PLEASE NOTE:
Advanced Dark Play (formerly known as Embracing the Darkness) is an introduction to Light Dark work, but it is not designed to be an introduction to shadow work. This workshop is designed for people who have already done a tremendous amount of self-healing work and who are also experienced in shadow work, and are ready to go the next level deeper. If you do not fit this description, we recommend our Foundations Workshop Series instead. If this description is true of you, please continue reading for more information.
A fast-paced deep dive for experienced spaceholders
Advanced Dark Play
Level 1
Ignite the Full Wisdom of Your Light and the Full Power of Your Darkness
- This is the workshop that was formerly known as “Embracing the Darkness” -
"If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Soviet Dissident
You’ve already explored your shadows. You’ve done the work. But there’s another level—one that’s been waiting for you, calling you deeper.
A place where your power and depth meet, where your darkness is no longer something to fix or fear but a source of profound wisdom.
This is Advanced Dark Play—a journey beyond personal growth and into a full integration of your light and darkness.
Most of us carry hidden places within us—parts we’ve exiled, managed, or rejected because they were too much, too dangerous, too vulnerable. We have learned to hold back, to regulate, to be "safe" within ourselves and with others.
But what if those very parts of you hold something you need? What if the sharp edges and forbidden desires you’ve kept at bay are not obstacles but keys—gateways into your full aliveness, clarity, power, and purpose?
At the Light Dark Institute, we work in the places many teachings won’t touch. We create strongly held, intentional spaces to explore what has been hidden, feared, or cast into shadow—not to fix it, but to revere it, to partner with it, to learn from it.
Advanced Dark Play is not a beginner’s course. It is for those who have already done deep shadow work and are ready to move beyond intellectual understanding into full-body, full-soul integration.
Who This Workshop Is For
This experience is designed for those who are ready to embrace the full spectrum of their being.
✔ You are a facilitator or spaceholder with a strong foundation in shadow work, somatic healing, and/or deep personal development.
✔ You are drawn to the interplay of power, surrender, and deep self-truth.
✔ You are not looking to ‘fix’ yourself but to meet yourself—fully and without hesitation.
✔ You are prepared to engage in work that is psychological, energetic, and deeply embodied.
If you are looking for an entry-level introduction to shadow work, this is not the right workshop for you. Instead, we recommend beginning with our Light Dark Foundations Series before considering this training.
What You Will Experience
This is not an abstract exploration. This is experiential, immersive, and designed to bring you face to face with the deeper truths of yourself and the world.
Through guided practices, partnered exercises, and facilitated explorations, you will:
Turn pain into power, fear into play, and shame into deep self-ownership.
Learn to love your Darketypes™—the hidden strategies that live in all of us, from the Needy Wretch to the Violent Destroyer.
Discover how to engage with your inner sadist and masochist—not as something dangerous, but as pathways to deeper self-awareness and choice.
Explore transformational BDSM/conscious kink on psychological, energetic, and physical levels.
Step into both full power and full surrender—learning what it means to deeply give yourself over to both.
Face your dark, cruel, and violent urges in a deeply safe and supportive environment.
Explore darkness through the lens of connection with the natural world—seeing what nature reveals about your own shadows and your aliveness.
Reframe everything you’ve been taught to see as ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’—and find the deep intelligence hidden in the dark.
Move past places of fear and shame to tap into a deeper sense of purpose for how you want to serve the world
This is not a place for performance or posturing. It is a space to meet yourself as you truly are, beyond the limits of what you’ve been told is acceptable or good.
Join Our Upcoming Retreat in Northern California
When: May 1-4, 2025
We begin at 5pm on Thursday and end at 7pm on Sunday
Where: Sky Temple Ranch, Lakeport, CA
(Approximately 2.5 hours north of the Bay Area)
This stay-on-premises experience includes high-quality catered meals, a swimming pool, and a hot tub, in a beautiful natural setting. Most accommodations are camping, with limited indoor beds available. Please read the “Frequently Asked Questions” section on this page for more details.
Price:
Early registration (by April 1st): $1495
Regular price (after April 1st): $1650
(Price is all-inclusive—covering instruction, staying on premises, and all meals.)
There are a limited number of work-trade positions available, which offer discounted tickets for those in need. Reach out to coordinator@lightdarkinstitute.com to inquire.
About Your Facilitators
Tani Thole and Leslie Rogers are the founders of the Light Dark Institute, where they have spent over a decade guiding people into the places most teachings fear to go—the edges of power, desire, and deep self-truth. Their work is not about fixing or improving—it is about meeting what has been exiled, feared, or hidden and discovering the profound intelligence within it.
Tani and Leslie’s approach is experiential, embodied, and unapologetically real. They bring decades of practice in shadow integration, transformational play, and somatic exploration, holding an unwavering belief in both the beauty of the human heart and the raw, untapped wisdom of the dark.
