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Hi, I’m Arpita

I hold space for you to be witnessed safely and explore bravely.

If you are walking away from the beaten path for the first time or the umpteenth time, this place might be for you.

This is a safe haven for people who identify as “different”-
because of the way they think or behave;
because of who they choose to love, romantically or otherwise;
because they are deeply affected by Nature.
The changes these days are fast and furious. You don’t have to go through them alone.

If you are walking away from the beaten path for the first time or the umpteenth time, this place might be for you.

This is a safe haven for people who identify as “different”-
because of the way they think or behave;
because of who they choose to love, romantically or otherwise;
because they are deeply affected by Nature.
The changes these days are fast and furious. You don’t have to go through them alone.

Offerings

All that I offer is intuitive, dynamic, and always, always inspired by Nature.
We can work together in these ways –

01

Tending the Flame

Safe+Brave Spaces (paid)

Are you looking for ways to connect deeper with yourself, your community and Nature? Join a TTF cohort for an immersive experience.

🌈 Register for ‘Delicious Diversity’ cohort to explore sex, sexuality and intimacy at the personal, relational and systemic levels in safe and brave space this July – August.

see details
02

Fireplace

Monthly Gatherings (free)

Are you looking to regularly connect with community that wants to explore self and community care? Do you want to learn new tools, strategies and practices to move into a more authentic, symbiotic and just world?

Fireplace is a free monthly gathering where you can come to deepen in practice and experiment with flattened power structures among like minded community members.

see details
Logo depicts thoughts in one on one conversation
03

Kindle the Spirit

One on One Sessions (paid)

Do you feel disconnected, confused, overwhelmed? Are you tired of pretending all the time? Are you discovering your identity of neurodivergent, queer or eco-sensitive?

Kindle the Spirit is practical, trauma-informed one on one facilitation to empower you to take charge of your own life. I hold up a mirror to the light and dark within you and offer presence, support and tangible tools that help you towards building a life that feels authentic and abundant.

see details
Logo depicting art ceremony
04

Illumine the Moment

Art Ceremony (paid)

Do you want to express an emotion or transform a situation through Art? Are you feeling deeply about something and want it manifested on canvas?

I can take you on a guided journey through your experience through conversation and ceremony. Deepen your understanding, transform your experience, and take home a painting!

see details

“My humanity is bound up in yours for we can only be human together.”

– Desmond Tutu –

Put the jigsaw puzzle pieces of your life together in safe and brave spaces
Put the jigsaw puzzle pieces of your life together in safe and brave spaces

Working with me

See My Philosophy

A lot of people have told me that they feel safe and comfortable with me. Happily, it lights me up from the inside to connect deeply with someone. At the same time, I don’t shy away from showing a mirror in challenging circumstances to invite growth and change. I see people move through their experiences, while offering whatever insight, support or space I can.

  • Why me...

    • I want to support you AND I want to challenge you
    • I want to look at griefs and problems AND I want to explore hopes and visions
    • I want us to explore your personal background AND your social context
    • I want you to have specific goals for yourself AND adapt to circumstances as they emerge
    • I want to center your experience AND offer my learnings and expertise
    • I want you to find rest in the present AND envision the future you look forward to

  • We're a good fit if...

    • You are curious and jugaadu (innovative). We will take an experimental approach, and a lot of our work will involve the willingness to learn and unlearn constantly
    • You’re willing to explore self-compassion. This work is challenging and deep. It is rooted in finding kindness for oneself again and again. And again
    • You’re interested in working with systemic oppression. We will explore your life from the lens of caste, class, family trauma, climate crisis – various systems that frame your context
    • You celebrate symbiosis. You understand that no person is an island. We work with ourselves, our community and nature, always
    • You look at inner work as a slow, transformative process. You are willing to invest in yourself so you learn your own best practices, strategies and tools
    • You understand that this is not therapy. My work is rooted in lived experience and peer support training, and acts as a support in addition to therapy, not instead of it

  • You might love working with me if...

    • You enjoy spirituality through the elements and energies but are wary of the way it is portrayed in mainstream religious systems
    • You wonder what will happen if people keep digging, mining, quarrying and constructing at the same rate as they do now – and not in a good way
    • You are noticing that your trauma comes not just from you but from many generations that have passed, and enjoy finding out the threads of connection
    • You are disappointed by mainstream cinema and gravitate to other art forms to find meaningful stories and ideas
    • You are upset by politics of division and hatred, whether it is about religion, gender, sexuality, environmental laws or anything else
    • You love and surround yourself with nature beings, whether they are flora, fauna, fungi, minerals or the elements. (Pets, gardening, hiking, long walks around the lake nearby – they all count!)

Testimonials

Tending the Flame has transformed me in ways I never foresaw.

“I was fortunate to have such warm, compassionate, and brave individuals by my side throughout this experience. I am much more self aware, confident, courageous and I also understand when my mind and body are tired and prioritize self care. Arpita came into my life at an extremely crucial stage and I am forever grateful for her and her idea. She is the definition of kindness and empathy, a true inspiration and the warmest facilitator. I would DEFINITELY recommend her safe circles to anyone looking for a safe space.”

Rasika, A Propagator of Compassion
Tending the Flame (Safe + Brave Spaces)

Each participant is cared for and checked-on individually from time to time

“Arpita does a wonderful job bringing the circle together and making sure each participant is cared for and checks on them periodically to see if each one is comfortable being part of the this safe space. She checks on each participant individually to see if the person is okay with the pace and time given during sessions. She is sensitive, understanding and truly cares and believes in the purpose of facilitating this safe space for sharing.”

