The Real Shadow Work (Live event today)
The contemporary understanding of shadow work was introduced by psychoanalyst Carl Jung. It refers to the process of confronting, exploring, and ultimately befriending unconscious aspects of the self - parts of our personality that we have repressed or denied, often containing qualities that are considered negative, harmful, threatening to our personal status quo, or socially unacceptable. Basically, the juicy stuff!
When we try to keep the lid on shadow material, it tends to seep out sideways in destructive, self-sabotaging behaviors - but shadow is not our enemy. Like any split-off part of the self, it was marginalized due to trauma or overwhelming pain. Once seen, healed, and integrated, shadow parts hold some of our most spectacular gifts, especially related to authenticity and self-expression.
It’s likely that Jung, a mystic who was captivated by indigenous shamanic and spiritual practices, drew his concept of shadow work from these traditions and diluted it to appeal to a rationalist European/American audience. Some of his approaches to accessing shadow, such as analyzing dreams and creating art, are successful in bringing forth shadow material held in the unconscious. Other recommendations such as analysis, introspection, and self-reflection keep us in an ordinary state of consciousness, and fail to provide an entry point into genuine shadow material.
Many of the current books, resources, and approaches that claim to help us do shadow work are simply not delivering. Identifying “negative” traits and working to buff out parts of our personalities that we find less than ideal is wonderful work, but it’s not shadow work. True shadow material can only be reached in an altered state of consciousness.
Today at 10am Pacific time/1pm Eastern time/6pm Central Europe time, shamanic teacher and healer Christina Pratt is offering a live event discussing the shamanic approach to shadow healing. She says, “The fundamental assumption that shadow work is a psychological issue blinds us. The wrong tool for the job makes any job harder than it needs to be, the process longer than we have time for, and the results ineffective and incomplete at best. Shadow is an issue of the heart. And the heart transforms through the tools that access other ways of knowing: creativity, somatic connection, elemental ritual, and risking a working relationship with the Unknown.”
I’ve personally engaged in shadow transformation work using Christina’s protocol, which began with cultivating the brave heart required to face some harrowing energies in my own shadow closet. I was able to commune with these shadow aspects of myself from a place of curiosity and compassion, coming to understand why they left in the first place and what was required to transform them from enemy to ally. A shadow part who first came out in a murderous bloodthirsty rage transformed (over time) into a virtuous warrior. A shadow part who first came out as pornographic transformed into sacred sexuality. A shadow part who came out as a sinister, manipulative snake transformed into the Cosmic Serpent (kundalini and ayahuasca energy).
The real shadow work is gnarly, socially unacceptable, bold, and thrilling. It stretches us to cultivate a radical self-love and acceptance that most of us have not yet touched. Who’s in?
See you there! 👹
Mia
Ongoing Offerings:
As always, I offer one-on-one sliding scale calls for individuals who are seeking support on the path of healing. I specialize in working with psychedelic plants, and other means of entering altered states of consciousness such as breathwork and shamanic journeying. I practice from an integrative perspective, considering the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of wellness. More info at www.miablack.com
My wife Azra offers weekly low-cost private and group Tension/Trauma Release Exercises, a somatic healing modality that discharges pent-up stress from the body and nervous system without needing to go into stories about the past. It’s a practice I do several times a week that is a cornerstone of my well-being.
Azra and I together offer free weekly group calls for women in the veteran community (veterans and family members of veterans) through The Hope Project, on Wednesdays at 10am PST/1pm EST.
Also I’m trying to do social media now and so far having fun with it!
Please reach out if you’d like more information.