For three weeks in November, fourteen A4E members participated in a workshop on the emotional experience of facing the climate crisis, based on the Work That Reconnects, and facilitated by A4E member Anna Hurst and eco-therapist Krista Gaston.
The Work That Reconnects, originally created by environmental activist and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy, is an experiential group process which is grounded in gratitude, moves participants through despair and grief, and then onward into action. Through discussions, reflection exercises, meditations, rituals, and role playing, workshop participants and facilitators co-created a container for expressing and witnessing their own and each other’s emotions.
This workshop for A4E members was an experimental offering to bring this empowering process to astronomers specifically, in response to the emerging need for emotional support in the scientific community. Workshop participants reported a highly positive and powerful experience, with many eager to continue with further similar experiences, some even making plans to bring this process to their work places or other communities.
Here are a few quotes from participants:
“It felt like a deeply personal and communal space to think about both myself and humanity at this critical moment in Earth’s timeline. I felt seen and heard, and I felt that I was able to see and hear others in their true selves and witness their deepest hopes and fears.”
“It was supportive, soul-connected, uplifting. It was very well and carefully designed, thought-through, and facilitated. It was inspiring, and made me feel closer to others in the community.”
“I feel more forward-facing, ready to take the big emotions and feel them and shift them, as opposed to getting stuck in them.”
Based on this overwhelmingly positive reception, Hurst and Gaston plan to offer the workshop again in 2026, as well as create some additional related offerings, including a monthly drop-in space for A4E members to offer each other mutual emotional support and engage together in healing-centered practices.
Contact Anna Hurst on A4E slack with any interest, questions, or ideas!
