The N=1 Mentorship
OUR APPROACH
Do you often feel frustrated and stuck in your patterns?
This can often feel like you’re underwater trying to break through a sheet of ice.
The N=1 Mentorship is for those aware that something isn't right with their feelings towards desired growth. Trying to “break through the ice” with the latest fads, technology, or trendy personality hasn’t helped.
You don’t need an external solution.
If you are open enough and ready to take responsibility for your path, Brian Mackenzie & Emily Hightower will connect you to the most authentic version of yourself, this is the internal solution. Giving you the tools and autonomy to develop your own method, so you stop wasting energy trying to break the ice.
Instead, you’ll develop what we call Autonomous Adaptability. This is the ability to Read, Regulate and Reinforce your own nervous system in order to make adaptations based on your needs. Allowing you to swim deeper, away from the ice, and to look up with a broader vantage point, so find the hole in the ice.
You are not learning our method; you are learning how to create your own.
THE PROCESS

Jeff S.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee
"The N=1 Mentorship has been an important piece of my growth and has helped to shape the way in which I operate within the world. Although Brian may be best known for his extensive knowledge of the world of performance and physiology, he also has a deep understanding of the psyche and interplay of emotions and personal narratives that is an extremely important piece in unlocking our highest potential. I am grateful to call Brian both a mentor and a highly respected friend. Truly a class act on all levels."
WHAT TO EXPECT
This is not a mentorship about therapy, this is a fully immersive experience into how you operate at the most fundamental level of your stress physiology.
We all have very unique lives, and fingerprints in the world, but how we react to stress varies little. This gives way to patterns of function in almost all activities we do.
Each week you will be expected to participate in experiments that begin to introduce you to this process; read.
What to do about the reactions to some of these experiments; regulate.
And ultimately develop the skills to put into practice as a learned experience; reinforce.
Each week of Mentorship has a specific topic, where you'll learn the science and principles of our approach and be given experiments to try various methods to induce a response to inform your practice.
Each day you'll track your personal physiology and see the effects of your practice in our Daily Triangulation process. This is our signature approach for getting real-time feedback on your patterns to develop your personalized methods and be accountable to yourself along the way.
In our group calls expect to be heard and challenged, and to learn from the others to reinforce key concept
This process is not for those not fully willing to commit to themselves selflessly for the entirety of this mentorship. Yes, you are unique and we are convinced most of that unique and incredible part of you has yet to fully emerge.
Until we understand how our physiology responds to stress we will continue to react inauthentically as inherited cultural and familial norms.
Ray C.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee
"I found Emily Hightower in a very tough time in my life. I was struggling with anxiety in a major way. Emily’s calm demeanor, professional approach, and highly effective techniques changed me in a way that will stick with me forever. The work we did carried over into my coaching, training, and archery. I am very fortunate to have found her."
WHO IS THE MENTORSHIP FOR?
If you are ready to engage with your breath, body, and mind to honestly change limiting patterns or beliefs and radically increase your capacity to show up with presence and power in daily life, and you are open to exploring where and why you have been stuck, this is for you.
Although athletes have taught us a lot about human stress and performance, Mentorship is for any human willing to take time to learn and understand themselves through the body and mind.
If you argue strongly for your limitations and feel ready to fight for them, this is not for you.
Naffelle N.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee
"I have been working with Brian for 18 months. My initial intention was to learn about Breath and develop a practice. The scope of what I have learned about myself has far exceeded just breathwork. I have learned to be vulnerable and share openly thereby revealing parts of my true natURe. I was ready to learn, grow and expose patterns. This readiness is essential for a successful journey. I can say with complete confidence and gratitude that Brian has helped me move through grief, old stories and become better at understanding my behaviour and reconnecting to myself."
WHO ARE WE?
MENTORSHIP OPTIONS
The 1-1 Mentorship
Limited 1-1 mentorship available w/ coaches Brian Mackenzie or Emily Hightower.
