The Key To Shadow Work

Shadow work is a term that’s thrown around quite a bit within the spiritual community. It’s the key to unlocking your intuition, evolving, and becoming your best self. The problem though, is that most people don’t really understand how to do shadow work. It’s something I’ve been working on heavily over the past 12+ years, however it wasn’t until recently that a major aspect of it really clicked for me.

First, for anyone new to this realm, shadow work is essentially the act of uncovering subconscious beliefs that may be holding you back in ways you may not realize. You may bring to light certain parts of yourself that have been hidden away (intentionally and unintentionally). It is effectively what therapists or spiritual guides can help with, however it is entirely possible to do on your own as well.

What most people miss is that after uncovering it, especially if it’s something that is holding them back currently, they just need to shift that thought/belief and move on. But when you do that, you miss out on one very important thing… acceptance.

When you really dig into the belief/behaviors, you can start to understand why you have held onto this part of you. Generally it served a purpose in your life - quite often it was a method of protection, but could also have been to help prioritize you in some way or in some cases punish you to keep you on track. For example, my hyper independence served me well over the years by allowing me to achieve so much on my own which set me up to live a very comfortable lifestyle. It protected me from living a “hard” life filled with uncertainty and insecurity that my family had experienced. However, it has also led to burnout and living a life that I realized was not in alignment with what I actually find fulfilling.

Am I grateful for where I am now and what I have accomplished? Heck yeah.

Have I learned a ton and experienced things that brought me more skills to take into the next chapter of my life? Absolutely.

AND it doesn’t mean I want to continue to live that way.

Acknowledging the shadow is not enough. It is in acceptance and gratitude for what we have gone through and learned that we are truly able to take the next steps into shifting the beliefs and behaviors.

Journal Prompt: What is a shadow I have been struggling with and can’t seem to shift? What fears am I still holding onto? How has this benefitted me in the past and what gifts has it bestowed upon me? Thank this part of you for what you have learned, and state what it is you want instead.