If you follow me on social media either personally or professionally then you already know a little somethin’ somethin’ about shadow work. Everyone giving you any type of spiritual advice should know what this is. If not, RED FLAG. Turn around and run the other way.
What Is The Shadow
To know what shadow work is, you must first come to understand the shadow. Everyone has a shadow. It’s pretty much all the characteristics about ourselves that for a variety of reasons we’ve deemed unacceptable. When we say that we’ve gotten “out of character” it’s almost always actually our shadow peeking through.
Now What Is Shadow Work
Shadow work is when you do intentional journaling or sometimes talk therapy by asking yourself a ton of deeply personal questions and seeing where it leads you. Sometimes it’ll deal with archetypes like in the book that first introduced me to the topic, Romancing The Shadows. It gives Greek and Roman mythology pretty heavy. While it does have a storyline attached, it’s heavily psychologically based.
Why Care
Parts of your shadow will eventually come out no matter how ‘good’ you try to be. So the point of doing shadowwork is to understand these banished characteristics and learn how to integrate them smoothly into the rest of our lives. This way we don’t feel shame when we act as our full selves. Shame is a super icky feeling for many reasons that we won’t get into here.
The deeper you get to know yourself in this way, the more fulfilling life is. For several reasons. You start to understand yourself more so it’s easier to practice radical acceptance. When you live being aware of what drives your thoughts, you can live with intention. That means that you can build much more meaningful relationships with your friend and family. It just overall helps you enjoy life in the flesh much more.
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As the weeks go on I’ll be giving more information on shadow work and how else engaging in it can improve your life. I’ll also be coming out with my own digital shadow workbook ! Make sure you’re subscribed to the blog so that you don’t miss it !
P.S. I’ll also be dropping a shadow work book this year !