Shadow work is simply finding the scared parts of yourself hiding in the dark and loving them back out into the light. It is gentle and patient work.
It is possible to heal without therapy. I tried therapy and realized it wasn’t for me. I found out the hard way that somethings are just too private to tell a stranger-no matter how good of a therapist they are.
You can do your own shadow work, and the more you desire to transcend, the easier it will be. You just need to be honest with yourself, trust what your shadow has to say, and be ready to move forward.
Shadows disappear in the light. Your consciousness is the light, so when you shine the light on whatever you find there you may find all you need to know to heal. Just know to be gentle and loving with yourself in the times that it could take longer to transcend their shadow.
Your soul is ready and so are you.
Here are 4 steps to begin your journey:
Take your time while doing shadow work.
The key to successful shadow work is to heal in steps. Start with one issue at a time, then start connecting them together.
I have often found that a great tool for shadow work is journaling, because, when you write, feelings tend to bubble to the surface and spill out onto the paper.
But, don’t think that you need to be a great writer, or even have perfect handwriting. You just need something to write in. A simple notebook will do. Here are some journal prompts for working with your shadow:
- What am I struggling the most?
- How can I heal this?
- What pattern keeps showing up?
Don’t worry if answers don’t come right a way. They’ll surface eventually. Just repeat your journaling session every couple of days to check in with yourself.
Journaling is best done when you’re feeling overwhelmed with emotions and anxiety. This is when you are most vulnerable and when answers will pour out that you didn’t even know you had.
Find the shadow work pattern.
Now, let’s find that pattern! Once you’ve realize what it is that you’re struggling with, the next step is to link the struggle with the emotional pattern.
What is an emotional pattern?
Emotional patterns are habitual and defensive reactions to past events
More than likely, you have core emotions that you feel on a consistent basis, and you don’t even realize it.
These are the emotions that linked to the suppressed beliefs you’re holding on to that is causing the pain in your life. Ask yourself these questions and record your answers in your journal to better clarify what these emotions are:
- How does this struggle make me feel?
- What emotions arise when the struggle arises?
- If my present emotion is anger, what is the real emotion underneath it?
You are striving to get to the base emotion. Embrace the emotion you feel keep digging further to see if there is another emotion under that one. Feel the feeling, and then ask “Is there another emotion under this one?”
Take your time to write out and feel these emotions. Get these emotions out of your shadow and into the light. Think of it as purging your body of the poison in it.
Make a connection.
Once these emotions are discovered, they are usually core emotions you’ve felt throughout your life, rooted somewhere from your past.
In order to heal, you need to make the connection between the emotions and belief you picked up early. But, be aware, it can take awhile. After you figure out your core emotion, you need to ask your inner being to help you find out where this emotion is rooted.
Ask yourself when the first time you felt this emotion.
When is the first time I felt this emotion?
Write down any and all events over the years that triggered this emotion in you.
When the emotion is tied to a belief rather than an event, try to recall how you picked this belief up.
Even if you can’t recall where an emotion or belief started, acknowledging the emotion is important because when the memory surfaces is enough to transmute it.
Create a new direction.
Now that you’ve shed light on things that weren’t serving you, it’s time to shift the direction you are going on.
It is now the time to decide what you want to manifest moving forward.
Some questions you can ask to help yourself to move forward:
- What is the emotion I want to feel on a regular basis?
- What do I want to change when I think of the specific area of my life that I’m healing?
- How can I be kind, patient and forgiving with myself as I practice this new way of feeling?
Transcendence doesn’t happen overnight. There is a slow process of releasing and letting go while moving towards a new healthier path.
