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Ep.77 When to Grow Towards the Dark
50 Plays2 months ago
Explore an intriguing aspect of plant behavior—skototropism, or the act of growing toward darkness. What can vines like Monstera teach us about our own journey toward personal growth? Just like these plants find their foundation by first growing into the dark, we too can uncover strength and clarity by embracing our shadow.
In this episode, I’ll guide you through the concept of skototropism and how venturing into your personal darkness can help you find the solid support needed for true transformation. It’s about understanding when to lean into the discomfort, finding strength in the unseen parts of yourself, and using that as a launchpad for growth into the light.
If you’re ready to uncover deeper parts of your Authentic Self, join me on this journey. Let’s grow together, even in the dark.
Topics Covered about growing towards the dark
➡️ Understanding the balance between light and dark in your life
➡️ Why facing your fears is essential for finding lasting support
➡️ Practical steps to embrace your shadow and grow with confidence
Resources Mentioned
- Plant Consciousness Commentary
- Plant Wisdom Book Club
- Befriend Your Limiting Beliefs interactive webinar
- Personal Development with me and plants
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Transcript
Introduction to Reconnect with Plant Wisdom
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. It's me, Tigre Gardenia.
Plant Facts Conference Highlights
00:00:09
Speaker
So last week, I traveled to Padova for a conference called Plant Facts, a Matter of Communication. um This is an international conference or kind of scientific meeting that was to look at plants with the aim of unveiling a more comprehensive, let's say, comprehensive meaning
00:00:31
Speaker
of their way of communicating. And Padova is only about five hours away when you count the driving and the train. So when I saw the list of speakers, I i just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I was so excited to have a conference of this type in my own backyard.
00:00:49
Speaker
I mean, literally, it was a two-day conference and I went for two days. I left at four o'clock in the morning on on a Wednesday and I came back by like 8 p.m. on a Thursday.
Significance of Psychology in Plant Studies
00:01:01
Speaker
It was very, very quick. But there was researchers like Frantisek Balushka and Elizabeth Van Valkenburg and James Cahill, who are all people that I have been studying and commenting about for years.
00:01:16
Speaker
So you can't even imagine my excitement when I saw the entire lineup, the topic, the fact that it was so close. And interestingly enough, it was in the Department of Psychology, which was probably another piece that was completely intriguing me. I mean,
00:01:33
Speaker
Why is a plant conference in the Department of Psychology if not because we're starting to get away from the idea of just the physiological aspects of plants and we're starting to finally get to the true heart of who a plant is?
00:01:48
Speaker
Some
Exploration of Conference Topics
00:01:49
Speaker
of the topics that they covered were, um for example, self and society. Plants communicate to organize and coordinate behavior. Plant communication, diversity of alarm calls and their effectiveness. Underground whispers, understanding how and why plants communicate in the rhizosphere. I mean, seriously, these are just the topics that I'm completely enthralled with. And one of the unexpected topics that caught my attention was a topic of scototropism.
00:02:17
Speaker
which is literally growing towards darkness. I mean growing towards darkness. Not, and I'm like looking at my notes because I'm looking at when it came up and I was just sitting there going, I had to write it in big words, scototropism. I had forgotten about this concept. This is not to be confused with the idea of avoiding light,
00:02:39
Speaker
which is not what we're going to be talking about. Tropism,
Scototropism and Personal Development
00:02:42
Speaker
just for those of you that don't know, tropism is what kind of the way we describe plant senses, the idea of growing towards or doing or moving towards or away from something. So phototropism is growing towards light and scototropism is growing towards um the darkness.
00:03:03
Speaker
not to be confused with each other, which is avoidance of one or the other. So umm I'm going to get really into it because this is this is super interesting, especially because shadow work is a big part of my study into personalities, limiting beliefs and conditioning, which are kind of at the heart of my, you know, my coaching work, my mentorship work is really around understanding and finding your authentic self.
00:03:27
Speaker
And therefore, understanding your personalities, which by the way, even the topic of plant personalities came up, which I was shocked about because personalities, again, is a psychological concept, a cognitive concept. So the idea of discussing plant personalities implies that we're stepping again away from this mechanistic. But again, I'll put that off to a side. You can see my excitement, my voice is getting faster. I'm trying to slow down because I want to share everything with you. But you better believe that my ears perked up when I heard these scientists talking about when plants deliberately took choose, they choose to grow towards the darkness. And so looking at it from the perspective of the shadow work, it brings me to today's topic. Today is episode 77, When to Grow Towards the Dark.
