u/summereeta

Hello photographers!

We’re hosting Bangalore’s first IRL mental fitness sessions, think of your usual sip & paint and similar outings but with a guided facilitator, an intimate crowd, and takeaways for your mental fitness. So you’re stepping out to have fun at a mental gym. <3

1.⁠ ⁠Venue: Indiranagar, Whitefield & Jayanagar
2.⁠ ⁠Date and time: 30th May 11 to 1:30 | 31st May 11 to 1:30 and evening 7:30 to 9:30
3.⁠ ⁠Duration of the event: 2 hours, with 30 mins of initial set up
4.⁠ ⁠Budget: 500 per event + lunch/dinner
5.⁠ ⁠Number of photographers required: Just one, who can take few wholesome shots for us, and few videos for future promotions. (And mostly enjoy themselves as part of a mental fitness session.)

Please dm me if you’re interested! 🫶🏽

WHitefield is too far away for me, mostly do-able very late at night when everyone sort of goes to sleep. Which is why when we were selecting hubs of bangalore for our IRL mental fitness sessions, I had to be convinced of this.

We're about ten days out from our first IRL mental fitness sessions across Bangalore, Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Whitefield, HSR. Actual R&D for a year, so building this cause is really close to our heart. So the cafe had to feel right. That's the bar we set for ourselves and now we have to live with it.

Paper and Pie was the first stop. Genuinely buzzing, I'll be honest it was a very polished kind of vibe - very subtle rich people kind? (I really don't know how else to explain this.) But also so loud you guys. Conference room seats ten at max. We needed more than ten. Moving on.

Beanlore, we showed up too early and it was closed. Called later, seating was on the smaller side too. The HSR branch has always been such a good vibe so this one was thoda saddening.

A few others got ruled out based on how the conversation went when we explained what we were trying to do. It's a quick judgment call and we know that's not totally fair, but you can tell pretty fast whether a space is going to genuinely get it or just tolerate it. We went with our gut since we had to make do with what we had.

One genuinely cute place, Chez. Open seating, sweet energy. Also home to approximately one thousand mosquitoes, which we understand is not their fault since it's open seating. They did give us a coil - which I really don't know if coils even work anymore. Passed on that one.

And then Cafe Fiori. The owner was warm. She mentioned she has a friend in the mental health space so she already had some context, we were starting from somewhere instead of from scratch. We're heading there again tomorrow to see the full space and sort out the menu.

Also quietly hoping parking is figured out because Indiranagar broke our spirits a little on that front.

That's all. Wanted to share our journey of doing this here, if you kind people allow for it. 😄

In about 10 days we're hosting our first IRL mental fitness sessions across bangalore (approx 3 ends of Blore) and my team and I have spent the last few days walking around indiranagar in the heat (and calling up cafe owners) trying to find the right cafe for it. Mind you, this cause is very close to our heart and we've done R&D for a year, so the right fit was imp for us.

A reddit stranger (bless you) told us to check out German Brezelhaus. Went there, loved the space (though I'm not a fan of the cuisine - just a personal tastebud situation), fully booked on our dates, um plus - I struggled so much to find parking. Very on theme for how this whole process has been going.

Baker and Charlie, newly opened (their 2nd outlet), cool vibe, indoor space still being set up. Outdoor seating available but you know what else is always available in bangalore? The sun, pass for a mental fitness thing where people need to think. It's also in a very narrow gali. Champaca was one of the top on our list - but we didn't get their response within time.

We visited a lot of other places in between. I will spare you the details because some of those conversations were just us explaining what "mental fitness" means to cafe owners who did not ask for a session at 3pm on a tuesday. Most of these conversations ended up being screening calls, depending on how the cafes responded to the problem statement (though I do understand that it's hard to make a judgement within half an hour, but we had to make do with what we had.)

We finally landed on Grumpy Girl - pretty small cafe, but pretty cafe. Genuinely sweet owner. She had just been hosting karaoke nights there which tells you something about the kind of energy she's bringing to the space. We didn't have to do the whole song and dance. Their outdoor space looked like it still needed some work, but again, the owner won us over.

