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COURSE

Breaking The Self-Sabotage Cycle

With Mark Stevens

Are self-sabotaging behaviors holding you back from the life you want to lead? This beginner-friendly course dives into the transformative practice of shadow work, guiding you to uncover and transform the hidden parts of yourself responsible for these patterns. Through guided meditations, reflective exercises, and practical tools, you’ll learn to identify the unconscious roots of self-sabotage, engage with your shadow, and redirect its energy in empowering ways. By breaking free from these behaviors, you’ll unlock greater self-awareness, authenticity, and the ability to live with purpose and confidence. Whether you’re struggling with procrastination, perfectionism, fear of failure, or relational challenges, this course will provide the tools and support you need to create meaningful change and step into your fullest potential with compassion and courage. Good For: Individuals ready to break free from self-sabotaging patterns that limit their success or happiness. Those experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem, or relationship difficulties tied to recurring behaviors. Anyone seeking a practical, compassionate approach to personal growth and self-discovery.

Discover the Hidden Patterns That Are Keeping You Stuck

10 Days

419 students

4.9 stars

13 min / day

English

About this course

Guided Visualization

Shadow Work Reflection

Inner Critic Reframing Practice

Meet your Teacher

Mark Stevens

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Southampton, UK

Mark is a certified integration coach and positive pyschologist with a deep passion for helping others unlock their full potential. With years of experience in self-discovery practices, shadow work, and personal transformation, Mark brings a compassionate and insightful approach to guiding individuals through their inner worlds. His expertise lies at the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and personal growth, offering a unique perspective on embracing and integrating the hidden aspects of the self. Known for his engaging and accessible teaching style, Mark combines practical tools, guided meditations, and reflective exercises to empower participants to overcome self-sabotaging patterns and cultivate a more harmonious and authentic life.

View Profile

10 Days

419 students

4.9 stars

13 min / day

English

Lesson 1

Illuminating The Shadow: The Path To Self-Discovery

Welcome to the first session of your shadow work journey. This session sets the foundation for deep transformation by exploring what shadow work is, why it matters, and how it can help you overcome self-sabotage. Shadow work is the process of recognizing, understanding, and integrating the hidden aspects of yourself—those parts that influence your behaviors, emotions, and beliefs without your awareness. We’ll discuss: - How the shadow forms and why it isn’t inherently negative. - The three pillars of shadow work: Awareness, Engagement, and Integration. - How shadow patterns show up in daily life—through triggers, projections, and self-sabotaging behaviors. By the end of this session, you’ll have a clearer understanding of the unconscious forces shaping your actions and the tools to start working with your shadow instead of against it.

Lesson 2

SW Meditation 1: Meeting Your Hidden Self

This guided meditation gently introduces you to the practice of shadow work, helping you explore the hidden aspects of yourself with curiosity and compassion. Using breath awareness, grounding techniques, and visualization, you will embark on an inner journey—walking through a symbolic forest and encountering a mirror that reflects not just your outer self, but your unconscious depths. In this reflection, a figure emerges—your shadow self—the part of you that holds repressed emotions, disowned qualities, and hidden wisdom. Through guided inquiry, you will listen to the messages your shadow carries, offering it recognition, compassion, and gratitude. This meditation is designed to: - Create a safe space to explore parts of yourself that may have been hidden. - Introduce you to your shadow as a source of self-knowledge rather than fear. - Deepen your self-awareness by observing how your shadow presents itself. By the end of this session, you will leave with greater clarity about your hidden patterns and a newfound sense of acceptance and integration.

Lesson 3

Characterizing Negative Behavioural Patterns

In this session, we take an important next step in overcoming self-sabotage by identifying some hidden forces that can influence our thoughts and behaviors. These unconscious forces often act like characters within us—running the same self-defeating scripts over and over again. We’ll explore four common self-sabotaging patterns: The Inner Critic – The relentless voice of perfectionism and self-doubt. The Saboteur – The part of us that procrastinates, avoids, and fears success. The Addict – The seeker of distraction and numbing behaviors. The Victim – The part that dwells in helplessness and external blame. You’ll learn how to name and recognize these patterns, making it easier to catch them in action before they derail your progress. Through humor and self-awareness, we can shift our relationship with these parts—reducing their unconscious hold over us. By the end of this session, you’ll be able to identify your dominant self-sabotaging "character", recognize how it operates, and begin the process of turning it into an ally instead of an obstacle.

