Foundations to Facilitate your Life: an Authentic Relating weekend in 2025 in Berlin

Dates: 20–21 Sep 2025. Add to calendar

Times: 10:30–18:00. Arrive between 10:00–10:15.

Can't make it? There are four (free) online orientation calls on 9 Jul, 26 Aug, 30 Sep, and 14 Oct.

Venue: Holographic Healing Nest, in Berlin Neukölln (google maps, photos below).

Accommodation: Arrange your own. We can ask within the group.

Lunch: Bring your own or join us to Markthalle 9 or a restaurant.

Group size: up to 15 lovely humans

Language: English

Bring: comfortable, layered clothing, pen&paper, a water bottle, snacks to share—and whatever brings you comfort or joy.

Preparation: You'll receive a free copy of part 1 of my book, which you're invited to read. (Completely optional.)

Pets: You can't bring your super cute doggie. I'm sorry.

Accessibility: The venue has a set of stairs and no barrier-free toilet, yet we’re happy to help out. Please reach out if you have specific needs.

Mental health: If you’re unsure if you can hold yourself during this workshop, for example due to trauma or mental health challenges, please fill this out in the form. I'll reach out, so we can decide whether this is the right time to join.

Price: See the 'Costs per day or weekend' box above

Availability: There are a few spots left.

This weekend is held at Holographic Healing Nest, in Berlin Neukölln (google maps). The full Ambassadors For Humanity program is held at a bigger venue.

• €0 for Ambassadors For Humanity participants
  Join for free if you signed up for Ambassadors For Humanity 2025–2026
• €75 fixed + a donation of €1 or more
  The upfront fee covers my expenses. Afterwards, donate €1 or more for the facilitation.
  (includes 19% VAT)
• Get your fee back
  If you join Ambassadors For Humanity within a week after this weekend, the weekend fee is fully deducted from the program fee.

A lower donation means you're receiving support. (Which is ok!) A higher donation means you're making this weekend more widely accessible. You're truly welcome to choose whichever amount matches your experience and financial reality.

The weekend is limited to 15 people:

Group photo of a previous event.

In this video, I explain how the 3 levels of humanity can be accessed on a daily basis by creating real moments.

Creating real moments requires safety & permission, which each have an inner and outer component. One way of developing safety and permission is by collecting positive imprints in supportive environments.

There, you can develop confidence, skill & sensitivity to create more freedom for yourself & others. Which is something we'll explore this from a different perspective.

The video ends with a group conversation about how some of these concepts play out in people's lives.

Sounds interesting?

What you'll get out of it

This weekend will leave you with a meaningful, embodied experience of what you'd get out of joining the Ambassadors For Humanity program. In short, the intention is to help you grow:

• Confidence: you'll build courage, trust, inner safety, and nervous system capacity as a foundation for taking initiative and showing up authentically in your life.
• Skill: you'll learn many ways to connect with your body and inner world; express your thoughts, emotions, and desires; welcome more of yourself and others; build sustainable connection and support; take initiative; co-create; and be connected with the world as a whole. (more examples)
• Sensitivity: you'll learn to be more present with yourself and others; balance taking space with making space; and cultivate openness and curiosity as an entry point to finding your spot in this interconnected world.

The program can help make a significant step in caring for your nervous system—and shaping your life and relationships.

Click the orange play button to hear a 1-minute clip of a previous participant describing their experience:

This is for you if

• You've been in spaces that welcome authentic expression & connection.
• You want to step into more responsibility for shaping your life & relationships.
• You're interested in developing a group culture of co-regulation, collaboration, and support (instead of focusing on competition or hyper-individuality).
• You're interested in understanding how others experience the world, would like the world to be a better place for a broader range of people, and you're interested in how to create freedom and opportunity for yourself as well as for others.
• You may feel intimated by some of the previous sentences, but you want to learn, be safely vulnerable, and figure things out together.

This is not for you if

• You prefer to lean back and have a school-style learning experience.
• You want to be handed a complete set of tools to copy/paste into your life.
• You believe certain cultures are superior to others or that there's one right way of living life.
• You're not open to receiving feedback or new perspectives.

Mette Koppelaar (they/he)

“I see authentic self-expression in everyday life as a doorway: a way to welcome all of myself, build genuine connection, live meaningfully with less dependence on material things, and contribute to a more loving world. I’m deeply committed to honesty and to welcoming all emotions—including grief, fear, shame, and pride. I often dress outside the gender norms, am on a continuous journey of voicing my genuine yeses and no's, and feel proud of the unconventional ceremony I created to honor my mom’s life and death.

My personal journey led me to traditions like yoga, tantra, Taoism, Buddhism, and Ubuntu. Writing my book left me inspired by people like Brené Brown, Carl Rogers, Esther Perel, Gabor Maté, and Alok Vaid-Menon. My facilitator learning journey introduced me to modalities like Nonviolent Communication, Polyvagal theory, The Wheel of Consent, Internal Family Systems, and the Diamond Approach—in some of which I'm trained.

