After reading the Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford around 2017 I was introduced to the concept of Shadow Work. The general ideas that stuck with me over the years since is that for every quality of your personality or behavior that you judge in yourself and others is also a strength. Our shadows serve as mechanisms we develop throughout our lives to keep us safe. When those behaviors or traits no longer serve us, or even hinder our growth and our enjoyment of our lives and experiences, we start to ask, what is this? What do I do with this, about this?
At that moment, we pick up the thread and start pulling. Some come loose easy. Perhaps we remember the core memory of where this behavior or trait was born, and we can observe it, forgive it, thank it, rewrite it, and heal from the wound that cast this shadow to let in the light. Integrate that aspect of you, your shadow, that emotional, spiritual and physical survivalist aspect and love it for protecting you. You can relieve that shadow of it's duty, and allow your healing version to say "Hey, it's ok, you can relax, I got this."
The healing and empowered version of you is beautiful, magnificent, wonderous. But guess what? Those shadow aspects of you are just as sacred. Just as beautiful. Just as wonderous. And just as magnificent. When we look at the word MAG-NIF-I-CENT, magnify I sent, we realize that just as our healed, more socially desirable or acceptable facets of ourselves are magnetic, so too are our shadow and unhealed bits. Magnify I sent, magnify what I send out. It may be that moment where you realize that you are subconsciously attracting to yourself more of the very experiences that you’re trying to heal from that you may pick up the thread. Furthermore, going into metaphysics and shamanism, we might be healing from more than one life time. LOL, GREAT, right? There’s more!
Particularly during this moment of History, an Epoch if you will, we are all being pushed to do this deeper, perhaps deepest, healing (I don’t believe there’s a deepest, actually but I’ll leave it because it sounds good. The healing is as infinite as the cosmos. With the deep healing, you root down to go higher, clearing the caves and the root ball(for the gardeners) of any vermin or unnecessary debris. Healthy roots, healthy plant. Healthy subconscious, healthy person. Healthy person, healthy people, healthy collective. Not to mention that your personal healing has an uplifting ripple effect on the collective healing multi dimensionally. Not only does your healing help you to shine your light and help others literally or by proxy, but it uplifts the mycelial network of humanity. No pressure. When a tree is sick or under attack, it will send out signals through its root system and the other trees will send nutrients to help it heal. The more trees that are strong and healthy, the healthier the ecosystem. The same goes for humans. To take it even a step further, something that came up the other day, I wondered, “what happens when a healed utopian global society is established on Earth?” It ripples through the cosmos. The entire cosmos is elevated, and that elevation is infinite. There is literally no limit to what is possible. Magic and wonder beyond our wildest dreams.)
So, you are not only transmuting and transforming this present lifetime experiences but past lives as well. Not all will get or are getting that call directly. Some folks are naturally drawn to metaphysics or spirituality or healing work, some aren’t, but regardless, always, take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. It might be enough for now to focus on your present lifetime and reality but what I’ve found so often, is by picking up the thread of a particular pain or experience has lead me to realms and times beyond my imagining. Enter past life regression, soul retrieval, transmutation, transformation, inner child work(play), somatic healing work, etc. While these topics might seem overwhelming or intimidating, often times they are incredibly simple exercises with profound results when implemented with respect, reverence, consistency, discipline, wonder and an open, willing mind and heart. I always recommend partnering with a seasoned, trusted healing professional or another trusted person while on this journey in case something goes awry.
Hypnotists, Reiki Practitioners, Shamans, Medicine People, Channels, Guides, Coaches, fellow seekers are all available to help guide you when you feel lost, but even here your internal compass and discernment are imperative to the process of opening up and trusting people and/or institutions that are truly beneficial for you and your process. It is also okay to grow out of different teachers and modalities. All the bountiful healing services or practitioners in this day and age are fantastic however never forget that your best Guru is always you.
Regarding things that may go awry, often due to the very events we are trying to heal from, there may be distortions in the mind/body/spirit, like conditioning or harmful beliefs or repetitive harmful thought patterns, that can kind of taint the information that is coming through or leave you susceptible to energies that exploit pain. To take this a step further even, these distortions and harmful beliefs can effect your auric field, creating a hole or a weak spot in your ‘bubble’(We need some strong ass bubbles in these times, Fam! You got this. Keep going.). That is why it is important to stay grounded in the body, in the physical reality, and take things very slow and utilize trusted guidance when possible. Yoga, Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic practices, and Somatic healing are all great tools to help keep you in your body and also process and transmute your mental/emotional/multidimensional healing work through the body. Holistic healing means MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT. Personally I started out very heavy in mind (overthinking, lost in thought, dreamy, anxious), with spirit catching up, and the body work was always more challenging and less attractive for me personally. Some folks have the body part down but need to balance the mind and spirit. Everyone is different, it’s all good, and it’s all just about creating and maintaining balance between all the systems.
I read somewhere that when trying to make a change, the nervous system responds better to love and kindness. No surprise there, really, but then why is it so hard? Instead of shaming and abusing yourself for your failures, your shortcomings, your shadows, your habits, and your behaviors(those negative voices in your head that sound like you or like the people throughout your life), love yourself into change. Envision the you that you want to be, better yet, cultivate the sensation of how you want to feel in your life and in your body overall. Spend time with that version of you, that feeling. How does it feel? Ask them what you need to do and how to get to that point, and they will guide you. You will guide you, always, through your inspirations and ideas and intuition toward the most self actualized, happy, and flowing version of yourself.
You are worthy of healing.
You are worthy of being self actualized.
You are worthy of embodying the most exalted expression of your self.
You are worthy of your gifts.
You are worthy of your wildest dreams come true.
Some threads will take you deep into the caverns, into the darkest recesses of your soul. You may fear that you won't be able to get back out. You may lose all sense of yourself, even of time and space down there. You may try to run, or hide, or back out. But you always have that thread. With some trust, some perseverance, some patience, a little help from trusted family/friends/healers/professionals/the trees/a pet/your favorite stuffy, your spirit team, your beneficial* ancestors AND MOST OF ALL YOUR HEART, that thread will always be there to pull you through, all the way to the other side. The caves are less scary, and easier to visit when necessary, after you've been through and made friends with the cobwebs and the bats. It may turn out that the monsters were never monsters at all, or if they were, you were always strong enough to face them and put them to rest, to turn them away, to make them into something new.