Tapping into Shadow Work (For Beginners)
Starting my healing journey one of the things I realized I had to do in order to fully be able to not only appreciate the life I live, but to cultivate the life I desire and deserve, was tapping into the parts of me that I may have repressed or suppressed, learning the parts of me that I hid or tucked away, and loving those parts of me. Healing those traumas and addressing those triggers so they no loner hold weight in my growth. They no longer control my experiences as I continue to journey through life and they no longer hold weight in me.
Shadow Work not only played a huge part in my healing but it allowed me to NOT only re-learn myself but love myself in a deeper more intentional way, it gave me the chance to really see myself, the depth of me, the core of me and really genuine LOVE every single part of me, with time and understanding, and a whole lot of nourishing (from the inside. out)
What is Your Shadow:
(Shadow - something hidden or unseen)
Your Shadow Self is essentially your “dark side’. The side of you that holds your trauma’s and triggers, your fears and insecurities, the hurt parts of you, the pain that you’ve subconsciously (or consciously) obliterated from your mind, the times you were silenced, the little girl/boy who still holds on to pain (inner child). The parts of you that doesn’t view yourself as worthy.
Shadow Work is addressing these ^ “dark” parts of you, facing them head on, learning them, healing them, accepting them and no longer allowing them to control the way you navigate through life and your relationships (also the relationship with yourself).
Your Shadow Self…
… can often show up in the form of
Projection
Self doubt
Anxiety / Depression
Low self esteem
Triggers
Low Self Esteem
Unhealthy Patterns
Healing Your Shadow Self - Shadow Work:
Raising the awareness in yourself that “something has to change” within you in order for you to begin to live a life of happiness and peace where your triggers no longer control you, is such a beautiful step in the healing journey. Being brave enough and READY to face the parts of you that you’ve hidden for so long, is such an accomplishment within itself, because in that you acknowledge that you deserve more, and not only recognizing can love yourself more but you are ready to.
Reflect on the things you feel like may be weighing heavy on your heart, things from your past. Your patterns, cycles you may be repeating because of normality and conditioning. Ways these things have played a part in your life.
Keep a Healing Journal, become aware of your body and make note of when your shadow self begins to appear, when self doubt, fear, insecurity kicks in - write down how you were feeling and reflect on these feelings when you are able to process them.
Meditation - be able to sit with yourself and face some of the thoughts that have been challenging you. The low vibration, insecure thoughts. Start small, silence can also be triggering for some, don’t be afraid to use a guided meditation to walk you through. Reprogram your thinking.
Make peace with your past | Practice Forgiveness - Honoring how far you’ve come and give grace to the experiences, the healing that you are ready to do, and the power and control you have officially taken back from those that may have hurt you.
Understand your triggers - what has come up for you that’s caused you emotional distress, stress or anxiety and figure the stem of these feelings and emotions.
Love on your shadow self - she/he is still a part of you, Shadow work isn’t about eliminating those parts of you, but accepting them..
It’s about regaining control of you
and loving every single part of you, from the inside - out
releasing pain and guilt
every time you heal these parts of you, layers of love are added on your heart, layers of acceptance
every time, is a rebirth.
Shadow Work Journal Prompt: What am I still holding onto, thats preventing me from operating as my truest most authentic self?
