It's high time you FACE your shadow|| Shadow Self

“We all have a shadow. Or does the shadow have us? How do you find the lion who has swallowed you?” Carl Jung If you’re invested/interested in the mighty realm of self help even a little bit, you must have come across the term ‘shadow work’. Let’s understand what it is because ALL OF US HAVE A SHADOW SELF. Carl Jung has explained the meaning of shadow as the negative side of our personality…everything we wish to hide from others. We all have two sides. One that is LIGHT and one that is DARK. The dark side is the 'shadow side' and the 'light side' is the ego side. We like showing (off to the world) the ego side meaning our 'light side' to the world whereas the dark side, shadow self is always hidden or suppressed or both. By the way, our ego means how we perceive ourselves, our esteem. Ego is not bad! Egotism, meaning UNBALANCED EGO is bad (harmful). For example- A person (A) might appear to be very happy for everyone on the outside, complimenting them, wishing them well, cheering for them, etc. (ego side, light side) but on the inside they could be feeling jealousy, insecurity, lack & anxiety, worry (dark side, shadow self).

Another example- A person (D) might go around motivating everyone to work hard and grow in life (light side, ego side), but on the inside feels highly unmotivated or lethargic (shadow self) to take actionable steps in their own life. Does this mean these two people mentioned above are hypocrites? Honestly, NO! It is very much possible for them to genuinely feel both sides. Meaning, it’s possible for person (A) to be happy for everyone and also feel insecure. And it’s possible for person (D) to feel like motivating others without feeling motivated himself. We can have dual thoughts, dual beliefs and it’s normal. How to resolve this? We must work on the shadow self using those feelings as a motivation to increase our light and fill the shadow with light. This is possible using healing. When we sit with a healer/coach to discuss our negative feelings, they coax us through the MAZE of our feelings helping us separate our weapons from our wounds.

What does this even mean?

A person who is insecure on the inside (person A), might be carrying a wound of being rejected which has resulted in ANGER & AGITATION as a weapon to react every time they feel triggered. A healer/coach who knows how to work with the subconscious will be able to guide this person to understand that they no longer need the anger/agitation to HIDE the wound of rejection. Person 'A' will be guided to embrace that part of self when he/she felt rejection in life. Embracing that part will be honoring that part and as soon as this person honors their wound, it starts to heal. Once healed, it is no longer “touchy” (pun intended) and will not be masked by anger.

Once this is fully done, the shadow will disappear to be replaced by pure light. Then, this person will be well lit through and through. If you ever get triggered in any way/ any negative feeling surfaces, please don’t mask it or suppress it because it will get suppressed in your shadow self and creep up on you at a later stage.

Example, if you see your best friend succeeding at work or getting married and you are happy for him/her but also feel quite jealous because you have been looking for a partner too or you’ve been seeking a promotion and that hasn’t happened for you; do not suppress (ignore or mask) your jealousy because it will sneak up on you in the following ways-

>You’ll pass a snarky comment if someone brings up your friend’s promotion or

>You’ll mock them in front of 10 people and laugh it off as if it was ‘just a joke’

>You’ll say something mean or call their partner weird without much of a reason, etc.

These are ways in which your unaddressed feelings will manifest. A lot of people have been living this way for decades assuming it’s normal and OKAY. BUT let me tell you IT IS NOT! Work on your shadow, it is your biggest inspiration to grow in life.

The more shadow work you do, the more FULL OF LOVE you become; the more FULL OF LOVE you become, the happier you are; the happier you feel, the more grateful you will be; and we all know gratitude==manifestation ability! Happy Healing! Happy Manifesting! Love & Light, Sia (Aakansha)