Shadow Work
Updated: Oct 24, 2022
BY LENORE BLACK
This is the time of the year where the air feels crisp and the days start getting shorter. As the darkness descends into nature, so does it descend into our subconscious minds. This time is a beautiful opportunity for reflection and shadow work.
Shadow work is a popular term these days, but what does it really mean?
Our shadow is our hidden or darker sides of our personality. The parts of ourselves we are afraid to own. The more we repress our more primal and darker impulses and desires, the more they lurk behind us, waiting to reveal themselves when we least expect it.
The good news is, accepting and integrating our shadows doesn’t have to be a painful or uncomfortable experience! We can use the power of erotic energy to transmute and integrate our shadows.
Why erotic energy? Because the erotic is the ultimate alchemizer, turning the two parts into the whole. Erotic energy is also our life force energy, the energy of creation and beautiful destruction. When we utilize erotic energy, we are engaging our bodies, our subconscious, and our human essence.
GUIDED JOURNEY
Close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply. You can imagine the weight of gravity slowly pulling you down, and deeper into your body.
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Think of a part of yourself that you are afraid to acknowledge. This can be a desire, such as greed, power, or selfishness, or it can be a sexual fantasy you have that makes you squirm. I prefer working with sexual fantasies first, because they are the easiest ones to alchemize. Once you get comfortable with this practice, you can apply it to other shadows.
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Once you have this dark, sexy desire or fantasy in your head, focus on how you feel about it. Does it bring you shame or disgust to be turned on by this?
When you connect to the feeling, begin to slowly scan your body from the top to the bottom to find where this shadow is located in your body.
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After you locate your shadow in the body, really tune into what your body is feeling.
What color is it?
Are there any textures or visions that you’re seeing?
How does your body feel? Is it hot or cold?
Painful or numb?
Take your time here to really get a full imprint.
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Now begin to connect with the pleasure that you feel from this desire.
Does it make you feel powerful or subversive? What about this desire really turns you on?
Take a moment to thank your body for giving you this wisdom, and slowly wiggle your toes and open your eyes. Immediately write down as much information as you can from the guided practice, so that you can reference it later.
To use this wisdom in real life, the next time you are confronted with that shadow or fantasy or desire, notice the feeling that is coming up for you, and then reconnect back to the feeling and vision in your body that you had during the guided practice.
You are hacking your brain into erotic embodiment!