Every individual holds two sides. The light side is made up of love, compassion, respect, integrity, honesty, and good things. The dark side is born of jealousy, envy, prejudice, vindictiveness, and all things vile. Both sides are direct contrasts of each other and are constantly at war amongst us.
Sometimes we get a hold of either one of them or experience both in full frontal chaos. Most of the time, we tend to ignore and bury the dark side deep within ourselves because we can’t acknowledge or come to terms with it because of guilt, fear, or shame.
The Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung first explored and coined the concept of the Shadow. He spent his life studying human personality and mind. In Jung’s own words:
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”
Owning up to our past mistakes and inner demons is an integral part of our spiritual healing journey. Gaining insight and confront fears and inhibitions helps us grow on a more profound, spiritual and emotional level. To attain that level of self-awareness, we must practice Shadow Work.
What is Shadow Work?
Shadow Work explores our inner darkness, rediscovering our traumas and everything we consciously or unconsciously lock away and repress.
Why is this so important to explore?
Only by facing our guilt, shame, disgust, grief, and anger can we fully unburden ourselves and reveal our true inner-self. Once we’re on the path of spiritual healing, we shouldn’t allow negativity to control us any longer.
How does Shadow Work benefit you?
Shadow work is as daunting as it sounds. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and is often uncomfortable. However, it is a life-changing process and as they say,” whatever doesn’t break you makes you stronger!”
Helps Avoid Vices
It helps address our deep-rooted issues and not just the superficial symptoms. A lot of shadow work involves detaching yourself from self-limiting beliefs. We are enabling the “law of attraction” by allowing it to do its job of resisting the friction and putting out things in the universe.
When we begin practicing, we pay more attention to our emotions in everyday interactions and comprehend why certain emotions arise.
Steers away emotional baggage
Emotions are a body’s natural impulse reactions to a stimulus, and no emotion is wrong. Addressing our emotional baggage helps us be ourselves and fulfill our commitments to relationships and lifelong obligations. Shadow work enables us to understand our real power to negate the bad and be more welcoming of the good.
Helps develop a deep sense of self-love
This self-healing practice helps us to showcase our characteristics in a more authentic and relatively healthy way. Using an integrative approach for managing your health and wellness empowers you to control factors that influence your well-being.
The benefits of practicing shadow work could help attain a certain balance in life and align harmony within your inner self. We all possess a set of self-limiting beliefs that keep us from chasing after the things we desire. They choke our dreams and aspirations. With shadow work, you can reflect on those beliefs and create an enlightened version of yourself.
You could also incorporate a self-care routine using Lovely L Boutique’s self-care range of products that equip you with everything you need to revitalize your mind and body. We have a wide range of natural and organically sourced products with therapeutic essential oils and CBD products proven to show remarkable results.
