Recently, I was asked to put together a series of resources on shadow work, so this article is the beginning of many resources to come.
Shadow work is a term often used in spiritual and psychological contexts to describe the process of exploring and integrating the hidden or unconscious aspects of oneself. These aspects, known as the “shadow,” typically consist of repressed emotions, desires, fears, and other elements that we may find difficult to acknowledge or accept.
By taking time to deep-dive into our shadow and bring these aspects into the light of awareness, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and work towards healing and personal growth. Shadow work is often seen as an important step toward achieving wholeness and self-acceptance in spiritual practices.
Shadow work can serve a lot of different purposes and be carried out in countless ways based on an individual’s intentions, goals, and beliefs. Here are a few different applications of shadow work that someone might explore.
Identifying Core Beliefs — This involves recognizing and exploring the deep-seated beliefs that shape our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Exploring Inner Child Wounds — Delving into past experiences that may have created emotional wounds and working to heal and integrate them.
Facing Fears and Phobias — Confronting and understanding the root causes of fears, phobias, and anxieties to overcome them.
Examining Shadow Traits — Acknowledging and integrating aspects of ourselves that we may have repressed or denied, such as anger, jealousy, or insecurity.
Healing or Processing Trauma — Working through past traumas and their effects on our psyche, emotions, and relationships.
Exploring Ancestral Patterns — Examining inherited family dynamics, behaviors, and beliefs to break generational cycles.
Addressing Limiting Beliefs — Challenging and transforming beliefs that hold us back from reaching our full potential.
Cultivating Self-Compassion — Developing a compassionate attitude towards oneself, including acceptance of imperfections and mistakes.
Forgiveness Work — Releasing resentment and bitterness towards oneself and others to promote healing and inner peace.
Integrating Shadow Archetypes — Recognizing and working with archetypal energies within ourselves, such as the shadow, anima/animus, or the wounded healer.
Who typically does shadow work?
Shadow work is a process often undertaken by individuals interested in self-discovery and personal growth from a spiritual perspective. Those who typically engage in shadow work are individuals who are seeking to explore and integrate their unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors into their conscious awareness. By confronting and working through their “shadows,” or the aspects of themselves that they may have repressed or denied, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and move towards healing and wholeness.
People who could benefit from shadow work include those who are experiencing inner turmoil, unresolved emotional issues, or repeated patterns of behavior that they want to change. This work can be especially valuable for those on a spiritual path who are seeking to deepen their connection with their true selves and with the divine. Ultimately, shadow work offers an opportunity for individuals to embrace all aspects of themselves, both light and dark, leading to greater self-awareness, self-acceptance, and spiritual growth.
When starting shadow work from a spiritual perspective, individuals may go through a range of emotions as they delve into the depths of their subconscious mind. This experience may vary vastly from person to person, so be gentle with yourself as various feelings arise, and know that everything you’re processing is valid—even if no one else can relate.
Much of what you’ll experience will be unique to you as shadow work has to do with your personal past, what you’ve been through physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and where you’re currently at on your own healing journey. No two people’s shadow work journeys will be identical—but there may be some similarities in the general stages you may go through.
For me, I always think of shadow work in three large overarching stages: death, rebirth, and life.
Death — The death stage is very much the part where we feel the heaviness and ALL the feelings that come with re-experiencing things we’ve gone through, meeting the hidden or repressed aspects of ourselves, and learning to release portions that are no longer serving our highest god.
Rebirth — The rebirth stage is where we begin to accept the parts of ourselves that we previously isolated, hid, suppressed, or generally despised. In the process, we reintegrate natural pieces of who we are and learn to rebirth energy into our lives that is more closely aligned with what we envision for our lives physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Life — The life stage is all that is before us as we are able to live more fully as our authentic selves without being restricted or held back by denying aspects of who we are or what we’ve been through due to fear. It’s worth noting that the death, rebirth, and life cycle isn’t a one-time thing we go through, but something that we may navigate over and over as new things come up because change is the only constant in life.