Lesson 4

SW Meditation 2: Recognizing And Naming Your Self-Sabotaging Patterns

This guided meditation takes you on a journey of self-reflection, helping you identify the repetitive patterns that shape your behavior, emotions, and decisions. By entering a calm and receptive state, you will observe the recurring tendencies that may be keeping you stuck—whether it’s procrastination, perfectionism, avoidance, or self-doubt. Through visualization, you will be guided to see these patterns as reflections in a still pool of water, allowing you to observe them with curiosity rather than judgment. You’ll then take the powerful step of naming a self-sabotaging aspect, transforming it from an unconscious force into something you can understand, dialogue with, and integrate. This meditation will help you: - Recognize hidden patterns that influence your actions. - Name and personify a self-sabotaging archetype, making it easier to work with. - Begin an internal dialogue with this part of yourself to uncover its hidden motivations. By the end of this session, you’ll have taken a major step in making the unconscious conscious, bringing greater self-awareness and control over the patterns that shape your life.

Lesson 5

Tracing The Origins: Why We Sabotage Ourselves

Self-sabotage isn’t random—it has roots in past experiences, learned behaviors, and unconscious fears. In this session, we’ll explore why self-sabotaging patterns form and what they might be protecting us from. Whether shaped by childhood conditioning, societal expectations, or past failures, these patterns once served a purpose—but now, they may be keeping you from your fullest potential. By reflecting on how procrastination, perfectionism, avoidance, and overcommitment develop, you’ll begin to recognize the deeper motivations behind your self-sabotage. This awareness is the first step toward reclaiming control and reshaping your narrative.

Lesson 6

SW Meditation 3: Seeing Your Patterns More Clearly

This meditation guides you into a deeper awareness of your self-sabotaging patterns, helping you recognize the unconscious habits that keep you from fully stepping into your potential. Through grounding, breath awareness, and guided reflection, you will explore the recurring behaviors that limit your growth, the emotional and physical signals that accompany them, and the moments of frustration or stuckness that reveal deeper needs. By observing these patterns without judgment, you create space for transformation—because what is seen can be understood, and what is understood can be changed.

Lesson 7

Dialogue With The Shadow: Turning Resistance Into Understanding

Now that you have identified your self-sabotaging patterns, the next step is to engage directly with the part of your shadow responsible for them. This session introduces the practice of shadow dialogue—a way to listen, understand, and collaborate with the hidden aspects of yourself. Rather than fighting against these patterns, you will learn how to approach them with curiosity and compassion. By personifying your shadow and opening a conversation, you can uncover its deeper motivations, fears, and the ways it has been trying to protect you. This process helps shift self-sabotage from something unconscious and automatic into something you can work with consciously. Through this exploration, you will move from resistance to understanding, setting the stage for transformation.

Lesson 8

SW Meditation 4: Dialoguing With The Shadow

This meditation guides you through a direct and compassionate dialogue with the part of your shadow responsible for self-sabotaging behaviors. Rather than seeing these aspects as enemies, you will approach them with curiosity and understanding, recognizing that they developed as a way to protect or help you. Through visualization, you will invite this shadow aspect to step forward, observe how it appears, and engage in a conversation to uncover its motivations. By asking it what it wants you to know, how it has been trying to help you, and what it fears, you will begin to transform your relationship with it. This process allows you to integrate rather than resist these hidden parts of yourself, opening the door to self-acceptance and change.

Lesson 9

Integrating The Shadow: Turning Awareness Into Lasting Change

Shadow work isn’t just about uncovering self-sabotaging patterns—it’s about integrating what we’ve learned and making real changes. In this final session, we shift from insight to action, transforming awareness into new habits that align with our true intentions. Instead of trying to eliminate our self-sabotaging tendencies, we will explore how to replace them with healthier alternatives that meet the same underlying needs. We will also discuss practical tools to make shadow work a lifelong practice, including journaling for reflection, emotional check-ins for self-awareness, and self-compassion techniques for when old patterns resurface. By the end of this session, you will have a clearer roadmap for sustaining your growth and working with your shadow as an ally rather than a force to resist.

Lesson 10

SW Meditation 5: Integrating Your Shadow And Stepping Forward

This final meditation is a space for integration, allowing you to bring together all the insights, experiences, and transformations from your shadow work journey. Through deep relaxation and visualization, you will embrace both your light and shadow as essential parts of your whole, empowered self. By stepping into a symbolic merging of these aspects, you will release the illusion of inner conflict and cultivate a felt sense of balance, strength, and peace. This practice is about moving beyond self-sabotage, setting an intention for your path forward, and embodying the wisdom you have gained. Shadow work is not about fixing yourself—it is about reclaiming yourself, and in this meditation, you fully step into that wholeness.