What is shadow work about?

When we enter this life, we constantly absorb impressions, emotions and energies. We learn how interacting with others work. Our parents, as well as society, teach us where and how to behave, in order to be loved and respected.

So we start to live according to certain guidelines, and therefore often repress our emotions and needs and build up a love-conforming mask: Our ego is born.

 

And from now on, our ego will take good care that we live behaviour and feelings that are adapted to the conditions. It even anchors all of this so firmly in our consciousness that we are gradually convinced that the mask and its beliefs are actually us.

However, our repressed emotions want to be heard and felt and therefore can manifest as panic attacks, rage, depression, self-doubts, addictions, or even just as boredom or annoyance, so that thoughts and feelings arise like:

 

"I'm not good enough, no matter how much I give"

"I don't deserve to be to be loved!"

"Why does everything work for others, only not for me?"

“I can’t feel anything, I feel numb.”

“I just want to run away from everything!”

“Everyone is just annoying me so much, I rather want to be alone!”

 

We often don't even know why we feel that way and we just want it to stop. We want to get rid of these unsightly feelings and hide them under a blanket.

 

Our shadows block us from reaching our true potential. So the reason for these shadow manifestations to show up is, that our real self finally wants to be lived. Because it wants to shine and glow, and it wants to act for our own greatest good.

And in order to achieve that, we first need to take a look behind the scenes.