselves and noticing our breathing and habits; Regulation, a more conscious relationship with breath and body through education and guided practice; and Connection, bringing that awareness into relationships, choices and what matters. It is not a rigid method or a promised transformation.
How do I start?+
With a free 20-minute conversation. You answer a few short questions beforehand, then we talk about whether Foundations is a good fit. There is no pressure to commit.
What is the guarantee?+
If after the first two sessions you feel this isn't right for you, tell me and I will refund you in full.
When do I pay?+
Only after the discovery call, and only if we both agree to work together. I then send you a private payment link for £300, or two payments of £150. If you did The Getting Started Session first, the £60 is taken off.
Does it work online?+
Yes. Sessions are on Google Meet, available worldwide. You need a quiet, private room, a stable connection and headphones.
Do I need any experience?+
No. I explain everything as we go and adapt the practices to you.
Is this therapy or coaching?+
Neither. This isn’t conventional life coaching, psychotherapy or a stress-management programme. Breathwork can complement therapy and medical care but does not replace either, and it isn’t a treatment for anxiety or any other condition. If you are in acute crisis or under active psychiatric care, please speak with your clinician first.
Are there medical reasons to be careful?+
Some breathing practices are not suitable for everyone. Every client completes a health screening first. If you have a heart condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, epilepsy, are pregnant, or have a history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, we will choose gentler practices that suit you.
Can I reschedule a session?+
Yes. Give me at least 48 hours' notice and we will find another time. Sessions missed without notice may count as used.
The breath is the doorway. It is not the whole house.