Bansko, Bulgaria  ·  June 30 – July 13, 2026

Can you say No
without hurting
the relationship?

Most of us were never taught how to have the conversations that actually matter. We hint, avoid, explode, or go silent. Brave Conversation Dojo is a 10-session NVC practice program where you learn a different way — one that lets you be honest and stay connected at the same time.

Program July 1–9, 2026
Welcome dinner June 30
Community days July 10–13
Location Chaletida Hotel, Bansko
Apply Now

Why this exists

A "I miss you" call turns into a fight. A co-founder tension quietly poisons every meeting. A member conflict you keep avoiding starts to define the whole community.

We tell ourselves the problem is the people. But usually the problem is that nobody taught us how to actually talk to each other when it matters.

I ran Seoul Nooks for six years before I found NVC. I was a conflict avoider running an intentional community. That did not go well.

NVC became my survival tool. Not a soft skill. A discipline. And I built this Dojo so you don't have to learn it the hard way.

Yeji Cheon, Founder — Seoul Nooks & Brave Conversation Dojo

What you'll walk away with

01 Say No Without losing the relationship or the person.
02 Hear No Without taking it personally or shutting down.
03 Make Requests Clear, doable, without hinting or demanding.
04 Be Honest Without needing to be nice and right at the same time.
05 Be Vulnerable Without oversharing or performing.
06 Stay Present Even when the conversation gets uncomfortable.

Program schedule

10 sessions.
Real life in between.

Weekday sessions run 16:00–19:00. Weekend sessions are double days. Mornings are always yours.

Tuesday
30
June
Welcome
Welcome Dinner
Evening
Meet your cohort. Settle in. The practice starts here.
Wednesday
1
July
Session 1
Jackal & Honesty
16:00–19:00
Unmasking the inner judge. The power of real honesty.
Thursday
2
July
Session 2
Feelings
16:00–19:00
Your emotional vocabulary is your GPS. We expand it.
Friday
3
July
Session 3
Empathy
16:00–19:00
Stop fixing. Start being present.
Saturday
4
July
Double Day
Session 4 — Observation
10:00–13:00
See reality without the story on top.

Session 5 — Needs
15:00–18:00
The heart beneath every strategy and every conflict.
Sunday
5
July
Double Day
Session 6 — Requests (Part 1)
10:00–13:00
Ask for what you want. Without hinting, without demanding.

Session 7 — Requests (Part 2)
15:00–18:00
Hearing No without taking it personally. Saying No without shutting down.
Monday
6
July
Break
Free Day
Rest after the weekend. Explore Bansko. Let it sink in.
Tuesday
7
July
Session 8
Self-Connection
16:00–19:00
The U-Turn. Becoming your own ally before you show up for others.
Wednesday
8
July
Session 9
Connecting in Conflict
16:00–19:00
The main event. When emotions run hot, this is where you stay in it.
Thursday
9
July
Closing Day
Morning — Journaling & Integration
Your own pace
We invite you to journal before the final session. What shifted? What do you want to carry forward?

Session 10 — Mourning & Gratitude
16:30–19:30
Closing the loop. Honoring what was hard. Celebrating what shifted.

Closing Dinner
Evening
July 10–13 · Community Days
Self-organized. Co-created. No agenda.
The official program ends July 9. You're welcome to depart July 10. The team stays through July 13.

What happens in between — hiking, exploring Bulgaria, cooking together, late conversations — we decide as a community. This is not extra programming. It is the practice, lived. Feel free to stay for as long as your life allows.

Community support included. There is a dedicated assistant available for one hour each day if anything comes up during the program — questions, reflections, or something you need to process between sessions. If you want to go deeper, Martina and Matthias also offer private mediation sessions as an additional offering.


Leaving before the final sessions? If your schedule means you'll miss the last two or three sessions, reach out to us before you apply. We'll figure something out together — whether that means adjusting your experience, or sharing a recording of the facilitated content (without participants' sharing) so you can continue the practice after you leave.

The Curriculum

Week 1

Internal Foundation — The Inner Work

1
Jackal & Honesty
Learn to use your inner judgments as clues to what matters to you — not weapons. Stop being "nice." Start being real.
2
Feelings
Expand your emotional vocabulary beyond "fine" and "stressed." When you can name what you feel, you can work with it.
3
Empathy
The superpower of presence. Hear the human behind the words without carrying their problems home.
4
Observation
See reality like a camera — without the blame built in. Describe what happened without starting a fight in the first sentence.

