Healing Will Take You to the Darkest Places

October 14th — On a quiet evening walk I remembered how healing once took me to the darkest places, not to punish me, but to show me the parts that were still asking for love.

The truth about healing

No one really tells you this: healing will take you to the darkest places. It will strip away the layers you built to survive. It will show you your fears, your anger, your grief. And it will ask you to stay there long enough to finally meet yourself.

It's not punishment, it's remembrance. Because before we can return to light, we must first reclaim what we've hidden in the dark.

The psychological side of darkness

Carl Jung called it "the shadow", the parts of ourselves we've buried, rejected, or denied. To truly heal, we must meet those parts with honesty and compassion.

Psychologically, this process is essential. The mind cannot release what it hasn't acknowledged. That's why deep healing can feel like regression: memories surface, emotions intensify, the nervous system revisits old pain.

But in truth, this is progress. It means the body finally feels safe enough to process what once had to be suppressed. Healing isn't linear, it's cyclical. A spiral that returns to the same places, but each time a little softer, a little wiser.

The spiritual side of darkness

Spiritually, darkness can be sacred. It's the womb before rebirth, the quiet void where new life begins.

The Universe doesn't abandon you there; it holds you there, until you remember who you are beneath everything you've been told to be.

Sometimes the dark isn't your downfall, it's your initiation. A silent invitation to rebuild yourself from truth, not from fear.

When you're deep in the dark

When you find yourself here, all the tools that bring self-reflection and gentleness become lifelines.

This is why I created The Gentle Shadow Journal — as a soft space to explore your inner world when everything feels too heavy to hold alone. Writing becomes a quiet conversation with your own soul. Every prompt, every question, is a light you can hold in your hands, even when you can't yet see the dawn.

Because when you start to give words to the pain, you start to give it shape.
And what has shape, can finally begin to shift.

And I want to remind you — as someone who has been there — that even in the darkest place, light will come. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will.

Every moment you choose to keep going, every breath you take in that darkness, is not wasted. It's transforming you. All the work you do for yourself down there, it truly carries you forward. You won't stay in the dark forever. I promise. 

And if you ever find that you can't reach the light on your own, please remember this: you are worthy of help. 

Sometimes we need support to reach the parts of ourselves that hurt the most, and that's okay. Therapy, or simply sharing what you're carrying with someone safe, can be a beautiful part of healing. You don't have to walk through the darkness alone. 

Gentle ways to walk through the dark

There's no map for walking through the dark, only small lights we learn to carry along the way. These are some of the lights that have guided me.

🌕 Allow yourself to rest, healing is heavy work.
🌕 Journal without judgment, even if the words don't make sense yet.
🌕 Breathe slowly. Feel your heartbeat. Remind yourself: I am still here.
🌕 Reach for anything that reminds you of softness; a blanket, a pet, the sound of rain.
🌕 Trust that this darkness, too, is part of your becoming.

A soft closing thought

Healing will take you to the darkest places, but it won't leave you there. You'll rise, softer yet stronger, carrying a deeper understanding of who you truly are.
And when you return to the light, you'll know it differently, because you've learned to find it inside yourself.

What has your darkness been trying to teach you? And what would it mean to stop running from it — just for a moment — and listen?

If you're walking through your own shadows, you might find comfort in The Gentle Shadow Journal — created to help you reflect, release, and heal softly. 🌙

And if this post resonated with you, I'd love to connect with you on Instagram @selflavie, where I share more gentle reflections on healing, self-love, and slow living.

Soft hugs,
Selflavie