There are things in your life that you have that you might hide from other people because you feel that these are the bad things about you. These are your shadow self and once you learn to accept your shadow self, it can help your life to be better.
Understanding the Shadow Self
The shadow self are the parts of your personality and the emotions that you have that you might not like about yourself. These are things that people don’t want to recognize that they have, and they don’t’ want to accept these things as who they are.
If someone is resentful because they were rejected as a child, they might have times when they feel angry towards their parents. Instead of accepting that they have these feelings or emotions, they refuse them, and they act like they don’t really exist.
This happens because they think these feelings and emotions are bad, but the truth is that these feelings are not bad, but they are parts of yourself that you have hidden or repressed. These things need to be addressed and healed.
Who Has a Shadow?
According to psychologist Carl Jung, everyone in the world has a shadow self. There are no people that are free of judgements, at least those that haven’t been around for very long. These judgements come from things that you experience in your life.
No matter who has hurt you such as your parents, a lover, teachers, society, or everything, you receive a message from this hurt that tells you things in your life that aren’t accepted. These are things you hide in your shadow self.
Carl Jung thought that the greatest thing that you can do to make your life better is to accept your shadow self and heal it instead of hiding from it. Once you learn about who you are, you can work through feelings and thoughts that you have hidden and then you can have peace.
Accepting Your Shadow Self
Here are some of the best ways that you can accept your shadow self:
Pay Attention
One of the best ways to start towards healing is to be curious about who you are and to pay attention. This means that you will learn about who you are and what influences your thoughts and emotions.
Don’t Judge Yourself
As you learn about your feelings, thoughts, and emotions, you have to be careful not to judge these things. You need to allow these things to come out and experience these feelings without judgement.
Talk to a Therapist
As you do healing work, it can be hard to go through it on your own. One thing that you can do is to find a counselor or therapist to help you with this healing. If you choose to do it on your own, at least make sure that you have a support group.
Find someone that is going to care about what you feel and won’t judge you. This is your shadow self, and you have to have compassion for this.
Meditation
To learn more about who you are and to bring peace to your life in your healing, meditation practices can help. This can help you embrace the feelings and thoughts that you have.
Journal
Journaling allows you to know what is going on in your life and to allow you to go back and read things that come up. If you have triggers, write them down and how they make you respond. This can help you to figure out who you are and what you need to find healing.
Past Life Regression Therapy
You can try pasts life regression therapy that can help you to figure out about your past life. If you aren’t sure why you have the feelings or emotions that you have, this might help you to figure it out.
What to Do
Here is what to do to get started:
Put a Label on It
Put a label on your emotions. This means that if you are feeling angry, go deep inside of yourself and find out why you feel this way. Label each of your thoughts and each of your emotions so that you can identify with them.
Triggers
Think about the things that bother you. Why do they bother you? Reflect on what happens when these triggers show up. Answer questions and reflect so that you can understand your shadow self more.
Ask Questions
Use your thoughts, emotions, and feelings to ask questions. Here are some questions to get started with:
- Are the feelings and thoughts that you have critical towards you or something else?
- What messages do you get when you look at your shadow self emotions?
- When you were a child, were you allowed to feel the emotions that you had, or did someone judge you or put you down for these things?
- Did you avoid your shadow self because you didn’t have the support that you needed at a younger age?
- Did you show your emotions and find that people were angry or mean to you over it?
Final Thoughts
Everyone has a shadow self, and you need to learn to accept this part of yourself. As you accept yourself, you can allow changes and healing to come into your life.
