Welcome to this extension meditation called Embracing the Shadow.
This is a one-hour-long dynamic process.
Originally,
This meditation was created to be done in a workshop,
Where people would partner up and play out each other's subconscious or shadow aspects.
Because you will be going through this by yourself,
There are a few changes we will need to make.
Firstly,
You will need to decide whether you would like to sit down and go through the entire journey in your imagination alone,
Or whether you would like to stand and use your physical body and your voice.
If you decide you would like to go through the entire thing in your imagination alone,
Choose somewhere comfortable to sit,
Place a blindfold over your eyes,
And then utilize your imaginative powers to go through each section.
What this means is that when you are prompted to run,
You imagine yourself running.
When you are prompted to fight,
You will imagine yourself fighting.
When you are prompted to freeze,
You will imagine yourself freezing.
Inside of your imagination,
You can kick,
You can scream,
You can freeze,
You can dance,
You can do all the things you will be prompted to do.
From the outside,
You will just look like you're sitting silently in meditation.
This process will work,
And it's also powerful.
Alternatively,
You can choose to stand and engage in the process physically.
My suggestion is that you also blindfold yourself for this.
What this means is you will have to be aware of your environment before beginning,
And that when you are prompted to do certain things,
You do them on the spot.
That is,
When you are told to run,
You run on the spot.
When you are told to fight,
You fight on the spot.
When you are told to freeze,
You freeze on the spot.
And when you are told to dance,
You dance on the spot.
If you choose this option,
You can punch into the air,
You can get on the ground and hit things,
You can also shout,
Swear,
Scream.
Whatever you would like to do with your physical body is more than okay.
Obviously,
If you would like to try it this way,
Make sure that you are in a safe space and that nobody will disturb you for the totality of the hour.
It doesn't matter whether you choose to sit down and do this in your imagination alone,
Silently,
Or whether you choose to stand and engage physically using your voice and your body.
Both are powerful,
And both are effective.
My recommendation is that you adapt appropriately based on the environment that you are in.
Finally,
Just before we begin,
You will be working with two different shadow aspects of yourself today.
If you already have an idea about which shadow parts you would like to work with,
That's great.
You can even decide which one you would like to work with first right now.
You will be working with this one for the first 20 minutes,
Then it will switch and you will work with the second one before being guided through the final part of the meditation.
If you don't know which shadow elements to work with,
Don't worry about that.
Just begin and allow your intuition to bring it up for you.
By the end,
I'm sure you'll know what was present and what you were working with.
On that note,
You have 60 seconds from now to get yourself prepared before we start.
The shadow is standing behind you,
A part of you that you have spent your entire life trying to run from,
Get away from,
Hide from,
But it's never worked.
It's here now and it's breathing down your neck.
This is the part that lurks in the shadows,
That follows you everywhere you go,
No matter how good you are,
No matter how hard you've tried.
It's never left you.
It's always here,
Tormenting you from the shadows.
You can feel it lurking,
Attached to you somehow.
This is the part you don't want to look at.
You don't want to see.
You don't want others to see.
And yet,
No matter what you do,
It's right here.
It's with you when you go to bed.
It's with you when you wake up in the morning.
It's always here,
Breathing down your neck.
Feel that now.
You now have the next three minutes to exhaust yourself by running.
Run as fast as you can.
See if you can get away.
You have three minutes now.
Stop running now.
Running hasn't worked.
You now have the next three minutes to fight your shadow.
Use any method and any tactic that you want.
You can push.
You can shout.
You can swear.
You can scream.
Three minutes.
Fight all the way to the end now.
Go.
Stop fighting now.
Running hasn't worked.
Fighting hasn't worked.
And so let's try option number three.
Let's see if you can freeze.
Freeze in every cell of your body.
For the next three minutes,
You're going to tense up your body,
And you're going to do everything you can to ignore this shadow through the freeze response.
The thing is,
No matter what you do,
It will still be here.
It's lurking the whole time.
But try.
You have to try.
Try and freeze.
See if you're completely still to the point where you almost stop breathing.
Hold your breath.
Close your eyes.
See if you can imagine it away.
Do not release the freeze response until I say.
But no matter what you do,
Know that the shadow is still here,
Still breathing down your neck.
Your eyes may be closed.
Your body may be tensed.
You may have stopped breathing.
It's still here.
Exhaust yourself trying,
And let's see if the freeze response can really make it go away.
Just one more minute to go.
Do not stop the freeze response.
Keep your body tense and your eyes closed.
You can even repeat to yourself,
You're not real.
Go away.
You're just an illusion.
I don't believe in you.
And see if the freeze response is what will get rid of this part.
You have 60 more seconds to try.
Exhaust yourself.
Do not stop tensing and freezing.
Begin to release the tension from your body now.
Start by unravelling your hands and returning to normal breath.
Allowing the body to relax.
As you begin to realise that no matter how far you run,
How well you fight,
Or how deeply you freeze,
You cannot get away from yourself.
Letting go of that tension now.
Letting the body relax now.
And as the body continues to relax,
You begin to realise that you can't get away from yourself.
This part that has been haunting you,
This shadow part,
Has always been here.
It has always been here.
You haven't been able to run fast enough.
Your fighting has been to no avail.
And you can freeze,
But it doesn't change the fact that this aspect is still here,
Still very much a part of you.
And so now,
It's time to do something different.
And so with courage and bravery,
Take a breath and turn around and face this part.
Still here,
Still a part of you.
And so if fighting doesn't work,
And running doesn't work,
And freezing doesn't work,
Maybe it's time to do something differently.
