be:ananda is a men's community for awareness, health and nature: living more consciously and growing together, with monthly challenges, meetups and retreats. Online, centred in Munich and Zurich. These are the questions men ask us most often, answered briefly, with a link to the page that goes into detail.
be:ananda is a men's community for awareness, health and nature: living more consciously and growing together, with monthly challenges, meetups and retreats. We meet online and are centred in Munich and Zurich. One theme a month, a few minutes a day, one meeting a week. The Lodge and seven days to look around are free; guests join the Fireside Circle by application.
Read more: Home page →be:ananda is for adult men aged 18 and over who carry a lot and notice that performance alone is not enough: entrepreneurs, leaders, fathers, men in times of change. Anyone who wants to live more consciously, healthily and closer to nature is welcome.
Read more: Our vision →No. Most men come to be:ananda without any prior experience. Listening is as much part of the group as speaking, and you decide what and how much you share.
Read more: Why a retreat for men only? →From 9 November, membership of be:ananda costs €49 a month: all online live sessions of the month, the video courses and the whole world with the stages REGULATE, ORIENT and LIVE, your rope team, exercises and My values. Your fee stays the same for as long as you are with us. The first year is included in the RISE Retreat and RISE Alps programmes. The Lodge and seven days to look around stay free. The Fireside Circle is for members; guests apply and, once accepted, get a free week. The regular price of a be:ananda Rise Retreat is Shared room €3,499, Single room €3,999; payment in instalments is possible.
Read more: Retreats in the Netherlands →No. be:ananda is a community with a practice programme for everyday life, guided by a team of a doctor, a mental coach and an energy trainer. It does not replace therapy or one-to-one coaching. If you are in an acute crisis, medical or psychotherapeutic help comes first.
Most be:ananda live meetings are held in German. The website and the member area are also available in English.
Yes. The be:ananda meeting point is the alpine meadow “Beieinander”, a painted mountain world in the member area mein.beananda.co. The iPhone app is optional; everything important also works in the browser.
Yes. be:ananda is a men's community centred in Munich and Zurich. You practise online with men from the whole region, meetups in Munich are planned, and where possible your rope team in the challenge is matched from your area.
Read more: Men's group Munich →Yes. Alongside Munich, Zurich is the second centre of be:ananda. The exchange happens online on the alpine meadow and in the WhatsApp community; meetups in Zurich are planned and are announced first in the community.
Read more: Men's group Zurich →A men's group is a steady circle of men who meet regularly to talk honestly about what is on their minds and to support each other. At be:ananda, shared exercises for body and mind and a monthly theme are part of it.
Read more: Men's group Munich →The be:ananda community meets online: once a month for the Fireside Circle on the alpine meadow in the members' area, and every Wednesday for 30 minutes live, with breathwork or energy training. Both are part of membership. Guests apply for the Fireside Circle with a few sentences; once accepted, they get a free week, including one live session.
Read more: All dates →The Fireside Circle is the monthly be:ananda circle, online on the alpine meadow. It lives from a trusted circle in which people can open up, so it is for members. Guests apply with a few sentences: what brings them here and what is on their mind right now. We read every application and get back to you. Once accepted, you get a free week, including one live session on the following Wednesday. No prior knowledge is needed.
Read more: Next Fireside Circle →Create an account in the member area mein.beananda.co, set up your hut on the alpine meadow and look around the whole world free for seven days. The account and the Lodge are free. As a guest, you apply for the Fireside Circle with a few sentences. You also get the dates up to the next Fireside Circle as a calendar file.
Read more: Dates and sign-up →An Einkehr challenge is a month in which a group of men practise together on one life theme: a few minutes every day, one meeting a week, a partner at your side. be:ananda developed the format; the first Einkehr challenge is called REGULATE and practises coming back from constant tension. The challenges are part of membership, and you can look around for seven days for free.
Read more: What is an Einkehr challenge? →Five to ten minutes a day and, if you like, thirty minutes live on Wednesday evening. Missing a day is no problem. The be:ananda Einkehr challenges run online, so you do not need to live in Munich or Zurich.
Read more: How a challenge works →The best-researched are slow breathing patterns with a long exhale. be:ananda works with four short breathing techniques of about five minutes each: the physiological sigh, the long exhale, box breathing and resonance breathing. They are a tool, not a switch, and do not replace treatment if anxiety, sleep problems or exhaustion last for weeks.
Read more: Regulate stress in five minutes: four breathing techniques →Slow breathing with a long exhale shifts the balance of the autonomic nervous system towards calm. It helps you come back after tension, but it does not prevent all tension. At be:ananda, regulation does not mean never being tense again, but being able to come back.
