Shadow Work

Shadow work is a necessary part of spiritual practices in order to achieve enlightenment and should be taken serious. Shadow work consist of mental exercises, meditations and rituals aimed at healing and uniting with this damaged part of our psyche. Our Shadow is the part of us that is made up of our fears, anxieties, and insecurities that we carry around with us. The shadow is composed not only of what society told or taught us and what our families told and taught us, but also, most significantly, the negative things that we do, think and tell our ourselves. We try to bury these negative ideas and thoughts deep within our subconscious mind, but whatever we bury in the dark, eventually grows out into the light. Everything negative that we bury into our subconscious minds takes on a persona or personality of its own. This is what is termed the shadow self.

Working to the heal the shadow self is an important part of self mastery. No amount of knowledge or ability has any benefit for you if you are controlled by your shadow. You must learn to work with the shadow and not against it. Our goal is not to suppress or repress the shadow. Rather, we seek to heal it. Healing the shadow is an ongoing process that gets progressively deeper as we grow. Shadow work always has an effect, although sometimes it must be done several times to completely heal an aspect of the shadow.