A LOOK
in the mirror
The same strategies we rely on in daily life to avoid discomfort and manage overwhelm follow us into the dark.
It is rare for people to notice these defenses on their own. When our capacity to regulate our nervous system is exceeded, we become guarded and shift into fight, flight, or freeze. For most people, this survival response arises in the dark. Because it is primitive and not self-reflective, it usually goes unnoticed.
Having another presence to engage with in a reflective way can help you attune to, notice, and register these defensive strategies. Without that mirror, it's very unlikely that you will recognize when you are in fight, flight, freeze or other insulative and protective patterns.
"ONE DOES NOT BECOME ENLIGHTENEED
by imagining figures of light
BUT BY MAKING THE DARKNESS CONSCIOUS."
~ Carl Jung
Part of the support staff's role is to attune to and listen for the subtle signs and signals that the animal body, the primitive nervous system, has taken over. The intention is to help that discharge and to support you in returning to a felt sense of safety and relaxation in your body.
From there, once safe, settled and open, you are able to intimately meet the darkness. The journey from that point is entirely personal.
"WE AWAKEN THIS TENDERNESS FOR LIFE,
when we can no longer shield ourselves from
THE VULNERABILITY OF OUR CONDITION, FROM THE BASIC FRAGILITY OF EXISTENCE."
~ Pema Chödrön
Fear, agitation, discomfort, sadness, loneliness, boredom, and resistance often surface in unexpected ways. Without the usual outlets or distractions, these reactions can feel amplified. It’s easy to become lost in them or blinded by unconscious defense mechanisms designed to manage and avoid these feelings.
The darkness is about subtlety. For most people it isn’t loud, bright or grand. It’s in the subtleties of listening that one becomes receptive, responsive, and available to the dark. Yet most of our defenses prevent us from quietly listening and vulnerably connecting, as we are. This keeps us from fully settling and being with the darkness directly.
AT THE
heart of it
We are here to support you in connecting in the most direct way that you can to your authentic embodied experience.
take notice of the underlying sensations
THAT ACTUALLY INFORM YOU ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL"
~ Peter Levine
In the vast unknown of the darkness, we invite you to use your body as an anchor.
To settle into a simple and intimate relating with what you're feeling in their body.
To nurture and tend to your hearts.
To receive care.
To discover the depths, richness and subtleties in nothing special - in the utter simplicity of your being
"TO EXPERIENCE EMBODIED AWARENESS,
take notice of the underlying sensations
THAT ACTUALLY INFORM YOU ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL"
“The body has been designed to move us from stress to equilibrium, from fragmentation back to wholeness.
The body always leads us home, if we can simply learn to trust its sensations.”
~ Peter Levine
WHAT REMAINS WHEN NOTHING IS ADDED
silence & seeing
Our animal body perceives the darkness as a threat. From this, there can arise an unseen pressure, overwhelm, and disorientation that can feel unsettling for most people while in the dark.
In a stark, empty, and unfamiliar space, with nothing to do and nothing to distract yourself with, the building blocks of your nervous system, your survival patterns, and your safety strategies show themselves more clearly.
The darkness often reveals you to you.
" No pratices are even necessary
for this quest"
- Ramana Maharshi