00:04:18
Speaker
Welcome to reconnect with plant wisdom. I'm your host Tigri La Gardenia, nature inspired mentor and leadership coach. In this podcast, I share ancient and modern knowledge from biology to spirituality about the wondrous ways in which plants can help you lead a naturally conscious life.
00:04:38
Speaker
Okay, notwithstanding that I've been working closely with plants for over a decade to share their practical wisdom with you, to consciously embody the elements of life that nourish your evolution, plants never cease to amaze me. And this was a common theme among all the researchers at the conference, even after decades of research, even after breaking plants down to their most to their cellular level. They are as as excited as kids in a candy store when they discover something new that plants do on purpose, especially something that they once thought was random.
00:05:15
Speaker
So there was even ah this like word fight tuffle between two scientists over whether the mechanistic science whether mechan mechanistic science that breaks everything down into its like smallest parts can ever get to a true plant's intentions. Because the problem there is that when you break things down too far, you kind of lose sight of the sum of the parts, which is really much greater than the individual elements. In other words,
00:05:43
Speaker
You know, we know that plants have this complex way of being the same way as we as humans have this complex way of being. And we are finally, at least we, I already know this, but I am not beholden to the academic world the way some of these scientists are.
00:06:01
Speaker
where they're starting to understand and realize that when you take all of the things that plants do at a mechanistic or as ah at ah at a deep biological level, and you start to sum that up, it still doesn't give us the agency, the intentionality, even the personalities that we're starting to see. So there has to be more.
00:06:22
Speaker
And it was interesting to see this scuffle happen between two different scientists that were looking at it from different points of view, one that was saying, hey, I'm a plant physiologist, and I'm starting to realize that this way of looking at plants is not working. It's not helping us get to the true essence of who a plant is. And these other you know scientists that are saying, no, no, no, we need to keep breaking it down. We need to keep You know dissecting and chopping up and seeing how the chemicals are flowing through and that's the only way we're going to understand. So I got into some of this in the discussion in last week's plant consciousness commentary, which is called plants as electronic plastic interfaces.
00:07:00
Speaker
a mesological approach. I know it's a pretty so scary sounding title, especially if you've never watched any of my plant consciousness commentary, which is exactly why I host these commentary sections sessions. My goal really there is um to break down the science into these kind of bite-sized chunk I know it sounds like I just went against my whole mechanistic thing. Let me rephrase it. It's the idea of how do we understand where the scientists are going towards what is it that they're trying to accomplish and state and where does the science help us better understand our own personal development. That's really the essence. It's really the essence of all of my work. And so here I come to you more from the perspective of the behavior and of the understanding of the human condition, where in the plant consciousness commentary, I come at it first from the perspective of the plant science and taking a paper um where we're talking about how plants do something or
00:07:58
Speaker
plant consciousness or plant neurobiology or the intelligence that there that that plants are expressing or even the artistic interspecies development that we're starting to have. And I bring it to you and then I apply it to, you know, how is it that we look at our lives, our own consciousness, our own authentic selves. So this really
Plant Communication Networks
00:08:17
Speaker
gives you sort of two avenues and two windows into doing this.
00:08:21
Speaker
In this particular last paper that I went into, I delve into this that this fascinating paper by ah Mark Williams de Bono and Gustavo Sousa. Now Gustavo Sousa was at plant facts and that was the, it was funny when i hit when the when his slides were going up and I saw him talking about this paper, it reminded me that it was in the queue, it was like the next one for me to do. So it was like perfect synchronicity.
00:08:46
Speaker
And Sousa is really proposing that plants drive intelligent behavior through synchronized electronic electronic electrical networks. So the idea that there's an electrical network that it is what um plants are using primarily to be able to for lack of a better term, express their intelligence or express their intentionality. So they use these electrical systems. We know that we also have electrical systems, but they're just saying that plants kind of use and have they the awareness can be measured through these electrical systems and that we can understand cognition through these electrical systems. It's a theory that Gustavo Sousa is um looking into, and I highly encourage you to go check out this paper.
