17 Reasons To Do Shadow Work
By: Leigh Larue
Tags: Spirituality, Shadow, Daily Blog, Personal Development, Transformation

Though shadow work is starting to come out of the shadows and into the light in recent years, it surprises me that most people remain unaware of it. And if they happen to have heard of it, the concept is relatively vague to them. And, even those that are more familiar with the term and concept still may not understand how to put it into practice in order to benefit from it.

I’ve been aware of it for years and have grasped the benefits that can come of doing this work, but I myself remained unclear of how to really begin the process. I’ve wanted, and have very much needed, to go through this, but I’ve let myself and others downplay it or delay it. In my various studies of esoteric knowledge, it seems to be the at the crux of healing, progress, and empowerment. It’s recently become clear that this is work that I need to do not only for myself but for the collective consciousness. If every one of us, or honestly even a decent percentage of us, were to commit ourselves to this practice we would be living in an entirely different world. And, our personal lives would be so dramatically transformed it would be night and day.

As amazing as the promises of shadow work are, it can be scary if not downright terrifying to undertake. Besides not understanding how to properly approach it, I’ve felt much fear at the idea of not only trudging up old wounds but especially sharing them with others. The calling was certainly there. But as it tends to go, I was standing in my own way. Ever heard the saying ‘the only way out is through’? It’s true. Otherwise, we are just going around…and around and around again. What we don’t heal, we repeat. In similar but different experiences. Unconscious patterns need to be cleared in order to break the chains of unhealthy habits, addictions, and relationships. This can only be accomplished by facing our shadow, our unconscious ways of thinking, speaking, and behaving.

I feel Teal Swan is one of the leaders, if not the leader, in this field. I bought her book ‘The Completion Process’ a few years back, but I have the bad habit of excitedly buying a book only to never read it or complete it. As of late, I’ve been called back to it. I believe there is more than one way to accomplish this work, and it can be approached lightly or can be taken very deep. You can also go through it alone or seek guidance with it. Most will do this work privately and sacredly. We’re never through with it, as we are always changing, evolving, and meeting new challenges. But if we meet them head on and from a higher ground, we can overcome each new challenge more swiftly and adeptly. And, we can cut it to the quick before it takes root in our bodies. As you may or may not be aware, each physical issue we experience first starts at an emotional level. To learn more about this and to see which emotions correspond to what symptoms I would highly recommend Louise L. Hay’s book titled ‘You Can Heal Your Life’.

The benefits to shadow work are endless, but here are some main ones that Teal shares with us:

Helps us become aware and conscious Creates empowerment Helps us to see and reclaim our gifts, abilities, and even our life purpose Causes the re-owning of self and allows authenticity Allows you to root out trauma Get’s us unstuck! Empowers you to not repeat the same unhealthy patterns or relationships over and over again Increases our creative abilities Opens us up intuitively Causes integration, which brings peace Brings you closer to your true, soul-level desires Gives us the ability to have successful, happy, and compatible relationships Enhances overall mental, emotional, & physical wellbeing and restores health, energy, & vitality Gives us ‘super powers’ by allowing us to see above and below things that we couldn’t before. Puts us in touch with the fundamental blueprint of existence. Heals us at a DNA level so that we don’t continue passing along unhealthy patterns Gives us conscious control over what we create and manifest

Something I’ve personally noticed is that those who take their spiritual work and self-growth seriously tend to be elevated in all areas of their lives, including financially. The one example that sticks out to me the most is a friend of a friend. I don’t know all the details, but I know that he was regularly doing ayahuasca and related psychedelics that bring what’s been suppressed to the surface to be cleared or integrated. Basically shadow work but in a different way. Every time he’d lose or leave a job he’d always get get a new one with a substantial pay increase. He’s now at around $300,000/year I think. Worth mentioning!

My intention with sharing my shadow work process with you and the world is to demonstrate how to go about it and to hopefully show you the transformation that can come of it. I know I am a healer and a leader, but because of my unresolved issues I have been frozen in fear, anger, and confusion most of my life. This has made it to where I could barely help myself, much less others. In spite of my lofty hopes and dreams I have ‘played it small’, thinking someday, somehow it would all just magically happen.

I would love to finally be able to reclaim myself, my confidence, and my power so that I can manifest a life of magic instead of struggle and mundanity. I wish to set a positive example and be a role model of how to heal a fractured life. Don’t despair if you seem to be running a marathon of challenges and heartbreaks. These obstacles can be overcome, and a lot faster if you are brave enough to do the work.

It takes a lot of courage to face our fears and uncover our traumas, and I would like to lead you in the process and hope that you will be inspired to follow and in turn inspire others. Let’s change our world, one person at a time, beginning with ourselves. Please follow my posts, as this will be a regular, ongoing practice that I will continually share with all of you. Thank you for your interest and support, and I hope to see you on the path soon.