Shadow Working

Whatever you feel is wrong with the world are shadows of yourself.  The things that you like in other people, and the things you don't like in other people, are all reflections of yourself.

(You mean to tell me that person I can't stand is mirroring a part of me? Yep!)

What's a shadow? According to Debbie Ford, the shadow contains all the parts of ourselves that we try to hide, deny or suppress. It is the keeper of all the aspects of ourselves that we dislike and the qualities that we judge as unacceptable. It shows up in different ways and you may feel angry, critical, fearful, lazy, controlling, selfish, weak, pathetic, etc. These are the parts of ourselves we don’t want to the world to see, and that we try so hard to get rid of.


But eliminating it is not the answer. We must learn to embrace and accept those parts of ourselves! The Shadow Process gives us access to loving our imperfect, human selves entirely and unconditionally. This deep and profound work teaches and enables us to embrace both the darkness of our smallest self and the brilliant light of our highest self. 

Making peace with our dark side is a sacred journey. It demands rigorous honesty, courage and a great deal of compassion. Embracing our shadow delivers us emotional wholeness and the absolute freedom to be who we are. When we are filled with self-love and self-appreciation, we automatically attract the miraculous experience of love and appreciation from others. I think of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, where in the end he made peace within himself, and 'brought balance to the force'.

Don't fight those parts of yourself. The darkness within needs love just like anything else. When you learn to give it just that, those pieces of you start working in your favor. 

Shadow work is intense! It'll always show you where you could improve, and it's ongoing, and every time and opportunity for growth and expansion. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but we understand that discomfort is a chance for betterment.

Love what you have feared in order to receive the key that will allow you to unleash the unlimited power that lies dormant within you.

You don't have to be perfect, you just need to be YOU.

+Erika
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Erika Matos is a transformational agent, a certified health and nutrition educator, intuitive healer, and life coach helping people shift in the right direction by critically rethinking everything assumed to be true about what it means to be a happy, healthy, prosperous being. To learn more about her work visit http://www.realitymanifest.com