20 May Nervous System Regulation Workshop for VC firm Sofina — Brussels, Belgium
In May, I ran a company-wide session on breathwork and nervous system regulation at Sofina, an investment holding company based in Brussels.
The brief was simple. They wanted something experiential, with tools they could use the same day — for the boardroom, the negotiation, the 2pm slump, the Sunday night when sleep won’t come.
What we did in nervous system regulation workshop
Here’s the frame I built the nervous system regulation session around:
Nervous system regulation is your ability to match your internal state to what the present moment actually calls for.
A board meeting calls for sharp and alert. A team lunch — relaxed, engaged. The drive home calls for proper winding-down. Most of us stay in the same gear regardless, usually hovering somewhere between wired and tired, never quite landing anywhere.
So we started with the arousal continuum. From panic on one end, through stressed, alert, calm, drowsy, all the way to freeze on the other. The question for the room: where do you spend most of your day? And — separately — where do you wish you spent it?
Then the breath. Because it’s the most direct lever we have on this continuum, and one of the only things in our physiology that runs on both autopilot and conscious control. Two principles to hold onto:
→ Speed — slow breathing calms, fast breathing activates.
→ Phase — inhales speed you up, exhales slow you down.
Every breathing technique is a different combination of those two principles.
From there, four practices for the four states most people get stuck in:
→ Stressed or overwhelmed → physiological sigh. Double inhale, long exhale.
→ Scattered or unfocused → coherent or box breathing. Slow, balanced breaths to restore clarity.
→ Tired or sluggish → stacked inhale. Activating, no caffeine required.
→ Can’t switch off → extended exhale. Deep relaxation, useful right before sleep.
We practiced each one together. Nothing here requires equipment, an app, or twenty minutes you don’t have.
This kind of session lands well for teams under sustained pressure — investment, tech, consulting — where being switched on is the default and proper recovery rarely is.
What Managing Director Giulia Van Waeyenberge said afterwards:
“We brought Charlotte in for a team session on breathwork and nervous system regulation. It was an excellent mix of scientific explanation, concrete exercises and a practical toolkit we can use. Our team appreciated how engaging and insightful the session was.”
— Giulia Van Waeyenberge, Managing Director, Sofina Group
A bit about my breathwork and nervous system work
I’m a breathwork and nervous system coach based in Lisbon. My work is grounded in the physiology of breathing and nervous system regulation — translated into something practical and immediately usable for people with busy, demanding lives.
Most of what I do falls into three areas.
- I run corporate workshops and offsites for teams in tech, VC, and consumer brands — past work includes Google gTech, L’Oréal, and a range of investment and tech firms.
- I work 1:1 with executives, founders, and senior leaders who want to use their breath and body as tools for focus, calm, and resilience.
- And I run small-group retreats that combine breath training, movement (freediving and hiking), and nervous system work in immersive formats.
I shape sessions around what the team actually needs: purely experiential like this one, or more structured around science and tools, depending on the context.
If you’re planning a training, offsite or a team day, you can browse my other workshops or get in touch.