00:09:28
Speaker
especially because Sousa's enthusiasm and his out-of-the-box thinking is really it's palpable. You can feel it. And so rather than relying on anthropocentic anthropocentric ideas of cognition, they are really arguing that plants demonstrate this sort of unique form of perpetual learning and perceptual learning and intelligence that's rooted in bio-electrical systems.
00:09:54
Speaker
and Like I said, this was not taken very well by some of the mechanistic scientists from Italy who prepared to think of plants as living objects that rely in on unpredictable sort of ways of being. And though even though they can't understand the patterns,
00:10:10
Speaker
in my opinion, hinting because there is no pattern, because again, it's intention based. But anyways, they think that the reason is because they just haven't found the pattern yet. So look, I'll put a link in the show notes and you know, so that you can go check out my commentary session. It's really simple. It's just my website, tigeregardenia.com slash commentary. And there you can check out all the old ones. You can also go over to my YouTube where you'll find many of the videos. So Anyways, back to s scototropism. Let's talk about s scototropism because the easiest way for me to explain my thinking and why I was so excited when they reminded me and gave me additional information about scototropism, and it fit perfectly, perfectly with the work on, again, personalities, limiting beliefs and conditioning that I'm doing right now, is thinking of jungle lines.
00:11:06
Speaker
Big, big, big jungle vines. Imagine, you know, Amazonian, rainforest, jungle vines, like Devil's Ivy or Monstera Gigantea. Yes, we know Monstera
In-depth on Scototropism
00:11:17
Speaker
at home, but we're talking about the really big ones that we find out in the jungle, so.
00:11:22
Speaker
um Skototropism is a special mechanism that some vines have evolved in order to enable them to find a tree on which to climb on. Again, these are vines, which means that these vines need to find a sort of host plant, a plant in which they can anchor themselves onto and then kin can grow from there. So, scototropism has developed. It's an adaptation. Again, remember when we talk about plants and we talk about the senses that plants have, the senses that plants have have developed over time. Remember that my theory and is that we also have many of these senses. We have also the ability
00:12:04
Speaker
to create these senses. But because of our conditioning, we have sort of shut many of them down and shut this ability down, right? The idea that every time we start to hear of somebody with extra sensory perception, any kind of perception that is beyond the five senses that we know, we tend to start looking at them with words that most of society will think of as negative, like weird or sick or something is wrong with you, rather than looking at them as an adaptation and an expansion. So for me, working closely with the plants has enabled me, as well as my clients, and I see this now all around me, to expand my perceptions, both the perceptions that I currently have, my senses that I currently have, as well as to more comfortably and easily expand out into other perceptions that, in my opinion, we have shut down.
00:13:00
Speaker
So scototropism is definitely one of these types of senses and perceptions because this is something that plants have enabled, certain types of plants have enabled as a mechanism to achieve an end.
00:13:18
Speaker
that is extremely important for them. So most plants, when we think of them, grow phototropically. So the idea is that plants grow towards light, right? um Heliotropism are growing specifically towards sunlight and phototropism, which means I grow towards light waves that are nutritious to me in some way because they trigger photosynthesis, because they show me where there are open space, because they show me many different aspects. So these are aspects that plants have developed and refined over the years, or over to the millennia probably, where we as humans have kind of really paired this down to its very basics.
00:13:58
Speaker
But in the case of jungle vines, they've also expanded on and grow towards the darkness. So this is that scototropism. And they do this because they are looking for a solid support system before their growth. So let me explain it a little better.
00:14:19
Speaker
When a jungle vine is like not yet attached to any kind of large tree or any kind of base that will give them the opportunity to grow, they rather than going towards the light, which implies open space, right? When I have a large amount of light coming through, most likely I have large amounts of space.
00:14:42
Speaker
a canopy that's not very thick, which would imply I don't get the things that I need to create a solid foundation because these plants need a nice big solid base that can hold the weight as they begin to grow. So these plants instead choose to follow darkness until they have found a solid support system. Once they find that safety in and once they have a solid base of a large tree that they feel can hold their weight, their growth, where they're going to be going,
00:15:18
Speaker
Then they can change from scototropism to phototropism and start growing towards the light. And this is what's going to give them the nutrients that they need in order to grow in size.
