Shadow work prompts for healing trauma8/14/2023 ![]() The following prompts from holistic psychiatrist Kayse Budd, M.D., and licensed marriage and family therapist Tiana Leeds, M.A., LMFT, are designed to help you shine a light on your own shadow using a pen and paper. While doing shadow work with a trained therapist is certainly beneficial, your journal can also act as a mirror for self-guided work. These prompts cover self-compassion (a crucial yet often forgotten part of shadow work) past trauma healing your inner child and meeting your shadow. "The idea is that a more objective entity (such as a therapist) can help provide an interpretive mirror to the parts of ourselves we have a difficult time seeing and accepting," Caraballo explains. Therapists and mental health professionals will often take a "Socratic approach" to shadow work by asking patients to explore questions that help them reexamine old stories and beliefs they hold about themselves. Practice self-care and take care of yourself as if you are your own parent. Practice setting boundaries and building healthy routines. Use mantras like you’re safe, and I am here to take care of you. As licensed therapist and co-founder of Viva Wellness Jor-El Caraballo, LMHC, previously told mbg, "This is something psychoanalytic theorists (like Jung and Freud) prized as important to maintaining psychological health." Draw a picture, paint, or make art that reflects your inner-child. Try to reach the deepest truths about yourself, even if it goes against what you’d normally expect.Shadow work, then, is all about bringing these shadow aspects into conscious awareness so we can live more authentically. Keep in mind that your unconscious shadow can only reach you indirectly, so you have to trust yourself that you can tap into it. Then after a moment, write a response you think your shadow would give. For beginners, I recommend two types of inner journeys: those done through meditation, and those done through visualization. Go deeper by speaking aloud for your unconscious mind to hear, then pay attention for a ‘response’. One of the most powerful ways to reconnect with your inner child to heal childhood traumas, is to do an inner journey. If you get emotional or have any sensations, be sure to feel them through. People who are new to shadow work can get emotional since they haven’t come to terms with their other half. However, it’s not all smiles and good feelings. These bodily sensations typically mean that you’ve appeased the unconscious. Sometimes I’ll even get a feeling of ‘centeredness’ in the pit of my stomach. You become more grounded, human, and whole. ![]() Let’s look at five benefits that result from shadow work: 1) Improved Relationships As you integrate your shadow and come to terms with your darker half, you see yourself more clearly. ![]() The purpose of these journal prompts is to stir your unconscious mind until you feel sensations in your body.įor example, when I do shadow work I get a nice feeling in my arms and legs. Exploring the shadow, however, gives us tremendous opportunities for growth and development. If you want to further study the shadow, check out the book list, or my life-changing Shadow Work Course. In a sense, shadow work serves as a confessional that’s sometimes cathartic. If you’ve tried these shadow prompts and want to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you. Once you gain a greater awareness of your shadow self you can actively work to unearth the trauma that is holding you back which can lead to transformation and healing. To get the unconscious and conscious in touch with each other.Īll it takes to get in touch with the shadow is to come into agreement with it. 36 Shadow Work Prompts for Relationships & Self Love. There are many techniques for shadow work and they all serve the same goal: ![]() Shadow Work is connecting the unconscious side of yourself to your conscious awareness. Whether you like it or not, your shadow has more control over your life than you do.Īnd until you get yourselves both on the same page, you’ll continue living the cycles you’ve been repeating your entire life. Well, while you have your own desires and dreams, your unconscious shadow might not agree with what you want. In fact, it’s the unseen reason why you’re life is how it is right now. It’s another side of you that has its own desires and wants. What is the Shadow? The shadow is the part of your personality that’s hidden outside of your awareness. ![]()
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