What is Shadow Work?

We’ve all had it before. That moment when you felt raw and uncensored. Maybe you said that thing that people aren’t supposed to say. Or you did that thing that people are not supposed to do. It probably felt evil, sinful, or down right bad. Or maybe, you felt just the opposite – exhilarated, free, at complete peace, and open. Does it sound familiar at all? If so, this is an example of your “shadow self” making it’s presence known on your conscious level.

This concept was made known in the world of mental health by Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung. When describing this concept, the shadow self is essentially the self’s ‘emotional blind spot’.

We all have personality traits we show to other people. Personality traits are developed by many factors including our DNA, family history, who raised us [whether a parent, a guardian, a stranger], our nationality and culture, and every literal experience we’ve had in our lives, up to this present moment. One’s shadow self is quite literally the part of themselves they either don’t want to show others, don’t understand, or feel comfortable with, or may not be accepted by the people around them.

The idea of the shadow being dark and unknown helps to gain understanding of what it can represent in your life. Depending on how your personality traits show themselves in everyday life, you may have a different shadow self. For example, if you are someone who is used to doing for others before yourself, giving [to a point that you cause you damage, either physically or emotionally], find yourself people pleasing, you may find that your shadow self includes intense anger or frustration, a desire to yell or scream, a lack of empathy, a desire to be mean or rude with no care for the other person’s thoughts or feelings.

On the flip side, someone whose personality traits embody self confidence to the point of being selfish, not showing much care for the emotions of others, and favoring themselves in most [if not all instances], can have a shadow self that displays difficulty managing emotions in a balanced way, distrust of others, minimal personal relationships, fear of being open and vulnerable with people.

Shadow work includes putting into practice ways and systems to learn more about the subconscious of your personality, as a way to better understand yourself and manage and handle different stressors you experience in the daily. These stressors could include, for example, a difficult relationship you are navigating with someone in your life. Let’s say…your mother in law. Or your boss. Or your parent. Or your child. The reality is that you are going to be triggered by something someone says or does.

When I say triggered, I mean that you will feel something in your mind or body [and sometimes both simultaneously], signaling that your attention may be called to this matter. What is important to know is that when you become triggered, very naturally you will experience certain feelings and then you will act, or react a certain way. If you are having a conflict or difference of opinion with someone in your life [e.g your mother in law, or boss or parent or child], the way you respond and interpret the situation can have a big part in how the relationship continues and how you manage your feelings. Understanding and actively doing shadow work can actually help you tweak, shift, and change how you ‘show up’ in a situation to help you get the result that favors you in a healthy way.

In the next blog post, I’ll talk more about the benefits of shadow work, to help you wrap your mind around how shadow work can benefit you, in any and all areas of your life.

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