Podcast | What Darkness Reveals About Trauma & Healing with Kelly Noonan Gores

Or, listen on Spotify

In this episode of the Commune Podcast, Jeff sits down with filmmaker and HEAL author Kelly Gores for a live Substack conversation about her recent darkness retreat — an experience that challenged her emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Kelly shares what happens when external stimulation disappears and the mind is forced to slow down: the fear that arises, the memories that surface, and the unexpected wave of emotions she learned to finally feel instead of suppress. Together, Jeff and Kelly explore how darkness creates a container for deep nervous-system recalibration, inner-child healing, and profound emotional release.

They also discuss the simple, accessible practices that helped Kelly integrate the experience — gratitude, presence, and honest self-inquiry — as well as the larger question of why modern life leaves so little room for stillness and introspection.

This episode offers a rare, intimate look at what emerges when we return to ourselves, sit in the dark, and learn to truly feel what’s been waiting to be felt.

About the Commune Podcast

Hosted by Jeff Krasno, the Commune podcast features thoughtful conversations for modern times. Not always comfortable but definitely needed, we explore both humanity and our human-ness. How can we live healthy, purpose-filled lives and be in service of something bigger? Guests include spiritual teachers, poets, scientists, philosophers, and activists for food sustainability, functional medicine, mental and physical health, and collective healing.