Their work has been featured in The Atlantic and Carolyn Elliott’s Existential Kink. They teach not only to transform individuals, but to help birth a world where light and dark, self and other, human and nature are no longer held apart.
Advanced Dark Play is not for everyone. Is this for you?
Advanced Dark Play Level 1 is an introduction to Light Dark work, but it is not designed to be an introduction to shadow work. You are not required to have done work with the Light Dark Institute before, but you must already be at a certain place in your own journey for our Advanced workshops to be a good fit. Advanced Dark Play is available by application or invitation only.
Who is this workshop for?
Those who have done extensive healing work and have a well-regulated nervous system.
People who have healed enough trauma that they can re-regulate themselves fairly easily, even if really intense things get stirred up in a group setting.
Participants who are comfortable and experienced exploring themes of eros and sexuality.
Those who are comfortable and experienced with exploring darkness/shadow, and clearly understand the value of such explorations.
People who hold a high level of personal responsibility and have a strong sense of self-awareness.
Experienced spaceholders and facilitators looking to deepen their capacities.
People who aren’t here to ‘fix’ themselves, but to meet themselves—fully and without hesitation.
If you are unsure whether this workshop is the right fit for you, answer these questions:
Do you have substantial experience as a workshop facilitator or spaceholder?
Do you have extensive experience working through your own trauma and conditioning, and you don’t get knocked off balance easily?
Have you engaged with shadow work and/or conscious BDSM before, and found a lot of value in it?
Are you comfortable and experienced exploring eros and sexuality?
Do you have a strong capacity to self-regulate even in intense or potentially triggering situations?
If you answered "Yes" to all of the questions above, we welcome you to apply for Advanced Dark Play. If you answered "No" to one or more of these questions, please check out our Foundations Series instead as it will most likely be a better place to start.
What Past Participants Say
Note: This workshop used to be shorter and was called “Embracing the Darkness.” Same workshop, different name - and there’s even more to the workshop now.
"In over 20 years of experience in self transformational work, Embracing the Darkness as taught by the Light Dark Institute is the single most powerful course I have ever gone through. The staff, the work, the permission, the acceptance, the love, the supportive atmosphere, the safe container and the Darketype play created such an awesome playground unlike I have ever seen in the field. I am forever changed as a man and I feel more electric, alive, and full of power to accomplish what I know I came here to do. Boundless love to Leslie Rogers, Tani Thole and your beautiful staff for the priceless gift you have given my life."
Ethan H.
Energy Dynamics Coach and Healer
Boulder, CO
“I have done group coaching, participated and shared in other workshops, had many mentors, coaches and healers come into my life all of which gave me great value on my journey to awakening. But this workshop is a whole new level of transcendence and self awareness which I have not found anywhere else. If you truly want to create impact in this world then I consider this workshop a requirement rather than a luxury. The safety and acceptance I experienced in this workshop allowed me to explore the sides of myself that I was ashamed of and thought I needed to hide. Now I have a whole new language and experience that breathes life to that which I have suppressed for so long. I truly feel empowered. Thank you Tani and Leslie so much for your courage and outstanding embodiment of what it means to be a leader in this world.”
Joseph Phillips
Bay Area, CA
"After years of gradual and conscious personal growth work, the Embracing the Darkness workshop literally made me a different being when I came out of the workshop on Monday than the person I was when I walked in on Friday. Deep wounds were accessed, experienced and loved upon. Power was reclaimed and the dark ones were celebrated. If you are exploring the intersections of dark desires and conscious growth, this is THE workshop. Tani and Leslie are masters at leading a delicious, incremental, edgy process while holding participants to safely invite the vulnerable parts of self to be expanded. Thank you."
Sri M.
CEO and Managing Partner
New York, NY
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this workshop different from “Embracing the Darkness”?
It’s not. It’s the same as the Embracing the Darkness courses we ran in 2023-24, which in turn were an expansion and evolution of the Embracing the Darkness courses we ran before the covid pandemic. If you took this course prior to 2020, the workshop has evolved, deepened, and expanded since then, although much of the basic content is similar. We’ve renamed this workshop series to be called Advanced Dark Play as we’ve added another more introductory series of classes, the Light Dark Foundations Series.
Can I take this workshop if I haven’t done any other courses with the Light Dark Institute before?
Yes! This workshop is not designed for a beginner audience, but it is designed to be an introduction to Light Dark work—it’s just an introduction that goes deep, fast. You are welcome to apply regardless of whether you’ve worked with us before or not, as long as you fit the description of who this workshop is for (listed in an earlier subsection).
If I have done another course with the Light Dark Institute, does that mean I’m eligible for this one?
