The Path of Real Moments:
a 10-week course on authentic self-expression as a path to loving life.
On Thursday evenings from 5 Feb to 10 April 2025 near Hasenheide in Berlin. (Week 1 is on a Wednesday.)

Dates: Thursdays from 5 Feb until 10 Apr 2025 (except week 1, which is on a Wednesday). Exact dates:

• Week 1: Wed 5 Feb 2025
• Week 2: Thu 13 Feb 2025
• Week 3: Thu 20 Feb 2025
• Week 4: Thu 27 Feb 2025
• Week 5: Thu 6 Mar 2025
• Week 6: Thu 13 Mar 2025
• Week 7: Thu 20 Mar 2025
• Week 8: Thu 27 Mar 2025
• Week 9: Thu 3 Apr 2025
• Week 10: Thu 10 Apr 2025

Calendar: Add all dates to your calendar (downloads a .ics file)

Time: Arrive between 18:00 and 18:45. We close the doors around 18:45 and open them once more after the opening—usually around 19:15. We finish at 22:30.

Where: Wamos. Hasenheide 9, 10965, Berlin (Google Maps). Week 4 is at a different venue.

Price: Scroll down to the 'Price & inclusivity' box

Group size: up to 30 people.

Language: English.

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

Preparation: You're invited to read part 1 of Mette’s book, which you'll receive for free.

Pets: You can't bring your super cute doggie. We're sorry.

Nudity/sexuality: This course is mostly clothed, but there's optional nudity in some weeks. The course is non-sexual.

Accessibility: The venue has an elevator, but there are some steps to reach it. We’re happy to help out. Please get in touch if you require any assistance.

Mental health: If you’re unsure if you can hold yourself in this space, for example due to trauma, mental health, or being overwhelmed in bigger groups of people, please let us know in the form. Mette will reach out to decide together whether this is the right time to join.

It's too late to join. You can get notified when the 4 Feb – 22 Apr 2026 edition goes online:

The course follows the three-part structure of Mette’s book. You're invited to read Part One online before we start. It explores how our conditioning and social environments can prevent us from creating real moments, and introduces the approach we'll use for tackling those challenges throughout the course. The remaining two parts of the book are covered in the course directly. We'll take five weeks for each part.

First half: Outer Expression
After creating a supportive container for exploration, we start with the basics: creating real moments by honoring your inner truth. You get to practice noticing, welcoming, and expressing specific aspects of your experience while staying attuned to those around you. You can play with navigating situations from one second to the next, and develop skills and courage to face a wide range of situations.

• Week 1: Honor your Thoughts
  We'll invite you to explore various ways of speaking your mind while staying attuned to others, and to communicate openly as a way to connect with others and get to know yourself.
• Week 2: Honor your Emotions
  This week is about emotions: releasing, regulation, and communication. You can explore when each of these approaches are helpful, and can gain some experience with each of them.
• Week 3: Honor your Desires
  You can focus on recognizing, welcoming, and expressing our boundaries and desires. Playing with various ways of knowing and communicating what you want, you can learn to stay in connection with people, even when they don't want the same things.
• Week 4: Honor your Body
  This week is all about the body: responding to your physical needs, expressing yourself through movement and appearance, and having physical interactions that feel true to the moment.
• Week 5: Integration
  A week for integration and revisiting key topics, before we shift to the next phase of the course.

Second half: Inner Truth
In the second half, you can focus on questioning your inner truth as a way to understand your experience more deeply. Rather than assuming your thoughts, emotions, and desires to be “true,” we’ll use experimentation and self-reflection to uncover how your past conditioning shapes your experience in the here and now. Together with honoring, this approach contributes to more freedom and flexibility in the present moment.

• Week 6: Question your Body
  We invite you to question your relationship with your body, by exploring how expectations and cultural conditioning have shaped your beliefs about your body, physical needs, and the way you physically interact with others.
• Week 7: Question your Desires
  You’ll get to challenge your desires. We invite you to distinguish between genuine desires and coping mechanisms; to question which of our goals and wants have been shaped by societal expectations; and to find empathy for the desires of others that challenge you.
• Week 8: Question your Emotions
  Explore how your emotional responses to specific situations are shaped by your conditioning and previous experiences. You can deepen your emotional honoring practice by taking ownership for your emotional responses. You’ll learn to recognize unhealthy emotions, and can try to transform them into their healthy equivalents.
• Week 9: Question your Thoughts
  Here, you can challenge your perception of self, others, and the world around you. You get to explore how your culture, upbringing, and conditioning shape your judgments, beliefs, and perception of the world. As you connect with the subjectivity of the way you experience the world, you may find more openness to the views of others.
• Week 10: Final integration
  Our closing session will focus on integrating our journey and closing the container together.

