simple shadow work: a practice for psychic decluttering
shadow work with my inner child. I stand next to her and hold the light. those shadows were formed during her time, so it’s important that we go into the darkness together — and she knows that she is safe; she is no longer alone. we can look at our shadows together, and integrate them.
recently, in my current phase of deep art/business integration, I’ve been doing some inner diving into beliefs and stories I want to release — specifically, about work, self-worth, and money. I told a friend a realization I had — a subconscious belief that was structuring the way I saw client work, until I shed light on it — and she said, that’s some deep shadow work.
shadow work as psychic decluttering
the phrase stuck with me — probably because I never used it before to describe something that I do on an habitual basis — excavating my inner world through deep journaling and meditation practices. call it my scorpionic desire for truth, but I don’t think I can rest until I can touch the bottom of the well.
in the past, I did this inner “shadow” work compulsively, to pull myself out of emotional shit storms — and now, I’m doing it because I can sense that there’s clutter in the psychic attic that I want to clear out; in order to make space for new possibilities.
Jungian psychology & the shadow self
I know there’s an entire discourse in Jungian psychology — the shadow as the unconscious, “dark” self that we try to repress/suppress, involving archetypes — a discourse I’m definitely curious to explore.
but for now, I’m thinking of a very simplified, literal version of shadow work — a version of shadow work that is doing the psychic clearing —
shadow work as the illumination of stories, beliefs, and subconscious logic that limit my freedom, expansion, and possibility.
I can feel that in order to hurl forwards into the life, future, and vision that I want — I need to illuminate the shadow aspects. I’ve often heard that consciousness is 50% of the work. bringing awareness is the foundational step to being deliberate — do you really want to carry that psychic baggage around? no? then let it go.
my simple practice for shadow work:
Step 1 — Make a safe, soothing space.
I sit with my journal and a dim light, put on ambient music, and take a few minutes to do breathwork before I begin.
Step 2 — Listening to the voice
I start by bringing to mind something that I’m working on — this could be a vision, project, situation, relationship. then, I listen to the voice of my “shadow” — any voice that gives me resistance and inertia.
what does the voice say?
I write it down in detail.
Step 3 — Investigate the shadow
I guide myself through a series of self-probing questions to understand and meet the voice at a deeper level. deep journaling questions like…
where does this voice come from?
where else did I hear this voice before?
what emotions does the voice trigger in me?
what does it want?
in what ways is it trying to protect me?
what does it believe to be true?
what is the logic or assumptions it’s operating under?
Step 4 — Release + Rewrite the beliefs
after I’ve ventured into the darkness and shed light on my shadow beliefs — and in the process, spent time with my inner child self — I end the meditation/journaling session by choosing to release the beliefs, and let go.
releasing:
do these beliefs or stories serve me today?
do I give myself permission to let this go?
I do a few minutes of deep breathing to release
rewriting:
what do I choose to believe, instead?
how I choose to feel, instead — a list of emotions
what I believe to be true, instead — my world logic
shadow work — work & self-worth
in the process of doing shadow work, I encounter parts of me that play a role in my life — to protect my child-self from being hurt; to keep it safe — which is also to keep it small. it feels like seeing old programming in my brain that is no longer relevant to my current life dreams of expansion.
in swimming these psychic waters just a little bit — I realized that all shadow work around work & money — is really excavating how I carry my sense of self-worth, and how I give and receive (labor, energy, gifts, talents) to the world and people around me; a process which starts with how I give & receive from my family.
along with dreaming big — and aligning with my big dreams — is to own the inertia and resistance that come along the way; to clear the roots of that resistance by letting go of my old, ancient rules of operating. this is not a one time thing. it’s daily work; an ongoing process, like everything else. of course, I imagine that the more that I do it — the easier it will feel. the whole is rapid regeneration, transformation, and unending rebirth. 🦋