The Shadow Self & How to do Shadow Work

Shadow work is an important part of spiritual evolution and your journey to higher states of consciousness. Learning to accept and love the shadow within unconditionally is fundamental in accepting and loving others unconditionally. The shadow self, the way I have experienced it, is simply a part of your psyche that is pushed down, judged as wrong, suppressed, unwanted and does not serve you in your spiritual endeavors. Traumatic experiences, embarrassments, insecurities, hatred, addiction, doubts, worries. For me, these were the pieces that made up the shadow within.

Think of the shadow like a dark room in your home, a room that you never visit. You toss garbage in there, broken things, old food and so on. But you've never seen what the room looks like, you simply open the door, throw things in there, shut it and move on with your life. Soon you begin to smell something rotten in your home, you buy air freshener and the problem is solved. Until you see a couple rats scurry under the door of this room. You finally decide to open the door and turn the light on and you finally are aware of what you have been building up inside. Now you decided once and for all you are going to do whatever it takes to clean this room up, and maybe make space for a studio or an art room, a space for some sort of expression.

I hope this analogy makes sense, so how do we clean up the mess we have been pushing down for so long? We introduce light. How do you get rid of shadow, you shine light. Think of light in this context as your presence, your consciousness, your unconditional love, acceptance, and attention. What I did to overcome the shadow was to simply meditate, empty the mind, and consciously accept this part of myself, consciously love it, and it seemed to fade away literally. Like cleaning of a whiteboard, I was able to re-write whatever I wanted. I had total control over what things meant to me, how I felt about the circumstances of my life.

To this day I am still actively doing shadow work and becoming more and more present each day. I can feel the bliss, joy and excitement build with each passing day and I am so grateful for the guidance I've receive physically and spiritually. If you have any further suggestions in terms of how to effectively shed light on the shadow self, please let me know, I am always open to learning.

Thank you so much

This is HUMBOWL, a collective of young curious souls who are fascinated by ideas and concepts that lead to higher consciousness and the fulfillment of life's purpose. On this personal growth podcast you will hear discussions on spirituality, ego, meditation, higher consciousness and best practices for living a better balanced life in the face of life's many so-called struggles. If you are looking to grow spiritually, mentally and even physically, this show might provide some insight from some young humble people.

(instagram) @humbowlspiritual

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjAbEHyFQK3NGqnnAYLezwQ