WHAT IS SHADOW WORK AND WHY DO I NEED IT?

WHAT IS SHADOW WORK AND WHY DO I NEED IT?

‘Shadow work’ is a term coined by Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He said that “the shadow is that hidden, repressed, for the most part inferior and guilt-laden personality whose ultimate ramifications reach back into the realm of our animal ancestors.”

Everyone has a dark side-feelings, emotions, desires and urges we hide from others, and often ourselves. Our Shadows are made up of these things, along with beliefs we obtain from parents and others around us, and painful emotions we repress because we don’t want to face them.

Along with these things, we often push positive traits and skills into our shadows, as a result of judgement (real or perceived) from others. As an example, I have seen many clients with blockages in their stellar gateway chakra. The client has psychic abilities, but they are frightened to use or develop their skills in case they are ridiculed by others.

Essentially, shadow work is uncovering, observing, and transmuting painful, suppressed parts of yourself to live a happier life. However, you are not putting yourself through old, painful memories to make yourself feel bad. You are reaching a compromise, where you know your dark side, and acknowledge and release negative emotions before they impact on your life.

HOW CAN I TELL IF I NEED SHADOW WORK?

Usually there will be negative themes or patterns you notice coming up, for example:

*toxic relationships

*negative self-talk/low self-worth and self esteem

*problems with money/abundance

*forgive others easily and allow them to treat you badly

*recurring health problems

*sexual problems

*feeling worthless/denying your own wants and needs

*people pleasing

*perfectionism

*difficult emotions coming up at inappropriate times

*phobias

Empaths in particular need a lot of work to integrate their shadows, as they take on a lot of beliefs and perspectives from others.

HOW DO I DO SHADOW WORK?

Shadow work begins with observing. What themes from the list do I recognise?

For example, if you are a people pleaser, try to get to the root of this behaviour. What do you fear most about upsetting someone? Often behaviours can be traced back to childhood. For example, as a people pleaser, your parents may have been emotionally distant, and your behaviour is the result of you craving love. Dive a bit deeper, and at the root may be pain, sadness and abandonment.

The next stage in the process is transmuting these feelings. Immerse yourself completely in them. Recall every instance you can where you felt these emotions, and then…simply let them go.

If you need to forgive anyone along the way, do it with love. You don’t need to physically face the person. If you are not at the forgiveness stage, keep working on your issues until you are, there’s no rush.

The most important person to forgive is yourself. Visualise yourself as a small child, or teenager, or adult, whatever stage the incident happened, and give yourself a big hug. Say ‘I love you and I forgive you.’

Often acknowledging when the incident happened and how it made you feel are enough just to let things go.

What about positive gifts and creative abilities that you have suppressed? Give yourself permission to nurture and develop these skills- rediscover yourself through them!

I worked with a lady recently who had been pushed into an accountancy career by her parents. As a child, she had been a gifted artist, but had suppressed her abilities to please her parents. Her life as an accountant was miserable, she was overwhelmed with anger at her parents and she was going nowhere. When she started to draw and paint as a hobby, she realised how much joy she was missing out on. In a short time, she was able to give up her accountancy job and become a full time artist.

Sometimes, shadow work can take us into past lives. Phobias, for example, can stem from traumatic deaths in other lifetimes. Recurring themes can be the result of karmic cycles or imprints.

Shadow work is a very personal thing, and your desire to heal yourself will normally be enough to bring things to the surface for healing. Be gentle with yourself, and your soul will thank you!

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