Growing From Darkness

This is a guided visualization to help you emerge victorious from dark times. This is a good meditation to do if you feel like you are struggling and can not emerge from your shadow.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Dr.

Natalie Feinblatt.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles,

California,

And I provide spiritually informed care for addiction and trauma,

Among other things.

If you're interested in contacting me,

Or maybe even working together,

I will give you my contact info at the end of this guided meditation.

So today we're doing a guided meditation with a little bit of a more of a spiritual bent.

I like to call this one growing from darkness.

And this is a good meditation for if you are currently struggling and feeling like you're stuck in darkness or dealing with your shadow,

And you're really feeling like you're trying to make some movement that's not really getting you much much traction,

This is a great meditation for that.

So let's go ahead and get started.

So if you like,

You can put on some quiet instrumental music in the background for this meditation,

But it's not required.

So first go ahead and get comfy.

Comfy meaning whatever feels good for your body,

Laying down,

Sitting down in a yoga position,

Even just a physical position that is comfortable and where you won't have to adjust or move yourself too terribly much during the meditation.

So once you get comfy,

When you feel ready,

You can close your eyes.

As I like to say,

Most people meditate with their eyes closed because it helps them to focus and relax.

However,

There are other people,

Often people who have issues with anxiety or trauma,

Where closing their eyes actually makes them more anxious during a meditation.

So if that is the case for you,

You can absolutely leave your eyes open just kind of with a soft unfocused gaze in front of you.

Again,

This is about what works for you.

And now we're just going to draw attention to the breath.

We're not trying to do anything to it yet.

We're just noticing it.

Right?

The in breath and the out breath.

Just noticing as you're breathing deep or shallow,

Fast or slow,

Perhaps totally unremarkable.

And then we're going to use a little bit more intention now.

The next time it feels comfortable,

Just take a nice slow breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth.

Just seeing if one breath can shift anything for you,

Help you become more still or more grounded.

Again,

When it feels comfortable inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth,

Dropping down within yourself.

And exhaling through the mouth,

Dropping down within yourself,

Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

You find yourself in blackness.

You are not sure where you are,

But wherever it is,

It is dark,

Small and slightly damp.

Instead of fighting against this new situation,

You decide to sit in acceptance and stillness.

And wait for more to be revealed.

You stay curled up in a tight little ball and wait in meditation.

Eventually,

You begin to feel yourself shift and move.

It takes you a moment to realize that this sensation does not come from outside of you,

But from within you.

And you feel it coming from within you.

Somewhere deep inside you,

Something is brewing,

Reaching,

Growing.

Your whole being begins to shake and move and expand.

You feel it coming from within you.

You feel it growing.

Your whole being begins to shake and move and expand.

You find that you are growing upward.

Part of you is staying rooted in your current position,

While another part is lengthening up vertically.

This growth is not easy,

However.

There seems to be something blocking it,

Surrounding it on all sides.

This situation puzzles you deeply,

And you beseech the universe for guidance.

Finally,

You realize you are a seed planted deep in the earth.

You are sprouting up through the rocky soil on your way to bloom.

The soil above you is packed tightly and riddled with the earth.

You must push through these obstacles to reach your full potential.

You,

A radiant seed of light and love,

Must push through and around negativity,

Blockages,

And that which stands in the way of your personal growth.

It is laborious,

And at times you feel like giving up and never blooming.

But you continue and push on,

Growing and growing.

Slowly but surely,

You soldier on,

Not allowing the heavy,

Thick,

Negative things to stand in the way of your development.

And as you journey through the difficult soil,

Past rocks and insects,

A chant comes to you.

You begin to repeat it within your mind as you continue upward.

It gives you courage and strength.

A new year dawns,

The seeds grow on to reveal my destiny.

Oh fates of life,

I ask your aid to clear my path and set me free.

Let old things die and go away.

Let new come in to prosper me.

Oh fates of life,

I ask your aid to clear my path and set me free.

You continue your chant as you journey up,

Up.

Your journey to actualization feels endless.

You are daunted by obstacles and difficult energy from all sides.

You begin to contemplate giving up,

Stopping your journey and allowing the dirt and negativity to consume you.

But suddenly you sense something new,

Something clear and invigorating.

Fresh air.

Your hard work is close to being rewarded.

You experience a renewed rush of energy and charge forward through any last blockages in your way.

And you burst forth from the soil that was keeping you back into the fresh night air.

The open air and free space are exhilarating.

The night is dark with no moon in the sky.

Slowly your vision adjusts to the black still night.

You begin to realize that you have grown out into a large field.

Although you were excited and grateful to have burst forth from the restricting dirt,

You are saddened at the state of the plants around you.

Patches of plants succumbed to the difficulty of their journey upward and have failed to grow at all.

Others have blossomed but failed to thrive and sit withering in the cold night air.

You will learn from their hard lessons.

You will fulfill your amazing potential.

Your positivity will grow and strengthen.

You resolve yourself to this and face upward,

Triumphantly awaiting the sun's return so you may blossom and show your true beauty to the world.

With this you begin to return to the present place and time.

Coming back into your body in the here and now.

Perhaps feeling your toes and fingers wiggle to aid in the transition.

You return piece by piece,

Slowly but surely.

And that about wraps it up.

So,

Again,

This has been Dr.

Natalie Feinblatt.

I'm a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles,

California.

I provide spiritually informed care for addiction and trauma recovery.

And I have a private practice where I seek clients in person as well as via video sessions.

So if you're interested in learning more about what I do,

Contacting me,

Or maybe even working together,

You can find me at www.

DrNatalieFeinblatt.

Com.

That's D-R-N-A-T-A-L-I-E-F as in Frank,

E-I-N-B as in Boy,

L-A-T-T.

You can also give me a call at 323-284-7888.

I don't text on this number so calls only please.

Or you can email me at DrNatalie at DrNatalieFeinblatt.

Com.

So thanks again for joining me today and please keep a lookout for my other recordings here on this wonderful app.

Take care and bye for now.

Reviews

Wow, I like your stuff, but alittle disappointed in Insight for letting you put your info and phone number on here, I’m a clutter coach and every time I put my info on here they won’t publish my talk! Lucky fo you you got away it.

This meditation is perfect for new moon! 💖 thank you for sharing your gift.

Excellent and delightful. Thank you🙏🏻

Excellent resourcing

After completing my first listen to this, it has become one of my favorites.

There’s a lot I really like about the specifics of this recording—like the encouragement to simply be comfortable, to add relaxing music (the ability to add my own is welcome, because I don’t always agree with someone else’s definition of “relaxing”), and the details of *how* to focus on the breath.

I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who is in the midst of a serious anxiety or panic attack, but it seems very effective in dealing with feeling “stuck,” at least for me. Also not a recording I would use frequently (daily), because it’s not intended for that.

The seed metaphor was really intriguing to me, although I don’t generally see the soil and accompanying insects, etc, as detrimental to the plants growth—so I tried not to let that quibble distract me.

Pace feels a wee bit too fast for me early on,in terms of the various discoveries I am to be making, but I went with.

Would prefer the infomercial aspect to be kept to the prose description, frankly.

Looking forward to more from this teacher!