The Brilliance of Your Inner Shadow
We all have traits that we’re proud of, and traits that we don’t feel so confident about. Some of these traits may trigger or embarrass us, so we hide them from public view. These parts make up your shadow self, and it longs to be heard.
What is shadow work?
The definition of shadow is to work with your unconscious mind to uncover the parts of yourself that you repress and hide from yourself. This can include trauma or parts of your personality that you consider undesirable and triggering.
Anyone can do shadow work on their own. However, consider seeking out an experienced practitioner, or a licensed therapist for treatment especially if you struggle with severe trauma.
How your inner shadow affects you
Your shadow side can impact you negatively and impede your well-being when you ignore or reject it. As strange and uncomfortable as it seems, this part of yourself actually craves your attention and desires to be understood and explored. Much of this is because it was ignored and likely shamed throughout your early childhood.
When you reject your shadow, you may also start projecting onto others. Projection happens when you see things in others that you subconsciously recognize within yourself. Those parts can make you uncomfortable. As a result, you may seek to judge or punish others who reflect those traits.
When you ignore the shadow, it will find ways to make you aware that it exists via triggers. This can lead to issues like:
Self-loathing or poor self-esteem
Self-deceit and deceiving others
Anxiety and depression
Offensive behavior towards others
Struggling to have healthy relationships with others
Self-sabotage
Self-absorption
An inflated ego
It’s not always easy to come to terms with our shadow. Many of us have a tendency to repress those hidden parts to avoid having to confront that darker side. Even though the shadow still exists, it gets pushed back and forgotten.
Repressing your inner shadow can have dangerous consequences.
Most often, the shadow manifests as our triggers which are emotional reactions that we haven’t fully dealt with and that bubble up to the surface the perfect storm of circumstances.
It takes compassion, training, self-awareness, guidance, and courage to help you face your shadow self in a healthy way.
This is exactly why shadow work exists. It is designed to help you integrate and accept every single part of yourself so that you can live and thrive with more clarity and authenticity.
Let’s explore what shadow work means, how you can benefit from it, and how you can start practicing shadow work for yourself.
Your inner shadow is composed of parts of you that you unconsciously reject.
While nothing new in many healing communities, psychologist Carl Jung popularized the idea of the shadow self, or inner shadow, and named the collective unconscious with eight different archetypes:
Self: The center of the personality or psyche — your conscious awareness
Shadow: The dark and emotional aspect of your psyche
Anima: An image of an idealized woman that draws people into their feminine side
Animus: A part of you that has the capacity for reflection and self-knowledge
Persona: The mask you wear to show the world while you protect your inner self
Hero: A part of your psyche that can overcome evil and destruction
Wise old man: A personification of the self that contains your wisdom
Trickster: A childish part of your psyche that needs gratification
Jung defined the shadow archetype as the dark and emotional side of your personality or psyche. He also defined it as inferior or immoral, but I call bullshit on this and actually think our shadow is quite brilliant in its methodology. It’s pushing us to move beyond old systems that no longer work for us.
The brilliance of your inner shadow
Anything that threatens the way you present yourself to the world, brings your shadow self into the light, will be seen as a threat to your identity and ultimately, your safety.
What makes up your shadow depends on what you unconsciously reject within yourself.
We usually hear this come up as negative self-talk. These rejected parts of ourselves are often the result of childhood experiences. These rejected parts are yearning to be seen, loved and accepted in order to integrate.
When you’re ready to shine the light on them, the healing can begin!
The goal of shadow work
Your shadow isn’t a flaw or a mistake; it’s a natural part of who you are.
Shadow work is about developing self-awareness and self-compassion and is often both therapy and more spiritual. Shadow work is helping you see the different parts of yourself.
If you have been especially good at avoiding your shadow, this is simply about acknowledging the existence of the shadows and getting curious about exploring them. Trauma-associated shadow work helps you work through trauma to embrace the part of yourself that’s been suppressed or shamed throughout your life.
Accepting your shadow self, enables you to begin to see how your thoughts and emotions influence your behavior. This awareness empowers you to live more consciously so you can show up as your authentic self.
You can benefit from practicing shadow work in several different aspects of your life. Here are just eight examples of benefits you can gain by implementing shadow work into your self-care practices.
Gain more confidence and self-esteem. You can understand (and maybe better manage) them. Our shadow is most problematic when we aren’t even aware of it.
Improve your creativity
Build better relationships with others
Practice self-acceptance
Discover your hidden talents
Improve your overall wellness
Increase your compassion toward others
Have better clarity
Jessica xo