So, what will this feel like practically speaking? It’ll start with curiosity, which will evolve into natural reactions of resistance and uncomfortable emotions, but ultimately result in acceptance, integration, and transformation if we can continue through the darkest and hardest parts.
Curiosity — Initially, there might be a sense of curiosity or intrigue about exploring the hidden aspects of oneself. This curiosity can drive you to start the shadow work journey.
Resistance — As you start uncovering repressed emotions, memories, and beliefs, there may be resistance or hesitation to face these darker aspects of yourself. This resistance can manifest as fear, denial, or avoidance.
Uncomfortable Emotions — Delving into the shadow self can bring up intense and uncomfortable emotions such as anger, sadness, shame, or guilt. These emotions may be overwhelming at first but are essential for healing and growth. Please note, though, if you are in an unhealthy place mentally, deep-diving into shadow work can potentially do more harm than good as it can create a downward spiral, that you will need some strength and resiliency to push through.
Acceptance — With time and self-reflection, you may gradually move towards acceptance of your shadow aspects. Acceptance involves acknowledging these parts of oneself without judgment or self-criticism.
Integration — The process of shadow work involves integrating these shadow aspects into your conscious awareness. This integration allows you to embrace your wholeness and authenticity, leading to inner peace and self-empowerment.
Transformation — As you continue with your shadow work practice, you may experience a profound transformation in your mindset, behavior, and relationships. By confronting and working through your shadows, you can experience spiritual growth and personal development.
Absolutely not. Can it be difficult and uncomfortable? Yes, VERY. Can the way you understand and connect with yourself cause you to change or move away from past relationships or elements of your life that aren’t healthy or aligned with who you are? Certainly. But is it inherently dangerous or evil? No, not at all.
While it can be scary to confront the hidden aspects of ourselves and the aftermath of seeing ourselves and the world in such a different way, it’s also a therapeutic and empowering thing, too. Though change and processing trauma, dark parts of ourselves, and the like can be frightening, it’s equally worth it.
If you’re ready to welcome all that comes with diving into shadow work, the following practice is one you can explore in alignment with your intentions and goals.
When people begin the process of shadow work, they can quickly become susceptible to wallowing in the darkness and heaviness that they’re analyzing within themselves, so it’s incredibly important to take shadow work VERY slow. And every time you do shadow work, be intentional about following up the session with self-love and self-care to offset the weightiness that was unpacked.
Since the darker parts of ourselves may also carry a lot of stagnant or negative energy from being suppressed, wounded, or generally looked down upon, I also highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of grounding, cleansing, protection, and banishing before proceeding as well.
Grounding before any form of shadow work is incredibly important as it ensures that you are connected to your body, the material realm, and very much present for everything that is to follow. A lot of times, when we have experienced great deals of trauma, self-hatred, pain, etc., we develop coping and defense mechanisms, such as dissociation, so grounding before shadow work can help ensure we don’t easily slip into this when processing things we’ve been through. You can ground your energy in several ways including, spending time in nature, walking barefoot on the grass or soil to feel the connection to the earth, sitting crisscross on the ground to connect your root energy source to the earth, imagining roots growing from your feet into the earth anchoring you firmly, practicing intentional breathing exercises, and more. Remember that grounding is a personal practice, so feel free to explore different techniques and find what works best for you.
To cleanse the energy of your space before performing any type of shadow work, you can smoke cleanse with sacred dried herbs, sound cleanse with bells or singing bowls, or utilize energy-clearing sprays like Florida water or other cleansing blends. Each method has its unique way of clearing negative energy and creating a positive environment for your shadow work, so use whatever method is easily doable and works best for you. Remember to be intentional through the process, so if you are going to cleanse with burning dried herbs, for example, do not simply wave the burning herbs and smoke around, but set your intentions and focus on cleansing the space you’ll be working in of any negative or stagnant energy so that you have a neutral starting point.
