Shadow work is the process of healing by exploring one’s own inner psyche: our shadow. Which means we first need to ask:
What is the shadow?
Illuminated by Dr. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, the shadow is the place where our ego hides everything that is at odds with our persona (aka our light side). Our shadow can be comprised of traits we dislike, hated aspects of our personality, shameful thoughts or temptations, suppressed memories and emotions, and dreams that have gone to die. Anything that we hide from what we wish to project to the world goes into the shadow.
As children, things we are applauded for are placed in the light, and things we are scolded for often get placed in our shadow as we work to suppress our natural urges. However, placing these traits, memories, and emotions in the shadow does not eliminate them. Instead, they simmer and fester over time, threatening to resurface with every new trigger. Unconfronted shadows can lead to addictions, outbursts, physical pain, envy, anger, intolerance, nightmares, and worse of all, the loss of our own potential or identity. The first steps to confronting one’s shadow lay in Shadow Work.
So we ask again, what is shadow work?
Shadow work is the tool that forces us to slow down and acknowledge that there is more to our being than what we simply wish to project to the world. While the approach to shadow work will look different depending on what motivates each of us, the core idea of shadow work is that it strips away the doors blocking our shadow in order to shine light on what’s inside. It’s facing our shameful urges, re-experiencing heavy emotions, and noticing triggers in order to heal our past, understand our urges in a deeper more productive space, and sometimes to discover hidden gold.
The best place to start is noticing what triggers you. Can you trace that back to a specific memory? Is there something you dislike in someone you meet before you really get to know them? Our shadow likes to mirror to us what needs to be examined and healed in our own psyche. What are your reoccurring nightmares? Shameful thoughts or ideas?
Shadow work takes everything you’ve ever labeled ‘bad’ in order to mix it in with the ‘good’ so you have a more cohesive, vibrant, beautiful sense of who you are. The light can help your shadow heal and your shadow can help your light understand. Once you become integrated in shadow work, labels go away, you start to understand and love every part of yourself. You don’t box new problems away in your shadow, but you’ll have the tools to question and understand them, and begin to heal.
Hidden gold can emerge as you realize you can be a leader all along, or that those creepy dreams you had as a kid can become suspenseful stories, or that your capacity to heal yourself gives you new insight and inspiration to heal others.
You’ll start to learn healthy ways to balance your light and shadow that honor your authentic self. You’ll start to recognize what is a trigger quicker in order to have more productive interactions with others. Things you dislike will start to melt away from your shadow and transform into action that you can take. You’ll even start to recognize the shadow aspects of others, and be inspired to guide them into their own darkness.
Try out this shadow work exercise here.
