What is Shadow Work?
What is Shadow Work?
Raise your hand if you're kind of afraid of your own shadow? Ain't we all sometimes?!
At Holisticism we must admit that we love to get our hands dirty in shadow work. It's not always easy, but definitely worth its weight in subconscious gold.
Is Shadow Work Spiritual?
In today's episode Michelle, Wallis, and Janelle talk about all things shadow work and how to find the gems that sometimes lay dormant in the depths of our subconscious (where our shadow loves to hide!). We touch on the origins of shadow work (in the West), how our shadows show up in our intimate relationships, six rules for doing shadow work, and some of our favorite exercises to try.
We'd love to hear about your experiences with your own shadow work! Text us @ +1 818-699-9735 with your thoughts + if you text us a screenshot of your podcast review and we'll send you a special treat🌟
I think that there's something to finding the shitty stuff. At least I'm finding the shitty stuff and then redefining it so that it's not shitty. It actually works in your favor and you can recognize where and how you can utilize it in your life or how it shows up and where it serves you. — Janelle Pearson
Shadow is the elements of our personality or who we are that we've repressed in our subconscious. It's not the aspects that we show up with on a first date, or even that we show the world. We might not be in awareness of what is in our shadow because it's in our subconscious or unconscious mind. We've repressed these or dissociated these parts of ourselves, because we learned from society, from our parents, from our friends, from our teachers, and the people who are immediately in our lives that there were aspects of ourselves that were unacceptable. - Michelle Pellizzon
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Text us @ +1 818-699-9735 with a screenshot of your podcast review and we'll send you a special treat🌟
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHADOW WORK?
Curious about doing a past life regression and how it might help you dive into your shadow work?
Check out our episode with Aja Dashur "Being Psychic and Running An Intuitive Business With AJA Daashuur Of Spirithouse Collective" where Michelle connects with AJA Daashuur, The Spirit Guide Coach (@thespiritguidecoach) and founder of Spirit House Collective, a WOC created a metaphysical community dedicated to spreading healing through the guiding pillars of diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, and education.
Michelle and AJA riff on how they came to know their intuitive powers, creating and running intuitive businesses, and some unpopular opinions about how to do spirituality the "right" way.
SHOW NOTES
What is shadow work? [7:58]
Relationships and shadow work [9:37]
The subconscious, self-love and your shadow - Our specialness lies in what we try to hide [13:51]
Mini shadow exercise [19:59]
A positive spin on shadow work exercise - Who do you look up to? Can you own and hold your gold? [21:45]
Recognizing how your shadow work can serve you in a positive light and that you can be the hero in your own story as well [23:04]
Past life regression [24:09]
The light side of our shadow and holding back our gold because we're afraid of persecution [26:42]
When our shadow is the most harmful - repression of shadow drives our behavior without our consent [27:29]
How can you tell if something is triggering your shadow? It's very dysregulating [28:51]
Wallis' fear about being called a "basic bitch" and what it says about her shadow [30:21]
Shadow work can also unfold with ease and give you freedom of choice in how you want to show up in the world vs. shadow passively guiding you [36:30]
Shadow work and empathy. Supporting and loving our partners through shadow work [39:17]
Driverless cars, AI and our subconscious. How they're similar [40:09]
Six rules for embarking on shadow work [42:24]
First rule - Don't run away from your hurt [42:44]
Rule two - Give yourself some spaciousness and support when doing shadow work [42:23]
Rule three - Witness everything with curiosity [44:23]
Rule four - Give yourself the freedom of not knowing, not knowing where it's coming from or where it's going. Remain open to receive [44:50]
Rule five - Shadow work is not to be replaced with working with a therapist or licensed professional when dealing with traumatic experiences [45:26]{
Rule six - You have choices about how you perceive your circumstances but we can't positive think away structural oppression, like racism, classicism, ableism, etc. [45:50]
Being patient with yourself around shadow work and when the time is right to embark on it [46:44]
Shadow work + money - [49:14]
Self-work doesn't have to be painful! It can be enjoyable, fun, and delicious! Punishing yourself is also part of shadow [50:42]
Team Holisticism talks about which shadow element they're working on right now [56:20]
Michelle's WOW (Witch Of the Week) - Scott Cunningham [1:02:22]