Shadow work

Living with highly-triggered emotions is a far-too-common phenomena and part of understanding why we're emotionally charged can be uncovered through shadow work. 

What does your shadow look like?

Shadow work involves working with our unconscious mind to uncover the parts of ourself that we repress and hide from ourselves. This can include trauma or parts of our personality that our subconscious considers undesirable. 

How to identify our shadow?

Key signs of our shadow are found:

• In the things we’re easily triggered by

• In our bad habits

• By the things we overreact to

• By what we’re telling ourselves that keep us in the victim loop

Looking at my own shadow 

• I’m easily triggered by large financial expenditures.

• I drink lots of wine when I’m faced with large expenditures.

• I can overreact to sales people when they try to upsell me.

• And, I tell myself that I’ve worked hard for my money so it’s ok to get upset when I faced with unexpected expenditures.

A deep dive into my shadow

After spending some time reflecting on the above signs, I realized that I’m the kind of person who doesn’t think I’m good enough to earn money more easily than I currently do. In other words, I don’t think I’m entitled to easy money. It’s possible that I don’t think I’m entitled to money at all. And, I don’t have faith that I’ll earn the money back. 

Is it because I’m not good enough? Not smart enough? Or because I reject myself the way others have rejected me throughout my life? 

What’s the solution?

These are all significant questions and exploring these will help lead to self acceptance, control over my emotions, more authentic behaviour, more compassion for myself and others, and a better understanding of all parts of who I am.

If you're experiencing strong emotions or easily triggered, consider doing some shadow work to uncover the root cause.

Learn more about shadow work with Clark Kegley.