Week 2

External Mastery — The Art of Connection

5
Needs
Discover the universal layer beneath every conflict. When you understand needs, "No" stops feeling personal.
6–7
Requests (Part 1 & 2)
Ask for exactly what you want. Say No with grace. Hear No without crumbling. The specific syntax of a request that actually works.
8
Self-Connection
The U-Turn. Simple somatic practices to ground your nervous system so you can stay present with others instead of reacting to them.
9
Connecting in Conflict
When the stakes are high and emotions run hot, all theory goes out the window. We practice staying in it — and staying connected.
10
Mourning & Gratitude
Close the loop. Process what hurt. Celebrate what shifted. Leave with wholeness — not just insights.

Why do this with us

🏡
6 years of field wisdom
Yeji didn't study community — she built one for six years in Seoul with strangers from 30+ countries. She knows what breaks communities, and what repairs them.
🎓
Professional facilitators
Martina and Matthias (Crafting Dialogues) bring neuroscience, somatic practice, and 3+ years of NVC facilitation to every session. This is not casual peer learning.
Proven with Chiang Mai
We ran the first Dojo cohort in Chiang Mai in 2026. Participants rated it 9–10 out of 10. We know what works and refined everything for Bansko.
🌍
Built for nomads
Weekday sessions at 16:00–19:00 only. Mornings free. A break day mid-program. Designed so you can keep working and still do the deepest work of your life.

From Chiang Mai Cohort

"The Dojo was a unique and precious time to practice recognizing my feelings and needs, then being fully authentic and honest when expressing them. The two-week structure meant I could form the habit of paying attention to what's alive in me. This new way of being had time to sink in."

★★★★★ Past participant, Chiang Mai Cohort · 9/10

"Less like a traditional structured course and more like an immersive relational container. For me, the biggest impact wasn't the content alone — it was how the community dynamics and communication unfolded in real time."

★★★★★ Past participant, Chiang Mai Cohort · 7/10

"It helped me become a better listener, more compassionate, and more aware of my own and other people's feelings and needs."

★★★★★ Cihan, Chiang Mai Cohort · 10/10

Investment

The program fee covers all 10 sessions with Martina and Matthias, plus the welcome dinner on June 30. The closing dinner on July 9 is a community celebration and is not included.

Deposit: €150 within 48 hours of approval. Remaining balance due June 30.

Super Early Bird
€490
Closed
Early Bird
€540
Closed May 31
Regular
€590
Until June 23
Late Bird
€640
June 24–27
Last Minute
€690
June 28 – 30
Festival & Community Discounts — Valid until June 28
Two stackable €25 discounts
Nomad Fest celebration — €25 off. We're grateful for this festival and what it creates. As a small way to celebrate it together, everyone joining during Nomad Fest gets €25 off.

Community ecosystem — €25 off. If you're part of any kind of community — coliving, coworking, neighborhood, online, whatever shape it takes — you get an extra €25 off. These skills are going back into your community, and we want to make that easier.

Both discounts stack. Email brave.dojo.official@gmail.com to claim.
Referral
Bring a friend: €50 off for both of you — stackable, no deadline.
Refund policy
Full refund within 72 hours of approval. After 72 hours, deposit (€150) is non-refundable. 50% refund before June 22. 25% refund June 22 onwards. Financial flexibility available — installments possible, just ask.

Where you'll stay

Sessions are held at Chaletida Hotel in Bansko — in the garden area. No closed classrooms. Open air, mountains in the background, real life happening all around. We strongly encourage staying at the hotel — the shared space is part of the practice. Book through your application form rather than directly, as availability online may not reflect our group block.

Double room
€29/night
€450/month
Triple room
€46/night
€650/month
Maisonette (4 people)
€64/night
€980/month

Group rate possible if enough participants book together. Mention the Dojo when you reach out.

Ready to enter
the Dojo?

We read every application carefully. Not to judge — to make sure this is genuinely right for you. You'll hear from us within 24 hours.

Apply Now

Questions? brave.dojo.official@gmail.com