I strive to create spaces where people of various backgrounds and identities can explore creating real moments: times when you say what you think, express what you feel, or act on your true desires. Not at the expense of others, but in ways that contribute to a culture where everyone can feel more free.

My approach rests on a simple principle: when there's enough outer safety and permission, you'll meet the edges of your inner safetey and permission. When you create positive experiences at the edge of your comfort zone, you can slowly become more comfortable with a broader range of expression. Over time, this allows you to reveal more yourself in more contexts of your life.

To get to know me better, schedule a (free) call, join my mailing list, watch me introduce myself below, or scroll down to read more about my background and lens.

Watch me talk

Why I created Ambassadors For Humanity:

How dressing outside the norm led me to do this work:

My social location & lens
I was born in Amsterdam in 1984. I'm white, able-bodied, and come from a middle-class background. I'm gender nonconforming and use they/them (or he/him) pronouns. After studying AI, I founded a few small startups and co-working spaces. I eventually turned my life around when I created two editions of Nibana Festival in 2018. Although I didn’t turn out to be a typical straight cis-male, I did grow up as one. I’ve never had to worry about hunger, housing, or safety, and I’ve never directly experienced war or poverty. My passport pretty much allows me to travel wherever I want. I’ve faced financial stress, but only because I chose the uncertainty of self-employment. Mild bullying was part of my early teenage years, but I've felt supported overall. The experiences I consider traumatic pale in comparison to what many others have faced. I haven’t experienced severe intergenerational trauma, and my parents spent years in group therapy before I was born, which greatly contributed to the safety and stability of my family home. While my dressing journey deeply challenged me on a personal level, it fades in comparison to the levels of oppression that exist for the majority of people on this planet. I'm grateful for the books and people that have helped me recognize all of these privileges. It feels important to acknowledge them and to use them for playing my part in making the world a slightly better place.

Photos: [1] Bartjan de Bruijn. [2&3] Ilse Wolf.

Mikael Ibrahim (he/him)

“Five years ago, I was enjoying a promising career as a software engineer at a booming startup. Having left Google for this exciting job, I had a high opinion of myself and believed my life was perfect. All that came crashing down when my wrists refused to continue typing — I had burned out.

Pain and fatigue became my enemies until I learned that they were messengers telling me to change my life. Along this journey of recovery, I found a quiet inner voice that lead me toward healing and maturity. Today, I am dedicated to following that voice within me and supporting others in tuning in to their own, gently moving through the pain that comes in the way, and uncovering their deepest qualities. I offer private sessions with that intention. My approach is somatic and relational and blends dialogue, touch, embodied meditation, and movement. Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of working closely with incredibly skilled mentors with decades of experience in these areas. I am a fully certified Realization Process teacher and a Pantarei Approach practitioner.

I have a burning desire to co-create collective spaces where we mutually empower and inspire each other to be who we truly are. I am most excited about spaces that break the wall of the workshop room, that invite us to bring this way of being into a work meeting, conflict with a friend, or the U-Bahn. Which is one of the reasons why I resonate with Mette's vision for this program.

The following values are the foundation for all my work. If these don't resonate with you, then we may not be a match. Of course, these values are always a work in progress. If something about them doesn’t feel right, or if you have ideas for improvement, I would love to hear from you. Message me on Telegram or through the contact form.

If it ever feels like I or any of the team members don't live up to these values, I would love for you to tell me.

1. Authenticity: Everyone's invited to verbally, physically, and emotionally express themselves. We can play with our expression without justifying ourselves, yet we strive to do so in a way that’s considerate of other people.

2. Inclusivity: We welcome all identities and personal backgrounds. We try to notice the judgments and assumptions we make about others, and question racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or other discriminatory beliefs or behavior.

3. Consent: We respect each other's space, stuff, boundaries and privacy. We share a responsibility to create a safe environment for ourselves as well as for others.

4. Confidentiality: We don’t share about other people’s experiences. We don’t comment on other people’s experiences without their consent.

5. Self and group responsibility: We try to be aware of the ways in which we take up space and strive to contribute to the safety of the group. We’re all responsible for our own physical and emotional needs.

6. No sex or romance with team members: Team members don't share arousal, sexual energy, or romance with participants. (We might like to share hugs or other forms of touch though!)

Not all experiences in these kinds of spaces are pleasant—even when everyone tries to do things right.

If you have an unpleasant experience with a team member or fellow participant, I encourage you to reach out to them directly. Alternatively, you're very welcome to contact me (Mette) via Telegram or the contact form, or to contact any other team member. We may be able to support you. We won’t take any action without your consent.

If you have an unpleasant experience with me (Mette), you're invited to reach out to me directly, contact another team member, or approach my accountability partner Anouk Bongers. She won't communicate with me unless you consent to it. You can find her contact details here.

It may take time to process certain experiences. Sometimes months or years. The offer above remains valid. There’s no such thing as reaching out too late.