Introduction to Shadow Work (Part l)

The art of battling dark emotions to pave the way for a more fulfilling life

“Your trials did not come to punish you. But to awaken you.”

- Parmahansa Yogananda

To reach our full potential as a human being, we must first understand our true nature.

This understanding comes when we observe the content of our mind in its totality and learn to respond appropriately to situations that make us suffer, rather than react impulsively.

Through this series, we will explore various concepts that aid us in deeply understanding and managing the wide spectrum of human emotions available to us.

What is the mind and what content does it create?

When we say "mind", we mean not only our thoughts but also the driving force behind our feelings, emotions, related bodily sensations, the underlying beliefs we hold, the personality we associate ourselves with, in our day-to-day lives, and the preferences and aversions that are part of it.

The human mind excels at labeling and assigning meaning to everything we experience through our senses. Based on these labels, it creates a perception of the world around (like a worldview) and a self-reference or identity (sometimes even multiple identities) through which it operates in the world. This self-reference or identity is also known as the ego or false self.

“Ego is the pseudosoul, described also as the shadow of the soul.”

- Parmahansa Yogananda

As we advance in this blog, we will use the term ego or identity to describe this false self that our mind creates. This ego identity is most often influenced by certain tendencies we accumulate from our formative years and past conditionings.

To clarify further, for instance, let's consider Jane, a teacher, and a daughter. Her identity includes being a woman named Jane, a daughter to her parents, working as a teacher, and so forth. She may also hold beliefs about herself which is a direct reflection of the experiences she may have gone through in the past such as being a responsible or irresponsible adult, being patient, or impatient, etc. labels that her mind may have accumulated over the years and attached to this self-identity that she refers to as her "self". (All the highlighted words here signify a part of Jane's possible self-identity)

Our identity is the primary content produced by the mind. In essence it is nothing but a collection of countless labels our mind has given weight to and that is now being used as a reference to describe ourselves.

What is shadow work? How can it help us live a life of full potential?

Think of an identity as an object created by the mind, with light falling on top of it, and shadow falling behind it.

In photography, mastering light is a fundamental step and we soon learn that to understand light, we must first study the shadows. So it is true in life as well.

Every identity has both light and dark aspects to it. Positive and negative traits, emotions, and habitual patterns.

Light relates to emotional states which lift us and make us feel lighter in our being such as happiness, joy, love, bliss, calm, peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment.

On the other hand, the shadows harbor heavier emotions we feel like anger, envy, or guilt, as well as the underlying triggers such as thought patterns and negative beliefs we hold about ourselves, others, and the world in general.

To summarize, the light represents our true self (out of which arise happiness, joy, peace and bliss) and the shadow is the false perception that creates suffering through negative emotions (such as anger, greed, envy).

Yet, it is through darkness that we truly appreciate the light.

The dark emotions by themselves are not bad. They act as guides to the aspects of our mind where we hold perceptions that are no longer serving us beneficially. They serve as necessary catalysts for our evolution, revealing new areas of growth so we can continue to find opportunities to discover our light.

Thus, we must honor the presence of our heaviest emotions and train ourselves like warriors to confront the darkness, just like we acquire any other skill in life.

In order to dissolve our shadows, we would first need to uncover unconscious parts of our mind by becoming aware of our triggers, negative emotions, and mental patterns. This transformative process is known as shadow work.

As we persistently shine the light of awareness on our shadows, we can step into the overflowing radiance within us without any hindrance, allowing us to embrace a life of full potential.

In the next part of this series, we'll delve into common negative emotions, what they represent, and simple practices we can follow to try shadow work.