Learning together with PWN4PWN
RISE UP
Live well. Develop skills. Pursue what matters.
A 24-week learning programme for people living with narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia or another sleep disorder. Develop skills in goals, habits, communication, resilience and wellbeing, and apply them to your life, work, study or personal ambitions.
Apply for RISE UPOpens the Google Form. PWN4PWN reviews applications and confirms participation.Explore the programme ↓Your life. Your starting point.
What would you like to work towards?
Living with a sleep disorder is part of your life. Your interests, relationships and ambitions matter too. RISE UP gives you a structured way to explore them and practise skills you can use in everyday situations.
A more workable day
Explore routines, transitions and habits that take account of your capacity and responsibilities.
A direction that matters
Bring a personal, learning or professional goal into focus, then break it into actions you can try.
Connection and enjoyment
Practise expressing your needs, finding support and making space for activities you value.
You start with your own circumstances and choose an appropriate level of challenge. The programme includes opportunities to review your approach, adjust it and try again.
RISE UP provides non-clinical education and practical self-management skills alongside appropriate medical care. It does not replace treatment or promise a reduction in sleep-disorder symptoms.
Your learning journey
Your 24-week journey, at a glance.
Four connected stages take you from choosing a direction to building your Personal Blueprint. Earlier skills return throughout the programme, so there is time to apply, review and refine them.
24 weeks · Four connected stages
- Weeks 1–6
Your starting point and direction
Explore living well, sleep, purposeful goals and breathing. In Systems for Success, turn your goal into actions, resources, time and if-then plans.
Focus: A personal Success Blueprint to put into practice
- Weeks 7–12
Habits, connection and wellbeing
Learn the science of habits and test your approach in a Practice Lab. Explore strengths, play and enjoyment, assertive communication, nutrition and movement.
Focus: Skills for your routines, relationships and wellbeing
- Weeks 13–18
Motivation, resilience and emotional skills
Review what drives or blocks action. Develop and practise a stress-management plan, then build on it through resilience, mindfulness, emotional regulation and self-compassion.
Focus: A broader range of responses to real situations
- Weeks 19–24
Growth, change and your Personal Blueprint
Refine your goals and habits using experience. Explore behaviour patterns and resilience through change, combine skills in a Practice Lab and consolidate your personal guide.
Focus: Your Personal Blueprint for continued development
Explore all 24 weeks
See what you will explore and practise each week.
Your Starting Point
Explore your experience, strengths, ambitions and current challenges. Map the physical, psychological and social ingredients involved in living well with a sleep disorder.
Living Well
Define what living well means to you: enjoyment, relationships, meaning, achievement and health. Explore motivation, readiness and the uneven nature of change.
Better Sleep
Explore sleep quality and duration, circadian timing, routines and rituals, bedroom conditions and disruptions. Choose a relevant sleep experiment alongside appropriate medical care.
Goals with Purpose
Connect what matters to a clear goal. Identify the actions that support your goal, set useful milestones and rehearse your first step.
Breathing for Performance
Explore functional breathing in relation to performance, sleep and recovery through guided practice informed by Oxygen Advantage.
Systems for Success
Identify the actions supporting your goal. Prepare resources, allocate time, anticipate obstacles and create if-then plans in a personal Success Blueprint.
The Science of Habits
Learn how cues, repetition, rewards, environment and friction influence behaviour. Design one useful habit using practical habit-forming strategies.
Practice Lab: Goals and Habits
Bring a goal, Success Blueprint or habit experiment. Troubleshoot an obstacle, receive feedback and test an adjustment.
Strengths, Play and Enjoyment
Explore strengths, curiosity, positive emotions and engagement. Identify opportunities for enjoyment, play and activities that absorb you.
Assertive Communication
Express your needs, views and preferences with clarity and respect. Practise making requests, responding to disagreement and communicating limits.
Nutrition for Wellbeing
Explore nutrition and wellbeing through a practical workshop. Bring your questions and apply what you learn to your own circumstances.
Movement with Purpose
Explore everyday movement, enjoyable activity and training for a purpose. Compare options, progression and recovery, then prepare a suitable plan and backup.
Motivation and Momentum
Review progress and understand what drives or blocks action. Consider motivation, confidence, opportunity, symptoms, effort and reward.