Enroll below for availability.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
- $2,700 Monthly Installments for 4 months, totaling $10,800 [no canceling]
- OR $10,000 one-off upfront payment
N=1 Group Mentorship
Co-Coached by Mackenzie & Hightower
18 Week Mentorship
- Weekly 75min calls w/ coaches Brian Mackenzie or Emily Hightower
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- Calls take place: 12:00pm Pacific Time, Fridays
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- Weekly In-Depth Worksheets
- Weekly N=1 Experiments
- Daily ‘Personal Triangulation’ Document
- Free Personalized Breathwork (Pneuma+)
- Free access to all Shift Online Courses (Art of Breath & Skill of Stress)
- Free access to Shift Training Membership
- 10% Discount to N=1 Exposure Live Events
- Small group for optimized experience, learning environment, accountability & integration
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
• $1,400 Monthly Installments for 4 months, totaling $5,600 [no canceling]
• OR $5,000 one-off upfront payment
THE N=1 PHILOSOPHY
N=1 means ‘a sample size of 1.
We want you to be the experiment and self-reflect on what you can learn! We will be providing you ‘experiments’ to do across this mentorship, where we implore you to be present, listen and learn from each experiment.
Your experiences are unique, but your stress is not uncommon. Stress is stress, and we all feel it. How we respond to stress is a skill that can be learned, no matter what you've been through or what you will face.
Most people try to deal with stress by reducing it; this is a mistake and an opportunity to learn. Stress is a necessary part of how we discover and live into our most stable, authentic selves.
The N=1 Mentorship will give you experiential training to first deal with the Surface Work of daily stress and then the Deep Work of your reactive patterns. Disrupt limits and attachments holding you back, and meet stress with skills rooted in your biology to adapt on your terms, autonomously.
Kyle B.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee
"Working with Brian has allowed me to learn, implement, and teach different breathing techniques to a wide variety of humans with simplicity. Breathwork is a tool that can be used to 'know yourself' better and Brian is able to help you understand how to use this tool with confidence. Shift happens when you work with Brian."
FAQ's
- "Do I have to be an athlete to be in Mentorship?" -Although athletes have taught us a lot about human stress and performance, Mentorship is for any human willing to take time to learn and understand themselves through the body and mind.
- "Do I have to have a breath practice?" - Breath is at the center of our stress tolerance and capacity. If you have a breath practice, this program will deepen your understanding of how and why breath 'works' while developing a richer practice. If you're new to it, this is an important place to learn the principles that are left out of many modern breath programs. You’ll come away with a personal breath practice that you can apply intentionally to create meaningful adaptations to stress of any kind.
- "Will I be able to handle the 'experiments'?" - If you follow our approach, yes! Our process teaches you to manage daily surface stressors before diving into deeper personal inquiry. These experiments expose strengths and vulnerabilities hiding in your daily patterns. The experiments will guide you into yourself at a threshold you can self-define and expand with these skills.
- "Is this like Group Talk Therapy?" -No. We are not therapists. We are stress-physiology experts. We use the raw material of life experiences to study ourselves, and the power of the body’s stress response tools to carve new associations and behavior options when activated by stress. The skills you’ll learn are rooted in physiological principles to improve connection, awareness, and agency over state. These skills are often missing in traditional talk therapy, and can enhance any counseling process. Although we’ve seen people use this approach to radically transform pain and trauma into personal power, we recommend anyone dealing with lasting or severe trauma to work with a counselor alongside Mentorship.
Craig K.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee
“As a healthcare provider, a practice owner, and someone living with type 1 diabetes, I am well-aware of how stress can impact the body, mind, and our decisions. For all of us, developing strategies to gainfully manipulate our psychological and physiological state is more important than ever. Emily Hightower thoughtfully encourages us to dive inside, recognize the messages our biology provides us, and apply new skills leading to a more optimized self. I highly recommend Emily to anyone ready to search inside themselves, disrupt old patterns, and come out on the other side stronger.”
“Brian’s understanding of human nature exposed me to the powerful reality of connecting to my physiology. He has an incredible ability to challenge his clients to understand their physiology at a deeper and more meaningful level. As someone who enjoys competing, I found that my work with Brian enhanced my ability to sit deeper into the discomfort of pain, and deeper into the discomfort of the unknown. The mentorship is a work of art, and is a must for anyone seeking higher performance and deeper connection with themselves.”
Daniel B.
N=1 Mentorship Mentee