Get notified when the 4 Feb – 22 Apr 2026 edition goes online:

I believe that attracting a diverse group makes this a richer experience for everyone. At the same time, I need an income to sustain myself. Sadly, it’s much easier to make a decent living by working for companies that harm the planet or fuel inequality than it is trying to contribute to a better world. It’s incredibly hard to make events financially inclusive without sacrificing myself in the process.

Many facilitators either rely on other income streams or stop facilitating after a few years—when they realize that the prices they offered weren’t sustainable for themselves. When event prices are sustainable for the facilitator, these events are often judged as expensive and 'commercial'—even when the finances are often still not great for the facilitator.

To see how this price was calculated, scroll down. Here, I'll share the pricing options:

• Default price: a single payment of €875
  The price that lets me offer this course in a somewhat sustainable way.
  Includes 19% Mwst (German VAT).
• Alternative: 2 payments of €445
  One payment when you sign up. One before we start.
  
• Or 3 payments of €300
  Spread it out over three separate payments.
  
• Or 4 payments of €228
  Spread it out over four monthly payments.
  
• Or 5 payments of €185
  Spread it out over five monthly payments.
  
• Be a helper: €250 - €450
  Join the room setup team. Preference for those who need it most. Only 4 spots.
  Option to pay in 2 or 3 installments.
• Request a scholarship
  If the helper spots are taken, I might be able to offer 1-2 people a discounted spot.
• Enable a scholarship
  If you're financially comfortable, please consider paying more to support those with smaller wallets.

It's too late to join this edition of the course, so join the Telegram channel and be the first to know about the next edition.

Conditions for canceling your ticket

If your spot is taken by someone you found or someone on the waiting list:

• 100% refund minus €75 admin fee

If no one takes your spot:

• Cancel up to 2 months before we start: 100% refund minus €75
• Cancel up to 1 calendar month before we start: 50% refund
• Cancel up to 2 weeks before we start: 20% refund
• Cancel in the 13 days before we start: no refund

A few things to keep in mind:

• The waiting list only opens once the course is sold out.
• I consider your spot taken when when (a) you found someone to take your spot and they mention your name their application form or (b) the course is full, the spots of any people who cancelled before you have been taken first, and someone on the remaining waiting list takes your spot.
• I'll refund you once the new person has paid in full.
• You can't transfer your spot to someone else without my approval.
• If you haven't paid the full amount and no one has taken your spot, you're obliged to pay all remaining installments—even if you cancelled.

Conditions when I cancel the program:

• 100% refund

Hi, I'm Mette! (he/they)

As a writer, facilitator, and overall curious human, I look for authentic expression in playful and meaningful ways. I love to play with identity, normalize emotions, expand self-expression, and build connection by exploring our uniqueness as well as our shared humanity. In my spaces, I cultivate a deep sense of permission for you to fully follow your yeses and your no’s—enabling you to create imprints that support that same permission in other areas of your life.

I'm deeply invested in facilitating groups responsibly. Years ago, I started by participating and assisting some pretty brilliant facilitators like Chris van der Weijde & Rachel Rickards. I attended professional courses such as Internal Family Systems for therapists, the Wheel of Consent Like-a-Pro, the Field Facilitator Training, and multiple courses about the nervous system. I co-facilitated with some wonderful facilitators and held many of my own containers.

Creation has always been my main way of learning. I've learned both from my mistakes and from successful projects like when I created the (currently inactive) Nibana Festival from scratch, dedicating years to writing and researching my book about authentic living, and spending the past few years offering courses and retreats about authenticity, vulnerability, sexuality, freedom, and co-creating a better world.

My social location & lens
I was born in Amsterdam in 1984. I'm racialized as white, able-bodied, and come from a middle-class background. I'm gender nonconforming and use he or they pronouns. I studied AI before it was cool (and obtained my BSc) and have been self-employed since 2007, mainly running small startups and co-working spaces until I turned my life around 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 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 overall, I felt supported. 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.

