Psychedelic Preparation course
Our Shadow Side
Instructions
1. Read the lesson
2. Use the journal prompts to explore and expand what this lesson means for you personally. Don't feel pressure to answer every single question, put pen to paper and see where it takes you.
3. Close with the 10-minute meditation or meditate silently on your own:)
We All Have A Shadow Side and its not going anywhere!
Everything in our world has a relationship. Top/Bottom, Hot/Cold, Sour/Sweet and Shadow/Light. The existence of one defines the other. Because there is a hot, well, there has to be a cold! In each relationship neither is bad, they merely represent the ends of a spectrum of distance, temperature taste and in the case we’re talking about, vibration.
Our Light Side is the one we put forth on our applications, dates and Facebook, it’s the side of ourselves that most of us most closely align with. Our Shadow Side is the one we’d rather others not see. Many of us suppress, fight or just completely deny this side of ourselves. Personally, I thought for yers that this side of myself could one day be eradicated if I just worked hard enough, leaving me as a one dimensional, “light” person. But that’s never going to happen because we live on planet earth and each human is a collection of vibrations both high and low, both shadow and light. So how do we deal with this “monster within”?
Facing The Monster Within
When we suppress or deny our Shadow Side it’s like saying, “I don’t fully accept myself!” We walk through life feeling broken or in a constant state of healing. We also find it hard to be vulnerable around people and find difficulty expressing ourselves or finding our authentic voice. Being "real" just sounds too painful.
It’s not easy to face some of the traits we’re told from childhood are bad (tense, detached, immature, jealous, competitive, controlling, impulsive). Because of our Shadow Side, we’ve all ended up in tough situations. Embarrassment, regret, fear and anger get stored in our bodies as energy and the more we stuff these emotions down, the worse we feel. If we are going to soul search, we don’t just get to focus on the beautiful, happy, helpful things about ourselves. We also must unpack and face our Shadows to know ourselves completely.
Embracing Your Shadow Side
When you make the decision to soul search, become whole and truly embrace your potential you may start to notice all this drama and old stuff flares up! Maybe an unresolved arguments pops up, your relationships seem to fray and old fears and aches come to the surface. They are coming up to be dealt with and to be seen.
GAME ON and fear not my friends. You don’t have to heal or banish any of it, we are only responsible for being aware of our Shadow. The more we face this side the less crazy it seems. The more we accept ourselves as whole people, the easier it is to accept others. Learning to be with our Shadow Side also helps us maneuver better because we begin to recognize our patterns and behaviors and can start to make decisions that serve our higher vibration and our Best Self.
Our Shadow Journaling Prompts
When we deny a trait in ourselves we often become very aware of that trait in others. What are some of the things that annoy you in others? Dig deep, are any of these traits that you can see in yourself?
Be really honest with yourself and make a list of all the things about yourself you try to hide from others. Recognize that it takes twice as much energy to hide these aspects from yourself and others than it does to own them.
Where are you being inauthentic in your interactions? In what situations do you put on a “mask”? What are you hiding?
What judgments do you have about other people? These judgments show us our hidden aspects that need to be healed. Once we own them, other people’s behaviors will not bother us.
What scenarios in your life are repetitive? Do you keep attracting the same kind of negative people in your life? What are they trying to show you?