Shadow work, as coined by Carl Jung, involves incorporating parts of the self that are considered undesirable into the rest of the personality. To break it down further, shadow work is the process of examining parts of ourselves that we have hidden and suppressed due to social, personal or even parental expectations. We tend to bury the parts of ourselves that have been deemed shameful. While I take a lot of inspiration from Carl Jung, I have my own opinions and beliefs on shadow work that I will share throughout this blog. All opinions are my own and are not intended to diagnose or professionally treat mental health conditions.
An important question to keep in mind is when we choose to work on our shadow work, what are we actually choosing to see and to examine? Are we conscious of our faults or do we see and analyze what we want to and what is easy to digest? It is rather simple for many of us to sit and look at ourselves and list our faults. Many of us can list out our traumas like we are reading from a textbook. If we separate the emotion from the experience, it becomes easy. But that is not shadow work. Shadow work requires the emotions to be a part of the process otherwise, we are not truly healing. Cognition and emotions are not separate inherently but many of us separate them to survive. It is far simpler to intellectualize the emotions than it is to actually feel them.
So what does it mean to actually feel your feelings? First, stop thinking about what it is you are actually feeling and allow the emotion to be present without judgment. It is okay to ask yourself, what am I feeling, but analyzing the emotion to avoid the burden of actually feeling will keep you in a negative loop of not actually feeling. Second, recognize where the emotion sits in your body. Is it in your hands, head, stomach? Allow that sensation to sit in your body even if it is unpleasant. Lastly, allow the natural physiological responses to occur. Do you need to cry, wail, shout, crush something in your hands? If you allow your body to feel the sensations without over analyzing the cause, or why it happened but simply acknowledge the feeling and its sensation you begin to allow your nervous system to process the stimuli.
It is important to remember that shadow work is more than just becoming comfortable with the darkness in ourselves. We must also see the lightest parts of ourselves as well. So, if we are trying to find and identify our shadows, look for the lightest parts of ourselves, as they often compensate by creating in us what we need the most.
Shadow work is an important process in the healing journey and in my opinion often necessary. However, shadow work is more than just journaling or going to therapy. It can be singing, dancing, acting, movement, or anything that allows you to express the emotions. Please remember, shadow work is a personal journey and no two individuals will have the same experience. If you are ready to embark on the shadow work journey, I welcome you and advise you to only practice shadow work when you are in a headspace to actually confront what you may discover about yourself along the way.