Shadow Work: Accepting the Darkness and Letting the Healing Begin

It's hard to be held down when you can't be shamed, belittled or humiliated.

In this solo episode, an incredibly vulnerable one for me, I'm sharing my experience with doing shadow work. I'm sharing a story from my 15 year old self - a girl that was a straight A student, cheerleader and student council rep, who - to hide her insecurities - resorted to some pretty ugly behaviors.

What is "shadow work" exactly? In Jungian psychology, the "shadow” refers to the unconscious aspects of our personality.

More simply stated: the shadow is our “dark side.” It’s the emotions that we likely wish or sometimes deny that we have. It’s things like: jealousy, selfishness, greed and rage - it’s ‘bad’ behaviors like binging, cheating, stealing and lying.

When we deny that we have these feelings they get relegated into our dark side. When we tell ourselves stories that involve pity, blame and shame - that’s the stuff that gets packed deep inside.

When we ignore those parts of us, we often fall away from our purpose and integrity. If we're not honest with ourselves we can't be honest with others - and getting honest is how the freedom starts to arise within us.

I'll share my process for learning to acknowledge and accept shadow with compassion, acceptance, and self love, without spiritual bypassing along the way.

Find more to love and join our community at ouiwegirl.com.

Where to find me: ouiwegirl.com @ouiwegirl

Follow the show instagram page: @yourwoowoobff

This show is produced, mixed, recorded and additional music by T'Ben Alleman

Opening and closing music: Pet Fangs

Resources: The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance and Dreams by Debbie Ford, CEOsage: scottjeffrey.com