Shadow Work – A Deep Dive into the Subconscious
Many often associate the “shadow” to be something maleficent. They consider it to be evil or even sinister. Sadly, a vast majority of the population falls into the bracket.
But truth be told, every living being on this planet has a shadow. Thus every one of us has a shadow self and many shadow aspects within us. One cannot run away from their shadow no matter how hard they try. It will always chase you and be a step ahead. Try stepping out in the broad daylight and not being chased by your shadow!
Your shadow always follows you. Whether you’re aware of it or not. It becomes more prominent in times of darkness which can only be seen when cast upon by some light.
What is the Shadow Self?
We live in a Universe of Polarity. Just like there are two sides to a coin, the head and the tail. Everything in this Universe consists of polar aspects.
E.g the Sun & Moon, Day & Night, Masculine & Feminine, Birth & Death, Light & Shadow.
Similarly, the human brain has two major aspects the Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind.
Our Shadow is the darker aspect of personality. It is made up of the aspects of ourselves that we have or that were denied, disowned, rejected, and suppressed by us.
We are misguided and made to believe that time heals all wounds but had it been true there would be no Shadow Self. Life on Earth would be so much easier! But that’s not the case.
Every emotion be it negative or positive that we have no conscious awareness of, becomes a part of our shadow.
And the interesting thing about this is that the said emotion doesn’t magically disappear just because we have denied, disowned, rejected or suppressed it. It sinks deeper into our subconscious mind.
The most fascinating thing about our Subconscious Mind is that it is very powerful. That in fact is an understatement, to be honest. It governs 95% of what is happening in our waking life.The Subconscious Mind is like a sleepy giant.
Our Conscious Mind has control of only 5% of our reality.
Our Shadow speaks to us through our Subconscious Mind. Its language is quite peculiar.
It communicates via your triggers,flashbacks,fears, nightmares, dreams, phobias, spontaneous impulses are all whispers from the subconscious mind to pay attention to our shadows. And if we don’t, dare I say it would get louder and louder! The Universe has its own way of bringing it to our awareness whether we like it or not!
Let me make it a little easy.
Lily was only 4 years old when her father left her. Her mother was devastated. Her mother was forced to do all the heavy lifting. She would work overtime and had no time to spend with lily. Nobody was there to cater to lily’s emotional needs. Even though lily desperately needed her father she was not allowed to talk about her father and was told to toughen up and never depend upon a man ever. Lily was made to believe that all men are trash and cannot be trusted. Lily had to suppress her vulnerable aspect of wanting a father and thus needing a safety blanket and developed an overly protective and independent shield around her.
Fast forward to now. Lily is 30 years old, a successful attorney. She is independent and financially well off. Her career is booming. But that is not the story of her romantic relationships. She gets into relationships with men who need to be taken care of, financially. Even though she does everything for them these men often cheat her or abandon her. No matter how hard she tries or whatever she does, she just cannot find Mr Right. And has no clue about why. She is super frustrated; wonders why do these men leave her and why does she always have to babysit them, why can’t anyone take care of her instead!
What Lily fails to realise is that though she has become everything her mother told her to be i.e highly independent and tough. Her Vulnerable Aspect of wanting a secure blanket via a man who was her father back then is still there. She just suppressed it long ago to cope with the traumatic situation of her father abandoning her. Of which she has no conscious awareness of as the memory was suppressed and is registered as a part of the subconscious mind.
She perpetually keeps attracting such men because that is what she experienced as a kid. Her father abandoned her. Thus these men that she dates do the same. That is what is getting mirrored in her external reality. She is attracting the very kind of men of the aspect that she suppressed i.e her vulnerable aspect of needing a safety blanket. Which became her Shadow Self. Once she becomes aware of this shadow aspect and heals it doing shadow work she no longer will be a match to men who need babysitting. She will thus find her Mr Right!
Such is the power of the subconscious mind! Scary, isn’t it? This is how firm its grip is on daily lives. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!
How does Shadow Work help?
Consider your Subconscious Mind to be a huge ocean. And Conscious Mind to be the shore . The ocean is really deep, nobody knows what’s in there. It may have dirt, mermaids, sea monsters, pearls, gems, pirates or various sea creatures.
Now everytime you do shadow work, the tides of the ocean ( your subconscious mind) leaves something valuable in the shore ( the conscious mind). As I told you it may have anything. Something as beautiful as a pearl or as bizarre as a sea monster! That being said it could be negative or positive but it definitely holds a lot of value. Valuable enough to change your entire life!
Shadow Work is the inner work of going deep within our subconscious. It is the art of putting light on to our darker aspects( i.e the shadows ) and finding a resolution. Only by embracing our shadows can we find a solution to our problems. It is Alchemy. It is the alchemical process of transmuting the shadow into valuable gems. It is acknowledging the skeletons in our closet and making them a part of our conscious reality. Just because something was buried long ago, it does’nt just disappear!
It is a huge myth that spirituality is about everything positive. That if something is perceived to be “negative” than it is bad. Had it been true than there would be peace all around. There would be no war! If all we ever did was think positive thoughts, say positive affirmations But it is far from reality!
Every negative has a hidden positive element and every positive has a hidden negative element. Many consider their subjective reality to be the only truth but their ego forgets that its not the objective truth! It is a matter of perception and your thirst for awareness.
“ One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious ”
-Carl Jung
Shadow Work is the path towards true liberation. It is only by becoming conscious of the unconscious can you awaken to your true self.
Shadow Work is the foundation of true Spirituality.
“Its not just love and light but also dark and fright”.
Your quest for enlightenment is incomplete if you’re unaware of your shadow self.
The shadow is a loyal companion who follows you even during the dark. And makes you aware of the treasure within illuminating the power of your entire being.
Only when you integrate your Light and Shadow you can be whole once again, thus experience true oneness…