Not necessarily. Eligibility for Advanced Dark Play is not so much about whether you’ve worked with us before, but about the broader scope of where you’re at in your own personal growth journey—how much trauma healing you’ve already done, how stable your nervous system is in the face of triggers, how comfortable you are exploring sexuality, etc.
Is there sex at this workshop?
At this workshop, like at all Light Dark Institute workshops, we have a no-genital-contact policy. So no, no one will be having intercourse or physically stimulating genitals. However we do very much invite and work with erotic energy in this workshop, and there is often nudity, physical touch and other expressions of sexuality. We hold several boundaries for the workshop as a whole, and every participant is invited and encouraged to bring whatever personal boundaries they need or want in addition to the workshop boundaries.
Can I miss the first night or miss a day or if I have another commitment?
No. Because this workshop moves at a fast pace, it is important that all participants be there the whole time. The first night is particularly important for setting context and establishing the container.
What are the accommodations like?
Sky Temple Ranch is primarily a camping venue. Plan to bring your own tent and camping gear. Bringing an RV or camper van is also an option. There are a limited number of beds inside the main teaching space, in a large communal loft area which will be shared with several other students. (These beds are offered on a first-come-first-served basis for those who reach out.)
What meals will be provided?
All meals will be provided beginning with dinner on Thursday and going through lunch on Sunday (there will be snacks available after class ends Sunday evening, but you should plan on getting your own dinner). We have a wonderful caterer who cooks high quality food as an act of love. All meals will use healthy, high quality, mostly organic ingredients. All meats will be from humane sources. There will be vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options at all meals.
Why is this workshop a lot more expensive than some of your other offerings?
This is a high-end workshop, and as such, the costs to produce it are higher. We bring in a support team of experienced Light Dark players and spaceholders whose presence has a very direct impact on the energetic field of the workshop, allowing us to go deep while ensuring everyone is well held. In addition, we require certain specialized features in the venues we use for this workshop, that make our venue options limited and add to the cost. And of course, providing catered meals adds substantially to the cost for each participant. In addition, we are committed to keeping this workshop to a relatively small size to allow us to build intimacy and depth together.
What is the refund policy?
Withdrawals made more than 14 days before the event will receive a full refund minus a $75 processing fee. Withdrawals made between 7 and 14 days before the event start date will receive a 50% refund. No refunds will be issued for withdrawals made within 7 days of the event start date.
The Depth You’ve Been Searching For
You’ve done the work. You’ve explored your shadows, faced your fears, and met yourself in places most people never dare to go. But there are still edges—places holding power you haven’t yet stepped into.
Learn to revere your darkness and light in equal measure. When you stop trying to fix, purify, or transcend yourself, you step into something deeper—radical acceptance. And with it, access to a power that is not only personal, but relational. A power that allows you to hold more—more complexity, more truth, more of the raw intensity of life.
This is the work that allows you to show up fully—not just for yourself, but for the world. When nothing in you is exiled, you can meet others without fear or projection. You can step into the work you’re here to do, not from a place of trying to be good, but from a place of being real. This is where true intimacy, true presence, and true service begin.
This is Advanced Dark Play. A space to claim what has always been yours.
If you’re ready, we invite you to step in.
More Testimonials for Advanced Dark Play
(Formerly known as Embracing the Darkness — same workshop, different name)
“I highly recommend this workshop. I have been doing personal growth and transformational work all of my life. I do it professionally and I am very picky about who I trust to hold space for me. Tani and Leslie are exceptional facilitators in creating a sacred and safe container to dive into this work, which to me is the most important part of it.
Why their work is so revolutionary and so incredible is that it is embodied. We go in to meet our own dark archetypes and from that place we engage with and relate to other people and a community. So, its not just me and my internal process of facing my shadow. I go into that dark archetype and embody it and then show it to the people in the workshop. It was so incredible. I cannot recommend this work enough.”
Christel Arcucci
Soul Success Mentor
Walnut Creek, CA
“Embracing the Darkness was a deep dive into letting my shadows out to meet other shadows, and seeing the deep potential in BDSM play for remembering the disowned parts of myself. Tani and Leslie created a safe, fun, and immersive space for me to have incredibly profound connections bringing my shame, vulnerability, power, and ecstasy out, light and dark, allowing all of me to be welcome.”
K.M.
East Bay, CA
"I feel like this workshop allowed me to be more myself in a group of people than I have ever experienced before. The act of identifying Dark Archetypes, playing them out and celebrating them is huge for me, and I think for everyone else in the group as well. I have taken home the practice of emphasizing play and lightness towards these dark parts instead of the serious and judgmental ways I normally relate to them. I also feel like I have forged friendships that are going to last a long time with people who are going to be my play partners outside of the workshop. I'm very thankful for this!
