the up in armswith open arms project A hub for projects rooted in love and catalyzed in community.
Hi y’all! I’m krista and the up in arms with open arms project is is the catalyst point for my many creative projects. These projects range from art, grief cafes, spiral facilitation, eco-coaching for individuals and leaders, and writing. All offerings are informed by queer-ecology and eco-therapy.
At uiawoa, we love creating fractal spaces that catalyze the despair of an honest witness into empowered action that acts on the Earth—and all her inhabitant’s —behalf.
Current Projects and Fractal Offerings
Eco-Coaching and Consulting
Open Systems /PermacultureTheories applied to organizational change work
Trauma-informed strategies to create channels of feedback up from below to create sustainable organizational structures.
Making Space
Making Space, is a project incorporating astronomy into Spiral facilitation as a catalyst of awe, and providing emotional support to scientists facing the climate crisis. Anna and Krista are also looking ahead to regular Widening Circles gatherings for our communities, featuring casual Spiral facilitation to keep the hope alive; as well as a mini Spiral workshop infused with astronomical wonders to ground us in awe at the Universe as we face our collective grief. with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
https://a4e.org/making-space-navigating-the-emotional-landscape-of-climate-work/
art to support us all
Resistance art flows through me. 75% of all proceeds go to local community organizing projects. More info coming soon.
up from below therapy: an unfurling practice
Specializing in eco-therapy, I enjoy working with neurodiverse folks and the people who love them. There is so much to hold at this intersection of life, we can work together to shift-perspective and increase mindfulness skills for navigating the terrain of your life.
https://www.kristagastontherapy.com/
The Bloom + Grow Collective
An inclusive network of intergenerational mental health providers committed to supporting and advocating for our collective well-being.
For providers, by providers.
https://www.bloomandgrowcollective.org/
Eco-Writing
Writing to understand open-systems, trauma-informed systems, metabolizing grief, and other embodied ecology prose.
https://substack.com/@uiawoahttps://www.bloomandgrowcollective.org/
https://journal.workthatreconnects.org/2023/09/02/metabolizing-grief-in-mental-health-a-providers-perspective/
https://journal.workthatreconnects.org/2025/09/29/bloomgrow-collective-building-community-as-a-living-system/
Spiral Shaped Workshops
Spiral Facilitation inspired by The Work That Reconnects.
Current Offerings: Ancestral Storytelling, Storyteller’s Conventions, Grief Cafes, Spiral Sandboxes.
OUR MISSION