Hear my personal story

In this 2.5 minute video, I tell you how my desire to dress outside the gender norms eventually led me to do this work:

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

Mikael Ibrahim (he/him)

“I believe that we create beauty and growth whenever we genuinely meet each other with openness and depth. I am passionate about living in this way and bringing that to others. I love to offer private sessions to cultivate these qualities and move through obstacles that come in the way. In my work, I draw on body-centered training in the Pantarei Approach and Realization Process, as well as my own journey of recovery from burnout and chronic pain.“

Below is the answer to the question whether people would recommend this course as well as the testimonials that people left after previous editions of this course. While the testimonials are overwhemlingly positive, I'd like to say that I'm far from perfect. I always ask partipiants (and team members) for feedback. I don't publish the feedback but I do use it to improve my facilitation.

★★★★★ "Mette has a calm presence that feels very intuitive, flowy and fun. They are very present when holding space. They created an incredibly well designed workshop that is inspiring, challenging and thought provoking. I loved being with the group that was created during the workshop, it felt like a little family."
- Marlene

★★★★★ "Doing this workshop series with Mette was really supportive for me during a difficult life transition. The weekly workshops gave me a space to connect to myself and others. They gave me the space to get more in touch with different parts of me. In the workshops I could explore new ways to communicate and bring those parts that I usually keep in hiding in contact with the people of the group. Mette and his team created a container in which I felt safe to explore and also safe not to. I appreciate the way in which he draws tools from different approaches, and offers them unobtrusively for everyone to pick what is helpful for them."
- Mia S.

★★★★★ "Dear Mette, thank you lots for the series of workshops. I started to feel some changes during the first session already. Now, a month later - I am happy to observe cool shifts and somewhat something like kinda … true me? no self judgment and overthinking, intuition leading to unexpected events, living life and not postponing it… I like it) . I don’t know what exactly did this, I do know that for the whole five weeks - every Thursday I committed to the participation in „Authentic self“. I thank you for the safe space, guidance, and organization. I wish you much success (also as the author of a book!)"
- Olga

★★★★★ "I really enjoyed the workshop. The team created a safe and cozy environment, where it felt natural to be more open and authentic. The 2nd month in particular happened to be a wonderful experience for me, it connected a lot of thoughts and tools that I knew and brought them into active use. I started catching myself using some techniques on random situations much more, which is absolutely great! So thank you so much for the workshop!"

★★★★★ "I looked forward to attending Mette’s RA workshops almost as if it were a weekly meeting that will always bring me closer to my center, a form of modern communal meditation on the things that matters to humans to come into alignment. It helped me review my values & wishes, incorporate new practices, adjust some behaviors and perceptions, and even rekindle some beautiful friendships of yore in a new light and approach that supports the maintenance and growth of these new tools and knowledge. Mette’s and the participants, it all became consistently inspiring! I was deeply reminded to invite more intentional play time in my life!"
- BeLL

★★★★★ "The workshop was super intensive, I was able to reflect on myself again and again. I would describe myself as a people pleaser who finds it difficult to set boundaries and communicate my own needs. Through the various exercises, however, I was able to learn how valuable saying no can be. The positive environment and positive group structure made practicing so much easier and I have continued to develop. So if you are interested in authenticity and genuineness and want to learn what consent means and how to communicate this in a friendly way, I can only recommend the workshop. Thank you, Mette, for your being, you are an absolute enrichment and we all need a bit of Mette in us."
- Franzi Redeker

★★★★★ "These days I wake up feeling grounded, happy and excited about the day ahead of me. I attribute this emotional well-being to the brilliant workshop series I experienced. Mette, the facilitator guided us through a sequence of exercises to connect the inner and outer world. The sophisticated emotional release tools and empowerment exercises deserve a special call out. I felt great at all times throughout this workshop journey as the facilitator created a safe and entertaining space for me to thrive in my authentic self. It was beautiful to witness how everyone looked and felt more alive after the sessions."

★★★★★ "I love how Mette combines theory and practice in the workshops. How to explore your own authenticity without feeling your feelings or experiencing your body? And how to understand authenticity without taking the mind along the path of exploration? I could really sense that Mette has studied the human being on all three levels (& beyond) and integrates that in the workshop. That is/was truly special for me and helped me explore my authenticity in a holistic way. Mette's work goes deep. Definitely recommended."
- Teresa

