DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL: SYMPTOMS AND REAL SOLUTIONS TO GET OUT OF IT

Dark Night of the Soul: Symptoms and Real Solutions

This article aims to help you understand what crossing the “dark night of the soul” actually is, so you can seize the opportunity hidden within the shadows.

Having experienced this crossing myself, I began intensive research to find the key elements that allow us to move through it. There are no “miraculous” or superficial solutions here; instead, we will explore the natural mechanisms at work. This is a message of hope: though the dark night is difficult, it is impermanent and extremely revealing of light.

The inner journey is an adventure. Like the heroes and heroines of ancient stories, we sometimes encounter unknown, difficult territories where we feel helpless. This experience is well-known to those who have advanced on this path, from past mystics to modern seekers: it is the Dark Night of the Soul.

What is the Night of the Soul?

The dark night of the soul is a spiritual crisis that affects our daily experience and our inner life. It brings a loss of motivation, energy, a feeling of being lost, and a disconnection from oneself and the world.

Yet, it is also a vital step in a spiritual journey. It carries the possibility of an authentic transformation toward a broader, more open life.

How is it Triggered?

The night of the soul is always triggered by spiritual evolution. This is the key criterion to differentiate it from other personal crises like depression or spiritual fatigue.

These changes touch the heart of our being. They lead us to distance ourselves from our former self, its interests, relationships, and desires. This “old version” of ourselves becomes like an empty shell. We inhabit a home that has become too cramped, yet we do not yet know how to free ourselves from it. This gap between the old and the new generates the tension we call the Dark Night.

Am I Really in a Dark Night of the Soul?

Many blogs offer “10-point solutions,” but this is a complex phenomenon that requires personal responses. It is often confused with:

• Depression: Unlike depression, the Dark Night is not caused by an imbalance in brain chemistry. A key differentiator: if you are deeply worried about your inner journey, it is likely a Dark Night.

• Existential Crisis: These are beneficial shifts in values, but they are usually limited to specific areas (career or relationships) rather than the soul as a whole.

• Spiritual Burnout: This is fatigue caused by a “compulsive” search for answers, too many books, retreats, and teachers. The Dark Night, by contrast, is born from deep, focused evolution.

  
  
  
  

Responding well to the dark night requires understanding its real symptoms and not confusing it with other crises of a depressive or existential nature.

The Real Signs and Symptoms

If a majority of these indicators are present, you are likely in a spiritual crisis:

• You lack energy and feel profound melancholy.

• You feel detached, like you no longer “belong” in your own life.

• Your thoughts become intrusive or overwhelming.

• You feel lost, unable to project yourself into the future.

• You have no desire to go back to your “old self.”

• You experience new physical sensations or heightened sensitivity to the atmosphere of places.

6 Really Useful Techniques to Overcome the Crisis

The following suggestions are safe, grounded, and based on research into spiritual crises:

1. Modify Your Meditation: If you meditate, reduce the time spent in deep concentration, as it can amplify the crisis. Favour techniques focused on the body and breathing.

2. Spend Time in Nature: Calm environments generate beneficial brain waves associated with relaxation and rest.

3. Maintain a Balanced Diet: This is not the time for fasting. Fasting modifies brain chemistry and can amplify negative aspects of the crisis, such as distorted perceptions.

4. Cultivate Positive Emotions: Practice loving-kindness, self-compassion, or Reiki. The goal isn’t to pretend everything is fine, but to maintain a feeling of calm so you can face the transformation with courage.

5. Share Your Experience: Surround yourself with people who are calm, collected, and open to this type of spiritual experience.

6. Explore the Shadow: In the dark night, unconscious aspects of our mind emerge. Rather than repressing them, explore them. This allows you to release old traumas and integrate your “dark side” into a rich new potential.
   

Shamanic Ancestral Healing

For years, psychology treated spiritual crises as mental disorders. However, many now realize that ancient tools, like Shamanism, respect the individual’s path.

In my practice, I have observed that shamanic ancestral healing reveals a deeply personal spirituality. It uncovers answers that people didn’t know they carried within them, shedding new light on their life choices.

“There is no opening to consciousness without pain. We do not wake up by imagining figures of light, but by bringing darkness into consciousness.” — Carl Jung

The Remedy: Grounding in Self-Love

Ultimately, the Dark Night of the Soul is a stripping away of everything that is not “you.” While the techniques above help you navigate the storm, the most profound remedy lies in grounding yourself in radical self-love.

When the world loses its colour and your old identity fails, self-love becomes the anchor that keeps you from drifting. It is the practice of being a kind, stable witness to your own transformation. By grounding this love in the body and the earth, the “darkness” ceases to be a threat and becomes a fertile ground for rebirth.

A Special Invitation: The Grounded Women Retreat

To support you in this journey of anchoring and heart-centered healing, I am hosting a special event this February:

The Grounded Women Half-Day Retreat: A St. Valentine’s Special

This retreat is designed specifically to help you move out of the “head” of a spiritual crisis and back into the safety and warmth of the self. We will use grounding practices and ancestral healing to cultivate the most important relationship you will ever have: the one with yourself.

• When: February 7th 2026

• Where: Harry Edward Foundation

• Focus: Grounding, self-love, and navigating spiritual transitions.

Let us walk through the night together, toward the light that never leaves you.

Honouring Your Personal Path

While retreats offer a unique collective energy, I also know that for many of us, myself included, as a fellow introvert, the journey through the Dark Night often requires a more quiet, private container. When you are feeling depleted or “skinless,” being in a group can sometimes feel like too much, regardless of how healing the intention is.

If you feel the call to move toward the light but prefer to do so in an intimate, one-on-one setting where the focus is entirely on your unique soul-map, I am here to support you.

I am happy to share that I am back at the Light Centre Belgravia for in-person sessions, and I continue to offer online sessions for those further afield. Whether we meet in person or across the screen, we can create a dedicated space for:

• Private Soul Mentorship: Navigating the specific transitions of your spiritual path.

• Intuitive Reading: Gaining clarity on the “unseen” influences currently at play.

• Ancestral Healing: Identifying and releasing the inherited patterns that may be surfacing during your Dark Night of the Soul.

  
  

Whether in the shared warmth of our February retreat or the quiet sanctuary of a private session, the goal remains the same: to help you ground in self-love and emerge from the shadows with a heart that feels like home.

With warmth, Cindy