I felt like the container that was created was incredible. It was energetically tight and well held. Along with the incredible staff and their magical efficiency, I think it was the best held workshop I've ever taken. The level of holding was perfectly balanced to allow all of us to go into extremely vulnerable places together, even though we didn't necessarily know each other. Because of this and the high level of trust I had in Tani and Leslie, I could go deep."
Lee Anne Campbell
Creativity Coach
Oakland, CA
“Embracing the Darkness was possibly the most terrifying experience I have ever had. Each day was a leap into the unknown. At the end of the workshop I felt reborn! Having faced down my terror and opened to the experiences that each day brought, I remembered who I am and have embraced the entirety of my soul. I feel free to accomplish whatever I wish for in this life. I am grateful for the work that Tani, Leslie, and crew are bringing to this world!”
Leslie
Des Moines, IA
“I had such an awakening through this workshop. Through this workshop I was able to cultivate an awareness of being present and alive in the world by feeling and knowing who I am in deeper ways. I see myself more completely now that I have learned to appreciate and play with my inner Darkness.”
Lâmurülum A. Saï
Santa Clara, CA
“The Embracing the Darkness workshop was a phenomenal foray into the darkness. Welcoming the Darkatypes to come out and play in order to understand the relationships between the polarities and how they feed into each other has been eye-opening. Leslie and Tani are fabulous facilitators and have a wealth of knowledge in this arena. They make people of all skill levels welcome and provide a safe container to explore these amazing parts of ourselves. I would highly recommend spending some time with them and your Darkatypes!”
Michael Teager
Oakland, CA
“The workshop is so powerful! It took me to my edge, held me there and allowed me to look beyond. Which was simultaneously extraordinarily exciting and frightening. I felt it opened the door to the full possibility of who I can be in my life.”
Jesse S
Oakland, CA
“This workshop was refreshing and very "meaty". Not one of those fluffy workshops where there is a lot of talking. It's about reclaiming and owning my power that is there. The most impactful thing for me was the experience of shivering - a calm and deep flow through my body during interactive practices. No fluff, no stories. Instead, simplicity and empowerment.”
Matt P.
Berkeley, CA
“The container you set for all of us was AMAZING. I felt very held and completely safe the whole way through the weekend. I also loved the "scaffolding" of experiences and exercises we did...a very natural progression for me that allowed me to open a little more in each one. I also appreciated the "demos" of things that we were to do next...that really helped me have some point of reference for a world of things I had no vocabulary for until seeing it.
Amazing workshop. Rocked my "old" sense of self. LOVE feeling the power that got unbound this past weekend. I realized I am still in the afterglow...AND it feels like something profound has shifted in me. Many thanks for an amazing weekend.”
Whitney A.
Golden, CO
“Embracing the Darkness was one of the best workshops I have ever attended! Diving into my shadow was incredibly transformative and helped me move a lot of ”stuck” energy. Owning aspects of my darkness enabled me show up as a more loving and integrated man in the rest of my life. Tani and Leslie held an amazing space and guided us, gently but firmly, through deeper layers of shadow. Highly recommended to anyone already familiar with light practices and ready to create a richer, more authentic balance in their spiritual practice. “
Mike
Boulder, CO
“I really liked the structure. Tani and Leslie hold a very clear space, and nothing felt rushed; the pacing and sequencing of the exercises felt great - progressively taking us deeper but in a playful and easeful way. I didn't expect it at all, but the writing exercise was super powerful for me. Really, everything. Every single exercise held something powerful for me.”
A. M.
Berkeley, CA
“Leslie and Tani are two of the most clear, supportive, and empowering workshops leaders I’ve ever experienced (and I’ve been to hundreds of workshops). Their comfort and natural ease in working with the darkest shadows is breathtaking! They did two major demos which set the permission for what’s possible in our explorations incredibly high. In the final sharing at the end of the weekend, I was most impressed that a number of participants revealed deep, dark shadows that I doubt they have ever revealed before. A couple even stated that they had not been aware that they were carrying and being run by these shadows their whole lives. If you are ready for deep transformation, don't miss out on the profound wisdom of these two awesome teachers.”
Fred Burks
Berkeley, CA
Upcoming Retreat in Northern California:
When: May 1-4, 2025
We begin at 5pm on Thursday and end at 7pm on Sunday
Where: Sky Temple Ranch, Lakeport, CA
(Approximately 2.5 hours north of the Bay Area)
This stay-on-premises experience includes high-quality catered meals, a swimming pool, and a hot tub, in a beautiful natural setting. Most accommodations are camping, with limited indoor beds available. Please read the “important information” section on this page for more details.
Price:
Early registration (by April 1st): $1495
Regular price (after April 1st): $1650
(Price is all-inclusive—covering instruction, staying on premises, and all meals.)
There are a limited number of work-trade positions available, which offer discounted tickets for those in need. Reach out to coordinator@lightdarkinstitute.com to inquire.