Build from the Center
A practical workshop for founders building intimacy technology
Five hours. A different way of seeing what you are building and why.
Saturday, June 28th, 2026.
08:30 AM - 1:30 PM PT.
Live Virtual.
the talk that inspired this workshop
The Epistemology of Eros
A forty-five-minute talk on tantric principles for AI in intimate contexts. Watch when you have space to be present with it — the workshop picks up where the talk leaves off, moving from intellectual encounter with the principles to embodied practice and applied work on what you are currently building.
our premise
We are at a defining moment in how humans connect.
Hundreds of millions of people are now in some form of relationship with technology designed to meet their emotional and intimate needs — companion apps, dating platforms, AI partners, fertility trackers, wellness products, couples apps. The space is growing faster than it is being measured. And it is largely ungoverned.
Few of these tools reflect a deep understanding of what intimacy actually is.
The result is products that optimize engagement but fragment connection. Products that simulate care without holding it. Products that meet a real human longing with answers that miss the actual question.
This workshop is the practical, embodied counterpart to The Epistemology of Eros. Four hours of doing the inner work — then applying it through three principles to whatever you are currently building.
who is this for
Builders making product decisions in intimacy technology.
You are a founder, product manager, designer, or engineer building in dating, intimacy, sex tech, fertility, couples wellness, mental health and relationships, AI companions, sexual wellness, or any adjacent product that touches how humans connect.
You may be at the idea stage. You may have a working product. You may be considering whether to build at all.
You are intellectually serious. You are skeptical of "wellness" framing without rigor. You are also honest enough to know that the technology you build will be shaped, consciously or not, by the lived understanding you bring to the work.
You want to bring more.
wHAT HAPPENS IN THE ROOM
A single coherent arc: state → vision → shape → test → commit.
Where am I building from?
We begin by honestly locating the state you are currently building from. Most intimacy tech is built from optimization-mind, occasionally from mission-mind, almost never from embodied wisdom. We map the three states, and through guided breathwork drawn from the tantric tradition, we drop into the third.
What do I truly desire to build?
Most product visions are too small because they were formed in head-state. A deeper guided meditation opens the layer where authentic vision lives. You journal toward the question: what do I actually want to build, beneath what I have been told to build?
How do the principles shape and test what I am building?
Three Intiphlora principles — Design for Wholeness, Approach Desire with Integrity, and Preserve Complexity and Mystery — have two faces. First we use them generatively, to shape your concept at its most aligned. Then we use them critically, to stress-test where it currently falls short. You complete the Concept Alignment Canvas: a one-page artifact holding the aspirational and the gap side by side.
What is the path forward?
You leave with a 90-day Builder's Path, peer reflection on your canvas, and audio recordings of both meditations to keep practicing. The work continues in your life starting tomorrow.
what you walk away with
Tangible artifacts. Embodied insight. A clearer path.
An honest read on the state you are currently building from
A completed Concept Alignment Canvas through three Intiphlora principles
The Three-Lens Stress Test scenario library for ongoing product audits
Audio recordings of both guided meditations to integrate into your practice
A 90-day Builder's Path with concrete next steps
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THIS WORKSHOP
Three of the seven principles that guide Intiphlora Institute's work.
Design for Wholeness
Technology should support integrated human experience, not fragment it. We work with frameworks that honor the full complexity of intimacy — emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual. Authentic connection cannot be reduced to isolated features or metrics.
Approach Desire with Integrity
Desire is powerful human energy that deserves ethical stewardship, not commercial exploitation. We work with standards that guide intimacy technologies toward awareness and emotional depth rather than dependency or escapism. Tech should elevate desire, not commodify it.
Preserve Complexity and Mystery
Human relationships thrive in the dynamic interplay of closeness and autonomy, the known and unknown. We work with ethical guidelines that honor rather than eliminate complexity in pursuit of seamless user experience. Depth requires navigating difference, not erasing it.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR
Belén Sánchez Hidalgo (AI Engineer & Intimacy Coach)
I am an AI Engineer for Governance Intelligence and a VITA-certified intimacy and relationship coach. I founded Intiphlora around a single question: how do we elevate human intimacy in an age where technology is reshaping it faster than we can understand?
For the past four years I have practiced neo-tantra under Ma Ananda Sarita and Layla Martin. I have built and shipped AI products at scale. My work has been recognized by VentureBeat and Forbes. I am the creator of IntimaGuard, an in-development safety and governance framework for AI in intimate contexts.
I built this workshop from the middle ground — between those advancing AI for human flourishing and those working to keep AI safe. I believe these are not opposing missions. They are the same mission, asking us to build a different way: consciously, from our inner wisdom, aligned with our true purpose, with humanity at the center.
logistics
Practical details.
Date: Saturday, June 28, 2026
Time: 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM Pacific
Format: Live virtual via Zoom — camera on encouraged, breakout rooms used
Capacity: Twenty builders
Investment: $197
frequently asked questions
FAQs
I am not a founder. Can I still attend? This workshop is designed for people making product decisions in intimacy technology — founders, PMs, designers, engineers, lead researchers. If you are adjacent (investor, journalist, academic, clinician) and you want to attend, write to me directly.
I am at the idea stage. Will this work for me? Yes. In some ways this is the most powerful time to do this work. The frameworks shape what you decide to build before you commit to it.
Is this religious or spiritual? The practices draw from the tantric lineage and from the VITA Method I am certified in. They are taught in a non-dogmatic way and do not require any belief system. They are practical methods for accessing dimensions of attention and clarity that have measurable effects on creative work.
Will there be a recording? The guided meditations will be sent to you afterward as audio. The discussions and group work are not recorded — the container depends on confidentiality.
Can my co-founder join with me? Yes, at the same price each. Reach out and I will place you in different breakouts for diverse signal.
Refund policy? Full refund up to seven days before the workshop. After that, your seat can be transferred to someone you nominate.
Reserve your seat.
If you have a question not answered here, write to me: belen@intiphlora.com.
A five-hour practical workshop for founders building intimacy technology — dating, sex tech, fertility, couples wellness, mental health and relationships, AI companions, sexual wellness.
The space is growing faster than it is being measured. Few of these products reflect a deep understanding of what intimacy actually is. This workshop is the practical, embodied counterpart to The Epistemology of Eros — five hours of doing the inner work, then applying it through three Intiphlora principles to whatever you are currently building.
You'll leave with:
A read on the state you are currently building from
A completed Concept Alignment Canvas through three Intiphlora principles (Design for Wholeness, Approach Desire with Integrity, Preserve Complexity and Mystery)
The Three-Lens Stress Test scenario library for ongoing product audits
Audio recordings of both guided meditations
A 90-day Builder's Path with concrete next steps
Date: Saturday, June 28, 2026
Time: 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM US Pacific Time.
Format: Live virtual via Zoom — breakout rooms, camera on encouraged
Capacity: Twenty builders
Hosted by Belén Sánchez Hidalgo — AI Engineer for Governance Intelligence and VITA-certified intimacy and relationship coach, creator of IntimaGuard, founder of Intiphlora.