Gayathri S
Tending the Flame (Safe + Brave Spaces)

After every session, I’ve carried a sense of safety into the day. That felt like a sense of power and community.

“After every session, I’ve carried this sense of safety into the day. I’ve felt comfortable and calm through the next couple of hours at least. I think the circle really made me believe in safe spaces.

It showed up for me in the fact that I felt safe both during the session and carried that after session with me. That felt like a sense of power and community.”

Tending the Flame (Safe + Brave Spaces)

Arpita has enabled parts of me to surface that were buried deep under various trauma wounds.

“If you choose to work with Arpita, I can tell you without a doubt that she will be present to you. She has supported me in various dimensions – Grounding, Emotional enquiry, Inner demon work, Art based therapy, Nature immersions, to name a few. Arpita does not tell you what to do. She holds up a mirror with post-its on it that remind you of truths you’ve forgotten or misplaced. She has enabled parts of me to surface that were buried deep under various trauma wounds. If you get a chance to work with her, do not hesitate.”

Kindle the Spirit (One on One Facilitation)

Arpita is adept at calling me in gently and giving me artistic tools to wade through my anxiety.

“Arpita has been a space of support, comfort and love in varied sessions. She derives from various knowledge systems and practices to create a process that is central and tailor-made for each individual. Our sessions have included using the texture of weeds and the emotions they induce to creating imagery from the same based not only on how the weed looked, but also how we felt about it and the emotions it brought up. Arpita is adept at calling me in and gently giving me artistic tools to find ways to wade through my anxiety. She also enables my arts practice by nudging me in provocative yet nurturing ways.”

Kindle the Spirit (One on One Facilitation)

She creates a safe space that allows me to be vulnerable and not worry about being judged.

“Arpita is an empathetic listener who can hold space for all kinds of emotions. She creates a safe space that allows me to be vulnerable and not worry about being judged.

She listens attentively, mindfully and compassionately white taking into account my mood and communication style.”

Kindle the Spirit (One on One Facilitation)

The way Arpita created a sacred process in which to express my feelings, and then captured them on canvas while adding her own imagination was very special.

“When I finally hung the painting that Arpita had made specifically with my story in mind, I was blown away. The way Arpita created a sacred process in which to express my feelings, and then captured them on canvas, while adding her own element of imagination was very special. Everytime I look at Fierce Mama, I feel strong. The colors, the texture–they are all elements of me.”

Sweta D | Bangalore, India
Illumine the Moment (Art Ceremony)

Arpita’s work has sung straight to my soul over the years. Her work comes from a deep and sacred place that puts me in touch with a very deep and sacred place within me too.

“Arpita’s work, all of it, has sung straight to my soul over all these years – she is a truly gifted multi-disciplinary artist and every form of her expression I’ve experienced has struck me as coming from a very deep and sacred place – and it resonates and puts me in touch with a very deep and sacred space within me too. She just somehow gets straight to it! Grateful for the connection, grateful for the medicine – this is indeed Art for the Soul.”

Priya P | Kannur, India
Illumine the Moment (Art Ceremony)

She absorbed my idea like a sponge and conceptualised it into something beautiful.

“Arpita Gaidhane is an artist par excellence. She absorbed my idea like a sponge and conceptualized it into something so beautiful!. I loved the vibrant colors that she’s used, and I’m sure this painting’s going to color my every day with joy and blessed assurance. Thank you Arpita.”

Elizabeth D | Mangalore, India
Illumine the Moment (Art Ceremony)

News, Writings and Art

Workshop – Delicious Diversity

Workshop – Delicious Diversity

1080 1080 Arpita Gaidhane
Lava

Lava

2513 975 Arpita Gaidhane
Unrehearsed Artist Residency 2023

Unrehearsed Artist Residency 2023

1200 920 Arpita Gaidhane
Finding Safety Within – a few tools

Finding Safety Within – a few tools

900 600 Arpita Gaidhane
Mental Health in India: Here and Now

Mental Health in India: Here and Now

900 600 Arpita Gaidhane
Starling Collective 2022 Cohort

Starling Collective 2022 Cohort

1200 579 Arpita Gaidhane
Self Love is Not a Privilege | Living with Neurodivergence

Self Love is Not a Privilege | Living with Neurodivergence

900 600 Arpita Gaidhane
Wild Mind

Wild Mind

900 1200 Arpita Gaidhane
Hathras

Hathras

1200 1200 Arpita Gaidhane

I’ve worked with & learned from

Certification (2023)
Fellow (2022)
Fellow (2022)
MA (2012)
BA (2010)
Diploma (2009)
Certification (2014)
Facilitator (2016)
Certification (2014)
Participant (2021)
Participant (2022)
Certification (2009)
Training (2014)
Course (2022)
Training (2022)
Participant (2013)
Facilitator (2014)
Organiser (2018)
Teacher (2013)
Arpita, a smiling person in a greyscale image, is a safe and brave space facilitator
My work is the synthesis of lived experience.

I have explored deeply in various fields of knowledge and practice, ranging from academia to performance, somatic practice to mindful unlearning.

A few years ago, dark days of depression brought me face to face with memories of abuse, and taught me to accept my identities of neurodivergent, queer and ecosensitive. They taught me what is truly important in life.

I could not have gone through the darkness alone. Art, Nature and safe community helped me through. Now, I offer to become community for you. I invite you to experience the multifaceted approach that worked so well for me.

Get to know me
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