00:15:31
Speaker
so Think about this really carefully, which is plants are moving towards and and flipping between scototropism and phototropism as necessary, between growing towards the darkness in order to build a foundation, in order to find my solid ground, in order to hook into the elements that ah will allow me to be safe,
00:16:00
Speaker
And then from there, the plants are growing up towards phototropism, to where there is more space to express, where I can become big in my own self, where I can feel like I can get the nourishment I need to create those giant leaves, if you think about a Moncera gigantea, right? We're talking about gigantic leaves.
00:16:23
Speaker
So take a second right now and think about your own darkness, or better said, your shadow self, as most often it's called, right? How do you talk
Historical and Scientific Context of Scototropism
00:16:35
Speaker
about it when you're talking about the shadow? Do you see yourself ever as growing toward it? Listen to the words. The words are important in this case.
00:16:45
Speaker
When I think of my shadow, I'm probably not thinking about growing towards it. I think of it more as maybe I have to get into or even connect to my shadow side, but I don't see it as a point of growth. So what I really want to talk about today is about when you should grow towards it. When you should think of this as a point of growth in order, very similar to these jungle vines like Devil's Ivy, to create a new platform, a new um foundation, a new base of sorts.
00:17:26
Speaker
so let Let's stick with the biology for a second just to give us a reference point because this is one of those concepts that is very shrouded in, um how do I say this? It's very shrouded in conditioning, in fearful words, shadow, dark,
00:17:46
Speaker
the blackness, all of these aspects. And this makes it sometimes very hard for us to understand how important it is for us to work with these concepts and into these different aspects of ourselves. So getting into the biology sometimes, no, not sometimes, always gives us an opportunity to sort of strip away that conditioning and think of it more from the natural tendencies that these concepts or these abilities afford me. So what are the possibilities within them? And then I can reapply it to my humanness using a without that filter, without that sort of layer of meaning and conditioning that oftentimes hurts us.
00:18:32
Speaker
Let's go back to the biology for a reference point. So before 1975, for example, a wide range of explanations have been offered to explain how it was in a vine knew when to start climbing. So when would a vine be close to the ground and growing and searching? And when instead that vine could start moving upwards towards the light? And among them, the most common answer before 1975 Except for there was one instance of somebody in 1925 that started to talk about the idea of scototropism without the name, but they weren't they they just didn't have the the test data to be able to show this. So 1975, a series of of researchers who are in the jungle start to see a phenomenon and start to study this because they um originally thought these were actually animal biologists. they were i think
00:19:29
Speaker
and What's it called? Entomologists, they were they were studying insects. And then they decided they saw this vine that was growing in the darkness and wasn't they knew that plants normally go towards light, so they couldn't understand what was happening. And they decided to study because they thought there was a form of negative phototropism. So the idea of growing away from the light, which was what was happening.
00:19:54
Speaker
So, or that there was maybe some kind of random searching that the plant was doing, or maybe even some negative geotropism. So the idea of growing against the pull of gravity of some sort. They they were looking at all these different things. Now notice how the human mind works, right? Their first increlin inclination was to grow towards something negative. I am trying to avoid. Why? Because that's the human tendency.
00:20:20
Speaker
Right? Plants tend to be present. They tend to be active into whatever situation they have to be in because they can't run away. But we as humans tend to run away. So it is normal that our first thought process is negative something-tropism. In this case, note negative phototropism. The idea that the plant is growing away from the sun, maybe for fear of being burned, maybe for some other aspect, which does happen, but not in this case. In negative phototropism, a plant would grow at 180 degrees angle away from the light. So if you have a light source that's coming from one angle, 180 degrees in the other direction is where the plants would go.
00:21:02
Speaker
And this makes sense for plants that like low light conditions. So they display a form of negative phototropism when exposed to very, very bright light. But when researchers discovered that certain plants in really dense jungle conditions were doing something different, they decided to study this and start taking some measurements in the field. And they designed some experiments that clearly showed them that the see the seedlings of these vine plants, such as Moncera gigantella,
00:21:31
Speaker
um was was really seeking out the darkness, irrespective of where the light might be. So it didn't matter if light was really bright in one direction. What they were really looking for was not that 180 degrees in the opposite direction. They were looking for the darkness. And as the seedlings grew, they kept their heads up, like ah like having a radar that knew which direction was up.
