Shadow Work: Embracing the Parts of You that Long to Be Seen
As I settle into my new life and routine, I find myself reflecting back on the past year with a new lens. As the seasons shift and the days shorten, I feel drawn inwards. Reflection and contemplation take the place of bold action. A natural shift that mimics the cold and dark winter to come.
Lately, I feel like I am closing a chapter on my old self. A woman that I am proud of, and one who has transformed over the past year. I've come to terms with the depths of my heart and soul and have fallen deeply in love with who I am as I sit here writing these words.
This year, I’ve done a level of shadow work I didn’t even know I was capable of. Honestly, I’m not sure I even knew what the term “shadow work” meant until I found myself in the thick of it. I knew I had healing to do when, even in the midst of a peaceful and fulfilling life, I felt a strange unease. Like a part of me deep down didn’t believe I deserved it.
Nothing was wrong on the surface, but something was stirring underneath. A dark energy would rise when I felt overwhelmed. I realized that to truly heal, I had to face the parts of myself I had long avoided—the ones that brought discomfort, shame, or sadness when remembered. We all have them. Emotions we wish we didn’t feel. Memories we’d rather forget. These are the fragments of our shadow selves. And when we leave them unacknowledged, they quietly shape our lives from the shadows.
Ironically, the more my life aligned with my divine purpose, the more this unease grew. It made no sense! Until I realized that for the first time, I had the space and safety to do the deeper work. I wasn’t just surviving anymore. I had stepped off the treadmill of the nine-to-five, downsized my life, and created room to breathe. And in that stillness, everything I had buried began to rise.
Staying busy had always been my shield. If I was too tired and overworked to feel deeply then I avoided the uncomfortable aspects of myself. But when life slowed down, the shadows came forward. Thankfully, I was ready. I began to revisit old memories, ones I had tucked away for years. I let myself feel the shame, the anger, the grief. I didn’t try to fix them. I just sat with them. And in that sitting, something shifted. The memories lost their grip. The emotions moved through. And I felt a release that echoed through every part of me.
This is the gift of shadow work. It’s not glamorous. It’s not linear. But it is liberating. When we stop pushing away the darker aspects of ourselves, we make space for wholeness. We stop living in fragments. We begin to walk in the light, not because we’ve banished the dark, but because we’ve embraced it.
An Invitation to Begin: A Journey into the Self
Shadow work is not just something we do, it’s something we allow. If you feel the stirrings of your own shadow calling, here is a gentle path inward.
Move slowly. Breathe between each one. Let your truth rise in its own time.
At the Threshold: What part of me have I been afraid to meet—and why now does it feel ready to be seen?
Through the Fog of Emotion: When I feel discomfort, what emotion lies just beneath the surface? What does it want me to know?
The Mirror of Memory: Is there a memory I’ve avoided that still holds a charge in my body? What happens when I revisit it with compassion?
The Voice Beneath the Mask: What roles or identities have I worn to protect myself? What truth have they been shielding?
The Alchemy of Integration: If I welcomed this shadow part of me home, what would shift in how I love, live, or lead?
As you reflect, consider lighting a candle at dusk or journaling beneath the moon. Let your breath be your guide. Let your truth rise like mist on an autumn morning. You are not broken. You are becoming whole.
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