Shadow work releases pain, bringing in the light! Let's dive in!

This article is part 2 of the series “Anger Held Within The Body Brought Me Arthritis - My Healing Journey”.  

Now let’s dive in!  What is shadow work?  The shadow is a psychological term for everything we can’t see in ourselves.  It’s the “dark side” of our personality and is called this because it consists mainly of primitive, negative human emotions like anger, envy, greed, selfishness, and things of this nature.  And make no mistake, the dark side of you, will most certainly wreak havoc within the physical body like it did with me. So shadow work is digging through the trenches of the dark side in us and working to release it so that we can bring that side of our personality back into the light. 

If you are looking to dig more into the dark side, here’s a great article by Carl Jung, Aion (1951).  Carl Jung and the Shadow: The Ultimate Guide to the Human Dark Side 
“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.”
— Carl Jung, Aion (1951)   

Having done so much internal work throughout the years, I didn’t think there was possibly any more emotional stuff left within me to release.  Again, my mistake. LOL In determining the shadow side of me years ago, I know where my negative thoughts lie and I’ve been working on keeping them at bay for most of my adult life, using affirmations and meditations.  But it’s just recently that I realized that I was still holding anger inside of me towards certain people that had hurt me during my childhood, including myself. In fact, I know now with 100% certainty that I was the biggest culprit of hurting myself while I continued to live my life without being able to speak my truth in all of my years growing up.   And this anger at myself as well as a few others was being stored in my right hip which helped create arthritis along with the additional pain of a labral tear due to the deterioration.  

So again, I will continue to reiterate this because it’s so very important, you have to go backwards into a painful place to release and heal what hurt you, which is not always pleasant.  I always tell my clients that healing is messy and "You must experience the darkness before you experience the dawn" while in the healing process. Unfortunately, it takes time (sometimes years), and you really need patience throughout the process.

If you’re ready to really look within to release your pain, whether it is emotional or physical, I can assist you in finding the shadow side in you so that you can shed some light on what  you’re holding onto. I can help you see what’s stuck and assist in releasing it with Reiki and meditation. Keep your eyes peeled for the next part of my healing journey:
Next Step, Forgive Myself!  This Is How I Did It!

And please share this article with anyone you think may need to hear any of this!
Love and Light to you!

​Nicole
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