00:21:58
Speaker
So they that they really knew that up was this way, and therefore I could search for the dark the darkest elements. Now, why were
Human Parallels to Plant Growth
00:22:07
Speaker
they looking for the dark darkest up elements? Look.
00:22:11
Speaker
The journey for a plant, especially a vine, to find a host tree is super treacherous, right? You can be distracted by little twigs that maybe you think is going to be a tree, or maybe there's other kinds of debris that's around. And so the only thing you can rely on is the fact that the in a dense forest the base base base of a tree which is the element that's going to get the biggest right that's going to be the strongest buttress for you that's going to create the strongest base and foundation for you is going to be in the dark so they discovered kin discovered that this is the path
00:22:50
Speaker
towards the greatest future growth. Go into the darkness now, approach things using other senses and other abilities, not necessarily your sense of sight and probably not some of the other senses that require a certain amount of light sensitivity in order for you to connect to that. And instead, grow into the darkness and find yourself what will create you a base foundation.
00:23:18
Speaker
Once you have that foundation set, once you have found your tree buttress, your tree pole, for lack of a better term, now start to climb. And so at that point, the plants, the moncera in this case, um completely abandons all of this s scototrophic behavior and becomes phototrophic. Now all of a sudden, this tree or this plant, sorry, that was growing towards darkness,
00:23:48
Speaker
changes direction and starts growing through the light. So putting out these monstrous saucer-shaped leaves just to make sure that they can get enough food from the photosynthesis even still while they're down into the canopy. Like once they're down still low on their way up they start to spread out and create these big leaves and start to capture the light.
00:24:10
Speaker
So what does it have to do with you, right? All of this explanation of the biology. Now the question is, how do we apply this biology to your personal development? But before we get into this, I want to share with you one of our eco-conscious business partners.
00:24:30
Speaker
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00:25:17
Speaker
on both personal and societal levels. So check out my link on my US and UK shops in the show notes and dive into the world where nature's intelligence takes center stage. Let's read, learn, and reconnect with the wisdom of plants together. And hey, you can also join the book club. It's on my website, the Plant Wisdom Book Club.
00:25:42
Speaker
Okay, so here's the question. How can all this Godotropism be applied to your life? The truth is all of our personalities have a shadow equivalent.
00:25:55
Speaker
And that's actually not as clear cut as that sentence might sound. I know it sounds as if we're thinking about you know personalities as always being light, and then there's this dark, nefarious shadow side that exists. But honestly, there are no personalities or characteristics that we have that are always in the shadow or that are always in the light. In other words,
00:26:16
Speaker
depending on how you are and your experience, you might have thrown a personality into the light, basically giving them more of the stage, showing them more to the public, being a personality that you lean with. And then there is a counterbalance to that personality that you have most likely obstructed, something that you have put into the shadows. So that And a lot of this also has to do with the way society views those characteristics. There are certain characteristics that have been codified into society in a certain way, so they've become the norm. And we look at them as if those are the ones in the light and the atrophied parts are the ones in the shadow, even though
00:27:02
Speaker
those can be actually quite harmful to yourself and to others and what you have atrophied are actually the parts of your personality that are really quite healthy for you and so you've just treated that way. So it it's not a given that light and shadow are really considering are are the equivalent of good and bad. It's more of light and shadow is what do I have out in the light and what instead have I atrophied or diminished or am hiding in to the darkness. In the interactive webinar that I have coming up, befriend your limiting beliefs so you can do things you once thought impossible.
00:27:40
Speaker
I'm going to share some of my story of how my own characteristics that I once thought were negative or in the shadow. And I now realize that those are actually my true source of light, the source of really my talents. And I've kind of found a new balance and a new flow that happens between them. So check that out. Again, it's in the show notes.
00:28:02
Speaker
But for most of us, we often see the shadow as a source of humiliation um that we have to try to hide. Or oftentimes we think of it as some kind of maybe perfectionism or control or judgment. um These are actually really counterintuitive truths. They don't work. And it's what happens when we try to put labels on things that really shouldn't have those labels. So when we instead reveal the shadow,
00:28:30
Speaker
When we give in to the non-conforming talents that are usually hiding inside of that shadow side of ourselves, the nature of those personalities or characteristics changes and they become a source of creativity and confidence.