★★★★★ "Mette has a special power to create a safe container where everyone can feel welcome and most of all safe to explore who they are. The workshop consisted of a mixture of meditation, theory input and practical parts to feel, connect and explore. Mette managed to combine theories in an impressive way so they would complement and enrich each other. The practical tasks were amazing and wonderful and also really different in each session. It was a space where you could fully feel and explore who you really are and that allowed yourself to be seen and feel accepted with what for me was one of the most wonderful aspects. The workshops felt like a secret hidden place in nature, warm, sunny, safe, to feel relaxed and free and thereby creating excitement and curiosity to explore. It was great to be with people who share the same values and to feel the connection based on a level of acceptance and freedom that arises if you participate in a space like this.
The workshops encouraged me to speak up for myself more, to be more aware of my values and to live them more honestly in daily life. I also had really important insights about myself and relationships in my life and I am still curious how these insights will develop further. Also just having a reserved time during the week to be aware of who I am, how I feel, dress or behave if I am really honest with myself was an energy that spread through the whole week. I also really liked to reflect more about what I am more curious about and I am excited for what is there yet to come. For the start I finally got a short haircut and a nose piercing ;)
I truly believe that if more people would participate in spaces like this and work like this is spread throughout societies we can change the world we want to live in."
- Nora

★★★★★ "Mette's workshop was a beautiful space, wonderfully balancing the self and the society / group. The line between self-care and selfishness was properly nuanced and not crossed, making it all the more comfortable to dive into our authentic selves and relate to others in a healthy(er) way. The exercises were not just helpful, but fun, yet 'difficult/ enough to challenge ingrained behaviors and patterns.
I'm sometimes a bit skeptical of any more esoteric ideas, but the workshop did not trigger this in me at all - it felt well-grounded and sensible, which is something I noticed early on in Mette and very much appreciate about his approach.
I have already been telling my friends about 'this cool workshop I took part in,' and have been recommending them to do it as well."
- Lucia

★★★★★ "I joined the workshop in a very challenging and transitioning/changing period of my life.
The workshop helped me to get in touch with my emotions and learn how to stay there with them even when it doesn't feel pleasant. It helped me to understand better what I want, to make steps forward into learning how to say no without overstepping others' boundaries. It helped me to listen to the reasons behind my yes and my no, to feel myself and what I want.
The whole experience changed me, I feel more able to see other people needs, while respecting my own needs and boundaries. I'm more able to feel my own emotions and stay with them without finding a way to suppress them. The workshop took a big part in my personal growth process. I'm really thankful for the opportunity to be part of it."
- Francesca

★★★★★ "Mette created a space where I felt very safe and comfortable. I learned something valuable in every workshop, which was only possible because of the skillful connection of theory and practice. All of it was very well done and Mette has a gift to make ideas easy to understand.
Rejecting people, expressing emotions or mentioning tension in a relationship; those are all really challenging social skills. Many of us are socialized to just swallow our thoughts and feelings even though it can damage our integrity and relationships.
The workshops Mette created gave me the tools to practice expressing myself more authentically, especially in challenging situations. I think they have the potential to greatly improve the communication in any relationship.
What really made it all stick was the weekly schedule. The regularity of the sessions kept authenticity and the skills I was learning on my mind so I could use and practice them in my daily life and I really felt the impact. I feel a lot more able and confident to express difficult thoughts and emotions.
I'm really grateful and glad I could join the radical authenticity workshops and I hope more people will get the chance, too."
- Manu Korb

★★★★★ "Mette's workshops came in a very weird and transformative period of my life. They were recommended by a blogger Natasha Kuzmina in her blog, and Natasha was telling very nice things about Mette as a facilitator. So I decided I needed to try, my soul was asking for it. I was feeling rather unsure, lost, hollow before the start of the workshops. But during the workshop time, every Thursday, I would comfortably and gently open new sides of me to myself. I would tell my therapist every Sunday during our session about what we did on RadAuthenticity and she would beam with joy for me, because it weaved so nicely into our therapy process, too.
During one of the exercises/practices in a course I felt a strong connection to my masculine self, the side that before was there, but I kept aggressively ignoring it and telling myself: "Nah, you're just imagining things, you should be like everyone else, it's not the time to think about it". But now I am very actively figuring out (with my therapist and psychiatrist) what my gender and my gender expression are. Finally, I feel a power inside of me to accept that I am different, I am colorful and bright, and it is okay. Because so many people in our workshop group would just accept me as I am, my pronouns and my truths. It felt liberating.
There were parts where I felt uncomfortable, because that's how I felt through the exercise - all the emotions, memories, conflicting feelings inside of me. This uncomfortableness, though, would also teach me things about myself and my truths. I cried a couple of times, too. It was a big deal for me, because before I felt a strong fear and shame of crying in public, of showing big negative emotions in front of other people. I felt free to give in to my emotions here, though. The space we would make every Thursday felt safe, warm, inviting, and so creative. I am an artist, so creativity and authenticity is very much important to me in a professional way, not just in a self-love-journey way.
Now I feel much free in expressing myself through my art, through performance. It is easier to be on the stage, being seen in my most sensitive and soul-opening moments, being perceived. Where I was feeling constrained and nervous before, now, after Mette's Radical Authenticity workshops, I feel a free-flow. I even use some meditation and breathing practices in my teaching work as a singing teacher and a choir conductor. It helps me to connect to my students on a deeper level, and also to be more accepting of their truths. They also love it - it helps them to be more present and mindful during their lessons.
Most importantly, I now feel on a very deep level how different we are, and how beautiful it is. We all have our challenges, our desires, our inner images of how we want to present ourselves, how we want to be.
It is a little sad that this beautiful series of workshops has ended. I quite enjoyed it, because every Thursday we would have something new to think about. The program was carefully curated and felt natural and interesting to go through. Especially, I am very grateful that Mette didn't push us to do the homework. It is a challenge for me, and it felt really nice that not doing homework was also a respected option.
Mette was very democratic with how much money he would ask for our contribution. In the beginning of the first month, I was in an extremely tight financial situation, but I really really wanted to go to at least one of the meetings. It was so important for me as an act of self-love. Mette was very kind to invite me despite everything and not ask for a financial contribution, just a symbolic little contribution. It really supported me in so many ways. I felt I could have a place too, despite my financial situation, I was a part of it like everyone else. I am very grateful, it was a big thing for me! <3

