When I first got introduced to shadow work in my first week as a practicing witch, I thought it sounded pretty creepy
But it isn’t something dark like most people think
Shadow work is very real because it is the process of learning about the dark side of yourself. We all have beliefs, memories, and pains that affect our life That side of us is called our shadow. Shadow work is learning about our shadow, healing the pain, and accepting who we are as a whole.
Shadow work is the process of becoming the best version of yourself and learning to love both sides of yourself
Emotions like pain, anger, and fear are not evil
We have them to protect us from harm
Once we heal from the trauma that sets those emotions off unnecessarily
Then we can learn to love and appreciate what those emotions do for us
How does shadow work work?
Shadow work is a process of getting what is deep inside your mind out into the open
Our shadow side is in the subconscious usually
This means we may not even know anything about our shadow before starting shadow work
There are many ways of doing shadow work, but I am going to talk about what I do
I use journal prompts and a journal
But you can voice record too if that is easier for you
I do recommend having a record of your answers
An extremely helpful method of finding beliefs and pains that you don’t know about is looking back at many journal responses and looking for things that come up again and again
A statement that you write down on a terrible day that has never occurred before and never shows up again is an emotion, not a belief
Emotions are normal
Beliefs that don’t serve you need to be changed
Shadow work is a tool to find those beliefs so that you can take steps toward healing
Don’t start shadow work unless you are ready to change those beliefs!
Don’t dig something up just to let it sit there
Can anyone do shadow work?
Not everyone can do Shadow work
People who don’t want to dig into their past trauma and heal shouldn’t do Shadow work
Shadow work itself can help with trauma, but there is often additional work that needs to be done beyond Shadow work
If you aren’t ready to face those pains and traumas, then shadow work is not for you
That doesn’t mean you can’t do it in the future when you are ready
It is just not a fit right now
People who are in denial about their past also will not benefit from Shadow work
Whether you deny that something happened or deny that you caused something, Shadow work needs you to accept that part of your past without judgment
The goal isn’t to make you feel bad
The goal is to accept the past, forgive yourself, and move toward healing
If you are ready to face your pain and trauma, and willing to work towards healing
Then Shadow work may benefit you a lot!
I do recommend only starting Shadow work if you are in a safe place and have someone to support you if you need it
That person can be a spouse that is supportive and caring
It can be a therapist
Or a very trusted friend
Whoever you choose, be careful and make sure you can truly trust them
Don’t start Shadow work if you are drowning in trauma right now
Take care of what is affecting you now before digging something new up
What are the benefits of shadow work?
There are many benefits of Shadow work
- Finding limiting beliefs that sabotage your life
- Help you get started in your healing from trauma
- Help you learn about yourself
- Help you understand your emotions and triggers
- Give you the tools to heal your life
Shadow work is an unending journey
There will always be trauma in life
It may not be as severe as abuse
But getting fired could be a trauma that affects your confidence!
Missing out on your dream house can be traumatic
There are many levels of trauma
And Shadow work helps you recognize them so you can heal and let them go
Why might shadow work be scary?
Shadow work can feel scary to people that have a lot of trauma
To read more about the dangers of Shadow work, read my article here
If you are feeling a lot of fear around starting Shadow work, I do have some recommendations
First off, start small
You don’t have to dive into your deepest and darkest traumas on day 1!
I actually highly recommend that you don’t do that
Start with the parts that are less painful and scary
For example, I started with my belief that I had to have a completely flat belly to be beautiful
It was not a terrible and deep trauma, but it did affect my life
I struggled to wear bathing suits and hated the way I looked
I have given birth to twins and went through a surrogacy
A flat tummy might be possible, but I can’t workout enough to make my uterus disappear
Shadow work helped me find the belief (I knew that I hated the way I looked but didn’t understand why), figure out where that belief came from, and started me on my journey to changing the belief
It is not completely gone, but I have made tremendous progress
I am proud of the work I put in and I found out that changing that belief affected more parts of my life than I thought it would
My confidence got better
I had an increase of energy
My kids saw a mom that thought she was pretty instead of hating her appearance
That was just one brief out of many
Even the “surface level” traumas can make a difference in your life
And having the success of taking care of those traumas can give you the practice and the confidence to tackle the more painful beliefs