open dyslexic mode

We rely on many different factors to give us a sense of safety.

And for many of us, that “safety” comes from unseen survival patterns and reflexive strategies that act as a kind of armor. They tend to insulate us from actually feeling our body and truly connecting with our environment.

Some of us have learned to manage life through mind-over-matter strategies. These may help us stay functional and perhaps even accomplish a lot in the world but they often disconnect us from what’s actually happening within and around us.

Our sense of safety also depends heavily on vision. Seeing our surroundings helps us orient and feel safe. Visual contact establishes a relational field, a sense of boundary and placement in space.

But in a darkness retreat, all of this is stripped away. And in the eternal nature of the darkness, we eventually tire from our strategies and our efforts to manage ourselves. We’re confronted with where we are actually at. And if we’re humble and honest and willing to be vulnerable, we see clearly and start to relate to our body and our experience in new ways.

The infinite, boundaryless quality of darkness can be overwhelming to the body at first. With no seen edge to rest against, the body may instinctively recoil and tense up, as if to protect itself from the vast unknown. Even though we’re not under threat, the nervous system still registers one.

And yet, through a somatic orientation, embodied awareness, and co-regulative support, something can begin to shift. The body can start to feel a sense of safety not through control, but through connection. And in that, it begins to soften and open. The dark space inside the body meets the outer darkness.

Right there, in that simple and intimate meeting, there can be a profound felt-sense experience of the infinite and we can begin to touch what precedes even our sense of self.

We find that those who have some prior experience with somatic work are much more prepared for the vulnerability and the exposure that the darkness can bring and are more easily able to settle into a felt sense of safety in their body.

Luis offers so many different amazing courses that support people in this.

www.holisticlifenavigation.com/