00:28:47
Speaker
Look, we have to remember that we live in a world of dualism, which means that the true whole of our personalities, if we think about our personalities as as a as more of a circle rather than a line, right is that you have to integrate the light and the dark, and that there's shades and gradients and flowing from one or the other, because each one of them has a benefit. So when the shadow is an active form of life,
00:29:14
Speaker
you learn how to master those talents along with those that are in the light and there becomes this flow. It's almost as if you have to think about a personality at 360 degrees and most of the time we have put into the light only one piece of it and we've thrown into the shadow the other side of it. And this brings me to why working with vines such as the Moncera can be so powerful. Why is it that we could work with these types of plants who have this encoded memory of the scototropism? And how do we take that scototropism and actually apply it onto ourselves as necessary and kind of reawaken our own scototropism? Because really,
Embracing Light and Shadow in Growth
00:29:58
Speaker
if you think about it, who knows how to successfully grow in the shadow more than these masters of dark?
00:30:06
Speaker
who can teach you how to activate your own escototropism and how to use it to find the support and a new sense of home, right? To find that foundation or that base. Think about it, Moncera and plants like Key first conquer their shadow, then they grow towards the light. In other words, Kin know how to do both. And when you work closely with these types of vines or even with any plant but you tap into your plant partner's scototropism, it gives you the opportunity to first find a new foundation, to open yourself up to those parts of yourself that you might have been hiding, those parts of you that maybe have atrophied over time, and to give space for them to be a part of your life
00:30:57
Speaker
And then to bring them with you as you grow up towards the light, but in also knowing that in times of necessities, you can turn around and grow towards the dark. In other words, it gives you much more flexibility and much more access to your overall personalities and who you are.
00:31:17
Speaker
Basically if you think about it, Moncetta first builds their personal foundation by going into the dark, even though it's scary, even though they're not really sure where they're going to find, even though they're not really sure where the support is actually located.
00:31:31
Speaker
But they know that only when this has been found can they start to grow into the light. And this is really what I see with my clients. Oftentimes when we start working together, what we do is break down, go into that dark shadow self, because we're trying to understand what are the talents that they have atrophied. And you see this a lot with limiting beliefs. Limiting belief in some ways is a bodyguard that gets placed between the light and the shadow.
00:32:01
Speaker
It's a bodyguard that you pace between certain ones of your talents or your skills because there's some reason why you want to hide the these into the shadow world. And then what happens is that you spend all this time in the light, whether the light is healthy or not is not even the case, because what's happening is that that limiting belief in the middle has now blocked off your access and you don't know how to go toward this.
00:32:26
Speaker
So when you find yourself in these types of situations, what you want to do is call in your scototropic support. You want to really activate that type of perception, that type of sense inside of you, so that then from there you can work in a much more concerted way with that shadow self.
00:32:50
Speaker
Now you have access to what's in the darkness without it being scary, but instead looking at it from the perspective of I'm looking for a new foundation. I'm trying to understand what is in there in order to make that a new base for myself.
00:33:06
Speaker
What do I need to build up? Who do I need to grab onto? Who do I need to ignore? Who do I need to break down? There's all different aspects of this work, and that scototropism is a fantastic way for you to access parts of yourself that you didn't even know you had within you. And therefore, from there, you can then move towards working more clearly or more fluidly with that shadow self.
00:33:35
Speaker
Think of your shadow self, think of that darkness as a resource rather than something to be avoided. Just like Moncera finds stability in the darkness before growing towards the light, you too can explore your own darkness. gro you can You can think of it as, you know, these are areas that you've hidden, that you've ignored, that you might have even feared. And it's here that tapping into your plantness as you know, that operating in the darkness, remember,
00:34:06
Speaker
All plants, all all all plants live one part of their life in the air and one part of the life underground. So one part, even air plants and such have those small root systems that are not facing towards the light directly. There's always the possibility for you to be in the light as well as in the darkness. And so you need to understand how that aspect of yourself exists.
00:34:31
Speaker
And so it's here that you can discover a foundation strong enough to support your authentic growth and where you can find those parts of yourself that you've been hiding, but that you know you've been hiding, you sort of feel like they're missing in your life, and now you can express them more authentically.
