Once you get into a regular practice of doing the shadow work, you will start to see the benefits in the form of improvements to your life and wellbeing. The changes may be slow at first, but the more you bring awareness to your conscious and unconscious and understand yourself more, you will understand your true nature and use it to your best advantage.
The following benefits are not an exhaustive list, but they are just a few of the things you may notice when implementing your shadow work into your wellness and self-care practices.
Understanding your true self
By asking yourself the tough questions, you gain clarity on what you really are thinking and feeling. You get a better sense of your emotions and understand why you react (and act) the way you do.
Build and maintain strong relationships
When you truly understand yourself, you can fully love and accept others thereby improving the quality of your relationships with everyone around you. When you tame how you project onto others, you are less triggered by their personality traits. As a result you build stronger bonds and compassion towards others. The dark side you saw in others previously is no longer there and you see others as a whole who may have their own inner shadow to battle.
Use your intuition to its advantage
By bringing awareness to what laid hidden in your shadows, you develop a deeper knowledge in learning to trust your intuition. Trusting your gut instinct may have been frowned upon when you were a child but bringing it out of the shadow and learning to trust yourself again will reap big rewards to creating the happy, healthy life you desire.
Empowerment and self-actualisation
You have the confidence and courage to not only accept your strengths, but to bring them out of your shadow. You will no longer think of yourself as unworthy but be able to reclaim your unique gifts that make you the best self you can be. Shadow work is necessary to help you become the best version of yourself and let go of the parts that are holding you back.
Uncover your creative and hidden talents
Although it was there all along, you gain better insight into your creative self through shadow work. By accepting the hidden parts of yourself, your world can open up to discovering and embracing your creativity. You may even discover a hidden talent that has been hidden away in the shadows. You may discover hidden strengths and resources that will allow you to thrive and grow into your true self.
Learn to practice self-acceptance
By banishing the shadow self you learn to accept the parts of yourself that you may have been unconsciously hiding. Learning to accept your true self, faults and all, you develop self-awareness and compassion for your whole self. It may not come easy but as you continue your shadow work, it is a start of your journey to get there.
Improve confidence and self-esteem
As you work through yourself acceptance, your confidence will also grow, and you can show up as the true, authentic self yourself. No more hiding in the shadows those parts you don’t like, but you learn to use them to an advantage in all areas of your life.
Shadow work is a journey into understanding yourself and unlocking your true potential.
Disclaimer – Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You don’t have to go through shadow work alone if it becomes too stressful or upsetting, depending on what comes up for you. You can seek the assistance of your doctor, a psychologist or a holistic counsellor who are trained to listen and guide you through shadow work. Sometimes it helps to have someone go on the journey with you – especially if you are new to shadow work.