The only thing and this is a very indiranagar problem I've realised, parking is essentially a concept that does not exist there, same with GG. So we'll still have to work out what to let our participants know. But we've seen the experience economy blow up so much and most happen in Indiranagar - so I'm v confused about what people actually do for parking.
Anyhow, that's it, thought we'd update our journey here - if you kind people allow for it.

we’re building a mental fitness startup are hiring across multiple roles:

• founder’s office associate
• social media editor
• facilitator
• creative/design
• open application

and an open application for people who feel like they’d fit somewhere at HOP even if there isn’t a perfect role listed yet.

if you like building meaningful things, internet culture, psychology, aesthetics, community, and startup energy, this might be for you.

bangalore + hybrid depending on role.
remuneration starting from 10k-40k per month depending on role type, experience etc.

we’re building a mental fitness startup are hiring across multiple roles:

• founder’s office associate
• social media editor
• facilitator
• creative/design
• community & partnerships

and an open application for people who feel like they’d fit somewhere at HOP even if there isn’t a perfect role listed yet.

if you like building meaningful things, internet culture, psychology, aesthetics, community, and startup energy, this might be for you.

bangalore + hybrid depending on role.
remuneration starting from 10k-40k per month depending on role type, experience etc.

we’re building a mental fitness startup are hiring across multiple roles:

• founder’s office associate
• social media editor
• facilitator
• creative/design
• open applications

and an open application for people who feel like they’d fit somewhere at HOP even if there isn’t a perfect role listed yet.

if you like building meaningful things, internet culture, psychology, aesthetics, community, and startup energy, this might be for you.

bangalore + hybrid depending on role.
remuneration starting from 10k-40k per month depending on role type, experience etc.

we’re building a mental fitness startup are hiring across multiple roles:

• founder’s office associate
• social media editor
• facilitator
• creative/design
• open applications

and an open application for people who feel like they’d fit somewhere at HOP even if there isn’t a perfect role listed yet.

if you like building meaningful things, internet culture, psychology, aesthetics, community, and startup energy, this might be for you.

bangalore + hybrid depending on role.
remuneration starting from 10k-40k per month depending on role type, experience etc.

Hey Bangalore!
The whole “experience economy” thing is booming right now. People are stepping out more, meeting new people, trying workshops, cafés, communities, niche events etc.

But we wanted to add so much more value to this! You’re stepping out and paying (we all know how the economy is), might as well pay for a mental gym experience, that doubles up as your community outing. :)

I work with House Of Prama: a mental fitness house focused on things like clarity, resilience, emotional strength, discipline, reflection, connection and building stronger inner worlds.

We’re planning 5 intimate Bangalore sessions across:
29th night
30th morning
30th evening
31st morning
31st evening
Current conversations are happening with some lovely spaces like:
Copper + Cloves (Champaca branch)
Backer and Charlie
Grumpy Girl Coffee
Beku
The Peck

The plan right now:
a science-backed mental fitness session
our psychology facilitator flying in from Kolkata
a good beverage + shared snacks included
meaningful activities/reflection
genuinely good people (do we screen out people?) and energy

Would genuinely love your input:
Which cafés/spaces fit this energy best?
What would make the ticket feel worth paying for?
Help us make these 5 sessions really special :)

Hey Bangalore!
The whole “experience economy” thing is booming right now. People are stepping out more, meeting new people, trying workshops, cafés, communities, niche events etc.

But we wanted to add so much more value to this! You’re stepping out and paying (we all know how the economy is), might as well pay for a mental gym experience, that doubles up as your community outing. :)

I work with House Of Prama: a mental fitness house focused on things like clarity, resilience, emotional strength, discipline, reflection, connection and building stronger inner worlds.

We’re planning 5 intimate Bangalore sessions across:
29th night
30th morning
30th evening
31st morning
31st evening
Current conversations are happening with some lovely spaces like:
Copper + Cloves (Champaca branch)
Backer and Charlie
Grumpy Girl Coffee
Beku
The Peck

The plan right now:
a science-backed mental fitness session
our psychology facilitator flying in from Kolkata
a good beverage + shared snacks included
meaningful activities/reflection
genuinely good people (do we screen out people?) and energy

Would genuinely love your input:
Which cafés/spaces fit this energy best?
What would make the ticket feel worth paying for?
Help us make these 5 sessions really special :)

https://preview.redd.it/vwhzgn5f2zxg1.jpg?width=722&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffbd1da34f3fb48d842dea3d432a5148437c6766

https://preview.redd.it/pp9sml5f2zxg1.jpg?width=578&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=edc30322d22ac433fb8430433cfc6c45bfefec9e

https://preview.redd.it/d78iyl5f2zxg1.jpg?width=578&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52c48e084dc17a2232fed1939dc94d5840235f71

Attaching a few screenshots from after the session, names and faces kept private. ❤️