00:34:50
Speaker
Look, oftentimes society encourages us to bypass this process, teaching us to focus only on the light, right? I am a light being and all of this beautiful stuff connects into the light being. But we need light and darkness. We're in duality. And so we need to experience that. We need daytime. We need nighttime. We need light sources. We need dark sources. We need to look at the things that we express and we need to look at the things that we hide. All of them have a place and a function. And once you take away the label of good or bad, and instead you look at them based on characteristics, abilities, talents, and skills,
00:35:30
Speaker
then you can really start to understand who you are, your true nature. Because the truth is that personal development, really embodying your true self, your authentic self, requires embracing the full spectrum, both the light and the dark. And by acknowledging and working with your shadow self, you set the stage for deeper, more meaningful growth.
00:35:56
Speaker
Imagine what you could accomplish if you learn to draw strength from the parts of yourself that you've kept hidden. Some of them which should remain hidden. They're parts of you, they're elements of you that are in that hiding space because that's where they should be. Not because you're ashamed, not because they're atrophied, not because you don't know how to work with them, but instead because they're a fountain or source that is coming up from the darkness. So understanding the difference between those two, between what are things that I've put into the darkness but in reality are things that should be in the light versus what are things that should stay in the darkness because I pull from them and I source them when they are best in that state. You see the difference? that That's the big difference of working closely with a plant
00:36:46
Speaker
in order to understand, especially if you have a plant like a Moncera, where a Moncera, you could really find that grounding, understanding the role of that darkness. And then once you do that,
00:37:02
Speaker
Trust me, you will naturally turn towards the light, ready to thrive. So just as Moncera
Guidance in Shadow Work and Personal Growth
00:37:09
Speaker
needs to find that solid support in the draw in the darkness, so do we in our own journey of growth. So do you. It can be super challenging to explore these hidden parts of yourselves, those aspects that you've been conditioned to ignore or suppress,
00:37:26
Speaker
but once you learn how to embrace your shadow and navigate it with intention oh my goodness it becomes one of the greatest tools for transformation seriously it's like it's like being It's like having a battery, right? This battery that's sitting deep, deep, dark inside of yourself that you can pull from constantly because, again, you're not suppressing, but instead you're cherishing, you're honoring, you're nourishing even in that deep, dark space because it's a part of you and it's a relationship with you. it's
00:38:04
Speaker
it's so amazing you really learn how to embrace your shadow and then you can navigate it with intention it becomes really one of your greatest tools and this is where having a guide can make all the difference in the world You don't have to navigate this process alone. I know it's
Conclusion and Mentorship Invitation
00:38:23
Speaker
tempting. I know sometimes it's even scary or embarrassing. But as a nature-inspired mentor and a certified life coach, look, I've worked with creative, multi-passionate individuals like you every day who explore their inner darkness.
00:38:37
Speaker
to discover this untapped strength and bring those into the light, to over time master those talents, to become someone who can exercise all of their different skills, knowing when to use one, when to instead put one down, all these different aspects. Together we'll use the lessons of the plants like the Moncera to help you embrace your shadow and build a foundation for your authentic self and to grow towards the life that you were really meant to lead.
00:39:06
Speaker
If you're ready to stop being molded by others and start living from a place of genuine authenticity, I invite you to connect with me. Everything you need is in the show notes. Let's explore your unique growth path and uncover how your own version of scototropism can guide you to a life of impact and a flow and of purpose. So if you're feeling drawn to explore mentorship or coaching, I'd love to connect with you. You can book a call with me through the link in the show notes and we'll dive into what support you need to really flourish. And on my website you can also find more details and even find a quiz to help you identify the right mentorship program for you. And if you're looking for an ongoing community and support, join the Naturally Conscious Community, our vibrant online space for deepening your collection to plant wisdom and accelerating personal growth is just one click away. Inside, you'll find meaningful discussions, interactive courses, live events, and a community of like-minded individuals all supporting each other through our plant-inspired journey. And I'd love to see you there and hear about your experiences. Really, let's walk this path of evolution together because we know that we evolve faster when we do it all united.
00:40:27
Speaker
So that's it for this episode. Remember to like, to comment, and to subscribe. Oh, well, and and you know, and also to share it, tell your friends about it. And remember to resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. This is it for me, Tigria Gardenia. I'm out, bye.
00:40:47
Speaker
Thanks for listening to this episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom, intro and outro music by Steve Schulie and Poinsettia from The Singing Life of Plants. So join me, Tigri La Gardenia, and my plant collaborators next time on Reconnect with Plant Wisdom.