What is shadow work?
We all have a part of ourselves that we don’t like. That we ignore and repress and eventually will feel like an invisible bag of crap that we drag around with you everywhere. The shadow, according to psychiatrist Carl Jung, is a psychological term for everything we can’t see in ourselves. It consists of those parts of ourselves we choose to repress or hide that we don’t like, usually this is done during our childhood.
As a child you are very in-tune with your emotions and who you are. We were all born whole and complete. That wholeness is short-lived. The shadow is developed in our childhood by certain interactions we had with the people closest to us. They made us believe that certain aspects of ourselves are good and others are not. The aspects that are bad are rejected and form our shadow.
So, to break it down even more, the conscious mind is our light because we are aware of it and can see it. Our subconscious mind, is our shadow because we cannot see it clearly and we are not aware of it. The subconscious is everything that we reject about ourselves. When we deny certain aspects of ourselves it doesn’t disappear. It just fades away to our subconscious mind. This can affect our actions and life experiences if we don’t pay attention to it.
The shadow grows every time you repress.
How does it affect us?
The shadow is the reason we do certain things in life without understanding why we do it. Do you find yourself falling into the same unhealthy patterns? That’s because the shadow operates outside of our conscious awareness, and can lead you to limited beliefs. This may cause you to spiral down into a very negative space. Ignoring your dark side can cause mental health, diseases, low self esteem, addictions, self sabotage, destructive behavior or ruined relationships.
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is,” – Carl Jung
Shadow work will help you live a more balanced life. It will help you address the good, the bad, the embarrassing, the ugly, the beautiful, the uncertain and much more! Addressing these things with love and compassion will only help you understand yourself better and get you closer to your higher self. Shadow work is essentially bringing the unconscious conscious and the unacceptable – acceptable.
Get to know your dark side
You are trying to accomplish the integration of the unconscious which will lead to complete and total awareness.The goal is to bring your shadow into the light or to shine a light onto the shadow. The more you shine a light on your shadow, the smaller it gets. You want to bring your shadow closer to yourself. It is a part of who you are, after all.
This may seem scary, or you just don’t know where to start. I have helped many get down to the root of their shadow self and start living the life they deserve to live. I’ve helped them uncover those things festering just below the surface so their soul can heal. I will help you learn how to listen to yourself – your whole self – and start living your soul’s full potential.
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