Stress Management
Recognise stress patterns and contributing demands. Work through a real situation, practise a suitable response and develop a personal stress-management plan.
Resilience in Action
Extend your stress-management plan to difficulty, uncertainty and setbacks. Build on your stress-management plan and practise choosing a response that fits the situation.
Mindful Living
Explore attention, automatic reactions and awareness. Practise mindfulness in everyday activities, conversations and situations where you want greater presence.
Emotional Skills
Develop emotional awareness and regulation. Explore thoughts, feelings and actions, then practise responding with psychological flexibility.
Self-Compassion and Confidence
Examine self-criticism and practise constructive self-support. Respond to difficulty while retaining responsibility, ambition and willingness to act.
Practice Lab: Goals and Growth
Review your original goal against experience. Decide what to strengthen, adapt or replace and update your Success Blueprint.
Habits That Last
Improve conditions for a behaviour already practised. Explore reinforcement, preparation, environment and review to sustain what is useful.
Changing Behaviour Patterns
Identify triggers, needs and consequences maintaining an unwanted everyday pattern. Design and test a more useful response.
Resilience Through Change
Apply your skills when circumstances change or plans are disrupted. Adapt expectations, protect priorities, seek support and plan a return.
Practice Lab: Real Life
Combine selected skills around a meaningful work, relationship, learning or daily-life challenge. Test your approach and refine it through feedback.
Your Personal Blueprint
Consolidate useful goals, practices, routines and supports into a personal guide, with a direction for continued development.
How the learning works
Understand it. Try it. Make it your own.
Weekly live lessons combine explanations, examples, conversation and practical activities. Choose something useful to try between sessions, then return to review what happened. Practice Labs give you time to troubleshoot and refine your approach.
- 01
Learn
Explore an idea and see how it could apply in daily life.
- 02
Practise
Try a skill with guidance, using a relevant example.
- 03
Apply
Choose an action to experiment with in your own circumstances.
- 04
Review
Notice what helped, what got in the way and what to adjust.
You do not need to start a new habit every week. Practice labs, a midpoint review and integration sessions make space to revisit learning and troubleshoot difficulties.
For example: you might choose an activity you value, plan a realistic time for it, try that plan and adjust it when your capacity or circumstances change.
Bringing it together
Your Personal Blueprint
In Week 6, you begin a Success Blueprint to organise the actions supporting your goal. Later Practice Labs help you refine it. In Week 24, Your Personal Blueprint brings together useful goals, practices, routines and supports, with a direction for continued development.
What matters
Your priorities, strengths and goals.
What helps
Useful plans, habits and strategies.
Who can support you
Your needs, relationships and sources of support.
How to adapt
Ways to review, adjust and restart.
Your facilitator,
Paul Poulos
Paul is the founder of Narcolepsy Life Academy and a Certified Human Potential Coach. He brings his own experience of living with narcolepsy to his work.
As your RISE UP facilitator, Paul guides the learning journey and supports reflection, practical experiments and adaptation to your priorities and capacity.
RISE UP,
with PWN4PWN
RISE UP is provided through PWN4PWN and facilitated by Paul Poulos. There is no charge to take part.
PWN4PWN manages applications, interviews and the final decision about participation.
Joining RISE UP
- Start date
- Tuesday 27 October 2026
- First-session time
- 2:00–3:30 pm Mountain Time
- Learning journey
- 24 weeks
- Cost
- No charge to participate
The session is currently scheduled for this time. You will be advised of any change.
Who can apply?
The programme is primarily intended for people in the USA, and applications from other countries are welcome. Participation is subject to PWN4PWN’s interview and selection process. Participants will need to join the PWN4PWN Circle community.
Join the PWN4PWN community on Circle (opens in a new tab)
What happens after you apply?
- Complete the form. Your application goes to PWN4PWN.
- Take part in an interview. PWN4PWN interviews applicants and makes the final participation decision.
- Receive confirmation from PWN4PWN. They handle the outcome and next steps directly.
Submitting the form does not guarantee a place.
Apply for RISE UP
Interested in joining the course starting Tuesday 27 October 2026? Complete the application form to begin the PWN4PWN interview and selection process.
Apply for RISE UPOpens the Google Form. PWN4PWN reviews applications and confirms participation.