Read more: Four breathing techniques for stress →Self-leadership means consciously steering your own thinking, feeling and acting instead of only reacting to outside pressure. It is not a talent but a set of skills you can practise over weeks, such as self-observation, if-then plans and a kind inner dialogue.
Read more: Self-leadership in everyday life →The be:ananda Rise Retreat is a four-day retreat for men in the Netherlands. In a small group we combine breathwork, bodywork, sharing circles and nature with a guided, consciousness-expanding experience if you wish, during which a physician is responsible for medical safety. The retreat is about personal growth and is not therapy.
Read more: Rise Retreat in the Netherlands →The Rise Retreats take place exclusively in the Netherlands and last four days with three nights. Upcoming dates: Rise Retreat – March 2027: 11–14 March 2027, Avani Retreat Center, Helvoirt, Netherlands; Rise Retreat – May 2027: date to follow, Avani Retreat Center, Helvoirt, Netherlands.
Read more: Dates, schedule, prices →Yes. Psilocybin mushrooms have been banned in the Netherlands since 2008, but psilocybin-containing truffles are not covered by that ban. Psilocybin is illegal in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and bringing it home is a criminal offence, even in small amounts.
Read more: Is psilocybin legal? →In a sample from large booking platforms, three- to four-day retreats in the Netherlands in autumn 2026 mostly cost between about 1,000 and 3,000 euros per person. What matters is what is included: screening, preparation, facilitation and follow-up calls. The regular price of a be:ananda Rise Retreat is Shared room €3,499, Single room €3,999; payment in instalments is possible. Health insurers do not pay for a retreat, because it is not treatment.
Read more: How much does a psilocybin retreat cost? →What matters is set (your inner state), setting (the outer framework) and an intention rather than a fixed expectation. Disclose any illnesses, past mental health crises and all medication, do not stop anything on your own, and plan at least one free day afterwards. For most people two to four weeks of regular quiet time are enough.
Read more: Preparing: set, setting and intention →The Rise Retreat lasts four days, from Thursday afternoon to Sunday midday. On the first day participants set intentions, breathe together and get to know each other in the circle. On the second day, if you wish, comes the guided, consciousness-expanding experience. The third day is for grounding, with plenty of time outdoors, and the fourth for the question of what you take home and what the first step in everyday life looks like.
Read more: What happens at a psilocybin retreat? →Before anyone takes part there is a free, no-obligation introductory call (20 minutes) and a one-to-one initial call (30–45 minutes) in which we work out together whether the retreat is right for you. A physician (Dr. med. Maximilian Haas) is on site for the whole retreat. Four facilitators from different disciplines run the retreat.
Read more: Psilocybin side effects and risks →It is not suitable for people in an acute mental health crisis, people with a personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, and people taking lithium. be:ananda clarifies this in the initial call, before your place is confirmed.
Read more: Contraindications and medication →No. What matters more is a stable state of mind, some experience of working on yourself and the willingness to prepare.
Read more: Retreat FAQ →Integration is the process of building the insights from an experience into your life: understanding it, putting it into words, checking what holds and doing small things differently. The most intense period is the first two to four weeks. The Rise Retreat includes a one-to-one integration call, two group calls and six months of access to the online platform.
Read more: Psychedelic integration →Yes, most of it: the community, the Einkehr challenges, the live sessions with breathwork and energy training and the Fireside Circle take place without psilocybin, as do the workshops in Germany. Psilocybin is only part of the retreats in the Netherlands.
Read more: Events and live sessions →It starts with a free, no-obligation introductory call (20 minutes). Then comes an initial call (30–45 minutes) in which we work out together whether the retreat is right for you; only after that is your place confirmed. Payment in instalments is possible.
Read more: Retreats and introductory call →be:ananda was founded and is guided by four men: Jannik Schulz (organisation and guidance), Dr. med. Maximilian Haas (physician in specialist training in psychiatry and psychotherapy, Zurich), Julian Maier (mental coach and breathwork) and Timotheus Fischer (energy training, nutrition and food).
Read more: About us →By email at contact@beananda.co, through a free introductory call or at the monthly Fireside Circle. News is shared on Instagram, LinkedIn and in the newsletter.
Read more: Newsletter →Write to us at contact@beananda.co or come into the Lodge, it is always open. As a guest, you can apply for the Fireside Circle.
To be honest: be:ananda is a community with a practice programme for everyday life, not therapy and not one-to-one coaching. We do not promise healing, but we help you stay with it.