What is Shadow Work?

"Life is short, life is simple, life is joy, and life is pain. Life is wonderful and terrible, but it's beautiful. And love's the same." - "Life" by Ivy Soul

Through the hills and valleys and ebbs and flows of life, humans go through the motions (or emotions) of life. It is natural for negative experiences to impact one's life. But we cannot simply live our lives as damaged people. That would only lead us to harmful experiences and draining people.

Healing is important, but it is not a linear process.

It takes strength and patience in order to heal from past traumas and grow beyond negative experiences. Maybe that's the reason why people choose not to face their fears and choose to better themselves.

Why should one seek their inner child and face their inner insecurities? The process of healing will not only strengthen the relationship you have with yourself, but it will help the bond you have with friends, families, and lovers. A perfect way to begin the healing process is to perform shadow work.

What is Shadow Work?

Suzanne Heyn, the founder of Soul Scroll Journals, defines shadow work as the process of understanding (and eventually loving) the rejected pieces of ourselves.

What is a Shadow?

Our brains consist of two parts: conscious and subconscious. Consciousness is considered to be our "light" energy, whereas our subconsciousness is considered "shadow" energy. Although shadow energy can be positive or negative, it is usually repressed dark energy.

Shadow work can look like anger, hatred, jealousy, or greed just to name a few. Where you are internally injured and most vulnerable, that is your shadow.

A Shadow Example

A shadow can be created from a negative experience from the past. For example, I've never enjoyed sports as a teenager due to negative experiences from gym class. I've tripped, fallen, thrown powerful kicks only to miss the ball, and been hit in the face by flying objects due to terrible hand-eye coordination. This was all in public school and I shiver with embarrassment every time I think about it. To shelter myself from that negative experience, I never tried out for team sports. As I've aged, I've tried new things like yoga and kickboxing and have grown to enjoy them. I associated not liking sports with having a negative experience in gym classes, but I do enjoy sports...just not in front of a crowd.

Although I regret missing out on team sports and more sports activities, I now am aware of a way for me to enjoy physical activities that will not trigger me or harm anyone else.

How is Shadow Work Helpful?

The truth about healing is it is painful, needs strength, and is an uneasy process. In order to fully heal, one needs to feel the pain that was repressed.

Shadow work helps to release the pain and trauma of our pasts for a more positive future. As one practices shadow work, they will speak to their inner child as they get to know themselves.

How Do I Know if Shadow Work is For Me?

Repressed actions and emotions resurfacing can indicate if someone needs to practice shadow work. Kimberly Fosu wrote an excellent article on Medium that lists out examples of when one might want to consider shadow work.

1. Projection

According to Everyday Health, psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions. An example of projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or emotions onto someone else, rather than admitting to or dealing with the unwanted feelings.

2. Triggers

Anything can set off someone's trigger and show their inner wounds. When someone is triggered, their body sends them a message from the subconscious.

3. Insanity

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and seeing no improvements. This can be frustrating for any individual. Exploring your shadow can unearth new techniques that may work better for your body.

Journal Prompts to Try

A great way to work through healing is to practice shadow work through journaling. Here are some great prompts to give shadow work a try.

It takes strength and patience in order to heal from past traumas and grow beyond negative experiences. Maybe that's the reason why people choose not to face their fears and choose to better themselves.

Remember, practicing shadow work is to focus on only the negative parts of life and everything you'd like to change about yourself. It's done to better your self-awareness and promote self-growth in order to live a more fulfilling life.

Sources

https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/psychological-projection-dealing-with-undesirable-emotions/

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/how-to-do-shadow-work-in-your-magic-and-why-you-need-it?rq=shadow