Shadow work is talked about often in the spiritual community, but what exactly is it? Shadow work is a practice of working with your unconscious mind to uncover parts of yourself that you have suppressed, rejected, or hidden from your conscious self.
According to Carl Jung, he described the shadow as the unconscious part of our character or personality that does not align with the ideal version of who or what we are striving to be. Our ego however, is at the center of our consciousness and is the part of self that lies at the center of personality. Because of the stark difference or contrast between the shadow-self and ego, this causes us to reject our shadow and in doing so, the things we dislike or feel shameful about towards ourselves, we unconsciously project onto others.
“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions (opposite), the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves” -Carl Jung
Our shadow self is the part of our unconscious mind where our thoughts, emotions, and memories, that we have attached a belief of “unworthiness” or that we have decided are “unacceptable”, are kept out of our conscious awareness. These are usually things that we perceive as “negative” and cause us to attach beliefs, like shame, to them. These can be the parts or pieces of ourselves that hold our innermost insecurities, negative subconscious thoughts (or sometimes what I refer to as that dark, ugly voice), traumas, and even repressed anger. Suppressing these parts of ourselves hinders our growth as it affects how one views themselves and, in turn, the world around them. This can lead to challenges in interpersonal relationships as we tend to carry hidden biases within our shadow as well.
Incorporating shadow work into your own practice is a way to examine these “hidden” parts of yourself and to improve self-awareness to help you innerstand your emotional reactions, heal from past experiences, and improve your interactions with others. Shadow work takes courage as it can bring with it intense emotions, hidden traumas, painful memories, etc., as one embarks on the journey of asking uncomfortable questions on their quest to rediscover the previously disowned or abandoned parts of oneself that had been buried.
So often I hear people say that they don’t know where to start, so let’s begin with letting go of any and all expectations that your incorporation of shadow work has to look like anyone else’s. So often we set ourselves up thinking that the way we do something has to reflect the way someone else does it. There are many ways that shadow work can be utilized. Some choose to seek out a therapist or mentor while others choose to incorporate things on their own.
One method is learning to have inner dialogue with your shadow. A simple way of doing this is to sit quietly, close your eyes and remain in that very present moment. Think of a question you would like to ask your shadow and speak it silently in your mind. Take note of anything you observe while doing this. Do you hear anything? See anything? Feel anything? Write those things down. This type of exercise does require you to have an open mind going into it. Another method many people utilize is shadow work prompts and journaling.
You can pair shadow work with the main Chakra system in your energy body, as well, and doing this practice can really open up some energetic channels for you to grow through. The more we work to bring our "Shadow" out of the shadows and into the "Light", the clearer our energetic pathways becomes and the cleaner and clearer our subtle energy field becomes. This can have many beneficial effects on the psychological-body, physical-body, and the light-body. Healing and growing never stops, but your shadow is a great place to start!
Here are a few Shadow Work Prompts:
What was I like as a child?
What are the values you were raised with growing up? What are your values now? Are they different or the same?
What is an embarrassing memory that you have? Why was it embarrassing?
What traits in others do you wish you had?
What about yourself don’t you like and why?
What negative emotions do you avoid? Why?
When you find yourself wanting to judge someone, ask yourself what part of this makes ME uncomfortable?
What qualities about others irritate you? Why do they irritate you?
When was the last time you forgave yourself?
There are TONS of free shadow work prompts that can be found online or even shadow work journals that can be purchased on places like Amazon. Just remember that your shadow work journey is YOURS and the purpose of it is to facilitate growth in your life by developing self-awareness, self-acceptance, and compassion for yourself.
GROWTH STARTS WITHIN OURSELVES SO THAT IT CAN BE REFLECTED OUTSIDE OF OURSELVES