Shadow Work is amazing and has the potential to give you the tools to change your life
But the whole idea of Shadow Work is digging up parts of you that your mind buried for your own safety
That means there are risks that you need to know and understand before getting started
Shadow Work isn’t dangerous, but it can be intense
Shadow Work are really only dangerous if you get surprised because you didn’t know about them. Shadow work can be overwhelming and exhausting, and sometimes you need professional help to get through the very traumatic parts of your shadow. Shadow work can do amazing things for your life
Shadow work is not dangerous if you do it right
And doing it right is not hard to do
You can’t force Shadow Work because you need to be ready for it
You need to be in a safe place emotionally before starting Shadow Work
If you are not in a safe emotional state, focus on what is affecting you now before digging up more things to recover from
If you are emotionally ready, then decide if you are ready to heal from past trauma
Do not dig up trauma that you don’t want to work through
If both are good, then it may be time to start!
I did gather all the potential dangers of Shadow Work so you know what to expect when you start
What are the dangers of shadow work?
If you have experienced trauma (hint: everyone has), then Shadow work can do amazing things in your life
There are thoughts and beliefs that make a difference in your life every day
Even if you don’t realize it
Shadow work is taking the time to uncover those thoughts and beliefs that keep you from being the person you want to be
There are 9 potential dangers to this process:
- It can be very overwhelming
- It is painful before it helps you
- It takes time so doubt creeps in
- Emotions can be intense
- You have to be ready to deal with the issues you find
- You may need to have a support system
- Professional help may be needed
- It never truly ends
- You will learn things about yourself that you won’t like
As you can see, they aren’t really dangerous
But they are something you need to be aware of
It can be very overwhelming
Depending on the severity of the trauma you are exposing, Shadow Work can get very overwhelming
I recommend starting with the less painful traumas and beliefs so you know your process and get practice before jumping into the scary parts of your shadow
It is painful before it helps you
Shadow Work is a perfect example of “it gets worse before it gets better”
Your mind buried a lot of pain and trauma to keep you safe
And Shadow Work is going to dig that pain up
Shadow Work itself can help you work through the pain but it isn’t automatic
Once you’ve done the work to uncover it, then you have to start the work to heal it
It takes time so doubt creeps in
Shadow Work is a process and it can take some time
Some trauma will not be buried keep so it won’t take long to uncover it
Other trauma will be buried extremely deep so it could take months or even years to fully understand it
The problem with this being a slow process is doubt likes to creep in
You start to wonder if it does anything at all
And then you quit before it has a chance to work
I encourage you to trust the process and just keep going
Emotions can be intense
When you dig up trauma, intense emotions are going to come attached to that trauma
If you aren’t expecting it, those intense emotions can be scary and overwhelming
The important part is to allow yourself to feel everything that you need to feel without judging yourself
If you try to refuse any emotion, the trauma will not be fully unburied
You have to be ready to deal with the issues you find
I mentioned this once but it is very important
Don’t start Shadow Work unless you want to do the healing too
Your mind buried those pains and traumas for a reason
The only thing you will be doing if you don’t work on healing once you uncover the pain is making yourself miserable
You may need to have a support system
My support system is my husband and therapist
I am so thankful that my husband listens to me
No matter how many times I tell him the same story
He just lets me unload what is on my mind
And gives me long hugs without question when I ask him
I would struggle greatly with my Shadow Work without him
So much that I only do Shadow Work at night when he is home from work so I can ask for help if I need it (and it is easier without kids awake)
If you decide you need a support person, please be very careful who you choose
Not everyone who listens is trustworthy
Professional help may be needed
Professional help may be needed if you are struggling with the emotions of Shadow Work
Some people have gone through such terrible things that having a professional there to guide them is the safest option
Don’t be ashamed if this is what you need
Therapy is there to help you
Just choose your therapist wisely and make sure they are on the same page as you
They need to guide you and respect your decisions
If your therapist isn’t doing that, find a new one
It never truly ends
Shadow Work never really ends
There will always be things that happen in your life that create trauma
It may not be as intense anymore without abuse or other extreme trauma
But there will always be things you need to work through in life
You will learn things about yourself that you won’t like
One of the scary things about Shadow Work for me is learning parts of myself that I don’t like
I am a recovering perfectionist
That means that I was a perfectionist at one point but I am making progress to let that go
But facing the parts of myself that I don’t like is still very hard
There are parts of me that I am ashamed of
And I need to let those go
It is very possible that you will find parts of you that you don’t like
And you need to be ready for that
Is shadow work right for you?
Now that you know the dangers of Shadow Work, now you need to decide if you are going to try
I encourage you to watch my blog because I will be updating information on Shadow Work often
But for now, Check out this article to see if you can do Shadow Work in your life