★★★★★ "I'm very happy to have taken part in this workshop organized by Mette. On a personal level, it allowed me a lot of liberation. I was able to put out of me things that had been kept inside. I'd never tried this kind of exercise before and had no idea of its liberating power. I didn't even realize how many layers there were to some of these things, to the point where I'd forgotten that there was something here, and there... This workshop allowed me to reveal to myself a new layer of my persona/ego that I was considering until then to be myself.
In my quest for meaning, I found myself drawn to the point of view Mette wanted to share about "human being and how he lives his truth". Having said that, I initially had a bit of trouble with the title of the workshop and the word "radical" it contained. Radical to me resonates with "extreme". And in my opinion, when you go to extremes, you run the risk of forgetting other people's truths. That's why when I visit extremes, it's always with the aim of extracting an essence of truth and bringing it back with me to the center, to be confused with those of other horizons I've visited.
But I was very pleased to see that during the worksop, this idea of getting back to the center was actually very important. And it's one of the foundations of the workshop that I think gave it its greatest efficiency and strength.
This was made possible by:
- introducing each workshop with a guided meditation to focus our attention on our emotional center
- the systematic invitation to return to our inner self for a few breaths after each externalization exercise
- this regular reminder to keep our attention permanently 70% inside and 30% outside.
I'd like to thank Mette for this sharing, as his point of view was very interesting and has indeed enriched mine, I can only say so once I've returned to my center.
Many thanks 🙏"
- Christelle André

Get notified when the 4 Feb – 22 Apr 2026 edition goes online:

Going back and forth between yes and no? This is super common, so join the club.

Break the spiral by having a chat with me on Zoom. In 15-20 minutes, you’ll likely find more clarity than after days of thinking about it. We can talk about the retreat, a specific challenge in your life, or simply make small-talk and have a laugh.

Look into my calendar and book a call

Or read about two different kinds of doubts.

Here are some concerns people share with me:

• “I have wayyyy too many things going on and it feels like adding something will send me straight into a burnout.”
• “I know it's not the right time, but I'm afraid this is my only chance.”
• “I'm really low on cash, and spending this money would make it harder to pay rent or buy food.”

If these sentences describe your situation then this is likely not the best time to join. You may first want to look after your basic needs. If you don't know how to regulate your nervous system, then maybe read my post about shaking on Telegram.

Here are some other common doubts:

• “I'm excited but also low-key terrified”
• “I don't have much experience in these spaces—and I wonder if I'll be the only newbie”
• “I don't know anyone else who's joining.”

If this is you, let me be clear: You won't be the only inexperienced one, and most participants don't know each other. Many people have these kinds of worries when they consider joining. So if this is your experience, not only is this totally normal, it's almost a condition for joining. It means you're meeting a growth edge.

I suggest to take some deep breaths or shake your body until you feel more relaxed and start to feel your curiosity. Then click the button before the stories take over again:

Sweet. You could check out my other events, follow me on Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok—of have a look at my book.

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!)

7. No intoxication: We don't consume drugs and alcohol during or before the event, and stay off our phones/devices in the public spaces.

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.