After cleansing the space to bring it to a neutral state energetically speaking, you’ll then want to protect yourself and the space from any additional unwanted energies from entering. This is a critical step as it helps minimize the risk of any disturbances while you’re exploring the inner aspects of yourself. Protection can be implemented by setting an energetic boundary, such as casting a circle, if this aligns with your spiritual path and beliefs, wearing protective crystals, such as black obsidian, black tourmaline, or hematite, or casting a protection spell, or utilizing a protective ward.
You can protect your space and create a protective circle with the support of the elements using the steps below.
Facing East, speak: “Thank you to the East and the element of Air for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Hail and welcome!”
Turning right and facing South, speak: “Thank you to the South and the element of Fire for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Hail and welcome!”
Turning right and facing West, speak: “Thank you to the West and the element of Water for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Hail and welcome!”
Turning right and facing North, speak: “Thank you to the North and the element of Earth for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Hail and welcome!”
After effectively grounding yourself and cleansing and protecting the space you’ll be working in, here are a few different methods that I have personally used to dive into shadow work. Remember, after the shadow work session is performed, you will want to close out the ritual in reverse order by re-protecting yourself and your space, re-cleansing yourself and your space from any lingering negative or stagnant energy, and re-grounding yourself to diffuse built-up energy from the working itself. AND THEN taking plenty of time for self-love and self-care.
Start by identifying whatever topic, area, or “shadow” you are going to focus on for this session. Often, the more specific or finite that you can be, the more effective the session will be.
For example, say you had a recent experience where you recognized that you had difficulty expressing your emotions in a friendship or relationship. An effective shadow work session on this topic might focus on a time in your past when you felt unsafe to express your emotions and how that shaped how you feel in relationships today. Re-meeting this part of yourself can be tough because there is a reason you separated it from you up until now, but the way you felt was actually valid, even if it was misunderstood or not accepted by others.
How do you actually do the shadow work itself? There are multiple ways to go about it…
After the shadow work, take a moment to close out the protective circle that was created with the support of the elements. These steps will be done in reverse order from how they were first performed.
Stand up and facing North, speak: “Thank you to the North and the element of Earth for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Thank you and farewell.”
Turning left and facing West, speak: “Thank you to the West and the element of Water for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Thank you and farewell.”
Turning left and facing South, speak: “Thank you to the South and the element of Fire for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Thank you and farewell.”
Turning left and facing East, speak: “Thank you to the East and the element of Air for protecting and assisting me through this shadow work session and allowing me to focus on healing and accepting the authentic me. Thank you and farewell.”
To cleanse your energy (and space if you feel it’s necessary) after shadow work, you can utilize the same method you did at the beginning of the ritual, such as smoke cleansing with sacred dried herbs, using sound cleansing with bells or singing bowls, or utilizing energy clearing sprays like Florida water or other cleansing blends.
Alternatively, you also might opt for something that’s more personal to cleanse yourself, such as a ritual cleansing shower or bath. Remember to be intentional through the process, so if you are going to cleanse with burning dried herbs again, for example, do not simply wave the burning herbs and smoke around yourself or your space, but set your intentions and focus on cleansing your energy so that you feel clean, refreshed, and energized.
Grounding after shadow work is incredibly important as it ensures that any excess energy is redirected back to the ground/earth. You can ground your energy utilizing the same method you did at the beginning of the ritual, such as spending time in nature, walking barefoot on the grass or soil to feel the connection to the earth, sitting crisscross on the ground to connect your root energy source to the earth, imagine roots growing from your feet into the earth anchoring you firmly, practicing intentional breathing exercises, etc.
There are countless topics to dive into, so feel free to journal on whatever you naturally feel drawn to, but here are a few places to start.
Physical Self
Emotional Self
Spiritual Self
May you walk your path with wisdom and prudence. Blessed be on your journey of spiritual growth and healing.
