02 Oct Shadow Work
The shadow self is those parts of ourselves like core wounds and personally traits that we hide or deny. The more you deny it, the stronger it becomes. What we don’t like in others is often a reflection of our own shadows; for example, if you had felt abandoned, then you may project that onto others by not letting others get too close.
Shadow work is about looking at our own toxic behaviours and facing them and learning from them. Life experiences or even healing work from past lives creates these shadows.
The shadow self is to help us by being our teacher to help us grow and ascend with our consciousness, help us strengthen relationships and build compassion.
As we heal, our ‘dark side’ can become more apparent. If we suppress them, our lives can turn into chaos and we can remain ‘feeling stuck’ keeping our wellbeing stagnant.
Not attending to our shadow self can result in mental health issues, feeling low, low self-esteem, addictions and a scarcity mind-set. The shadow self often harms us in ways that are unconscious to us at the time. The shadow self can block us from acting as our true selves.
There are benefits from doing shadow work:
Spiritual awakening
Greater authenticity
Emotional freedom
Improved relationships
Increased energy
Overall better wellbeing
Cease the cycle of Self- destruction
Ways to do shadow work:
Journaling
Ask yourself- what am I trying to avoid emotionally? why would this trigger me? If I truly loved myself what would this look like?
Think back to childhood- when you felt unhappy- write yourself a letter from your child self to your current self about how you felt and perceived things, then, write a letter back to yourself explaining what happened and ask what your child self needs
Love yourself- write down what you love about yourself, describe your perfect day, think about anyone that has hurt you- what would you say to them now?
By doing shadow work, past emotions, burdens and grief can be released and healed.