Maybe it's time to go on a journey towards the embracing and the rebuilding of a relationship between you and this part.
So here you can begin to explore what it would be like to dance with this part.
You caught that?
There's energy boiling around you.
Fire and dreams.
That's exactly what I wanted to tell you.
The fire could be literal fire,
But it also feels like creative fire that's connected with big changes.
Do you know what I mean when I say creative fire?
I mean that creation which is also destruction.
When things have to be destroyed so that they can make way for something new,
Like a cocoon.
Don't fight it.
What's happening has to happen.
I certainly can't make it stop.
Look back,
Because I feel strongly that you crossed over and came back.
If I did,
I don't know anything about it.
You are connected to some major energetic forces.
It runs in your family.
This goes back,
Way back in time.
Allow the music to move you.
As you begin to explore movement with your part,
What would it feel like to dance with your shadow?
If you weren't afraid anymore,
If you released all the ideas that you somehow needed to get away from or transcend this part,
And instead decided to see what would happen,
If you embraced this part in the most beautiful dance.
It can be subtle.
It can be gentle.
It can be slow.
But no more running.
No more fighting.
No more freezing.
You have the opportunity to unfreeze now and to explore a different type of relationship.
A relationship in which you face yourself and you no longer run.
Instead,
You choose to engage with yourself differently.
Why not try and dance?
Why not try and understand?
Why not try and feel?
Why not lean into this part?
Come to the realization yourself of what doesn't and what does work in terms of transformation.
It's never about getting away from.
It's always about reclaiming.
Reclaiming yourself.
And so as deeply as you can,
Let yourself go now and dance.
Dance through your heart.
Dance in your mind.
Dance with this part.
As your dance comes to an end,
You now have the opportunity to either sit or stand and just wrap your arms around this part.
Just enter into a deep and loving and beautiful embrace.
There is nothing more you have to do.
You don't have to understand anything.
You don't have to figure it out.
Just hold yourself.
Just hold this part in the deepest embrace and from your heart to theirs,
Do whatever you have to do to mend the relationship now.
And as this deep embrace comes to an end,
Let this part know how grateful you are for its existence.
Thank it for all the lessons and all the magic that it has brought to you.
Recognizing now that the healing between you happens when you turn around and embrace this part.
And with as much sincerity as possible,
Let it know there is enough space in your heart for it to exist as part of you.
Let it know you will not leave it again and that it can rest now inside the temple of your heart.
There's nothing more you have to do.
The rest will unravel itself over time.
As this integration continues to happen naturally,
It's time to prepare to meet the second shadow aspect of you.
So moving back to your original position,
Take a couple of moments in silence so that you can reset and go even deeper the second time around.
And in just a moment,
We will begin again.
The shadow is standing behind you.
A part of you that you have spent your entire life trying to run from,
Get away from,
Hide from.
But it's never worked.
It's here now and it's breathing down your neck.
And this is the part that lurks in the shadows,
That follows you everywhere you go,
No matter how good you are.
No matter how hard you've tried,
It's never left you.
It's always here,
Tormenting you from the shadows.
You can feel it lurking,
Attached to you somehow.
This is the part you don't want to look at.
You don't want to see.
You don't want others to see.
And yet,
No matter what you do,
It's right here.
It's with you when you go to bed.
It's with you when you wake up in the morning.
It's always here,
Breathing down your neck.
Feel that now.
You now have the next three minutes to exhaust yourself by running.
Run as fast as you can.
See if you can get away.
You have three minutes now.
Stop running now.
Running hasn't worked.
You now have the next three minutes to fight your shadow.
Use any method and any tactic that you want.
You can push.
You can shout.
You can swear.
You can scream.
Three minutes.
Fight.
All the way to the end.
Now.
Go.
Stop fighting now.
Running hasn't worked.
Fighting hasn't worked.
And so let's try option number three.
Let's see if you can freeze.
Freeze in every cell of your body.
For the next three minutes,
You're going to tense up your body and you're going to do everything you can to ignore this shadow through the freeze response.
The thing is,
No matter what you do,
It will still be here.
It's lurking the whole time,
But try.
You have to try.
Try and freeze.
See if you're completely still to the point where you almost stop breathing.
Hold your breath.
Close your eyes.
See if you can imagine it away.
Do not release the freeze response until I say.
But no matter what you do,
Know that this shadow is still here,
Still breathing down your neck.
Your eyes may be closed.
Your body may be tensed.
You may have stopped breathing.
Still here.
Exhaust yourself trying.
And let's see if the freeze response can really make it go away.
Just one more minute to go.
Do not stop the freeze response.
Keep your body tense and your eyes closed.
You can even repeat to yourself,
You're not real.
Go away.
You're just an illusion.
I don't believe in you.
And see if the freeze response is what will get rid of this part.
You have 60 more seconds to try.
Exhaust yourself.
Do not stop tensing and freezing.
Begin to release the tension from your body now.
Start by unravelling your hands and returning to normal breath.
Allowing the body to relax as you begin to realise that no matter how far you run,
How well you fight,
Or how deeply you freeze,
You cannot get away from yourself.
Letting go of that tension now.
Letting the body relax now.
And as the body continues to relax,
You begin to realise that you can't get away from yourself.
This part that has been haunting you,
This shadow part,
Has always been here.
It has always been here.
You haven't been able to run fast enough.
Your fighting has been to no avail.
And you can freeze,
But it doesn't change the fact that this aspect is still here,
Still very much a part of you.
And so now,
It's time to do something different.
And so with courage and bravery,
Take a breath and turn around and face this part.
Still here,
Still a part of you.
And so if fighting doesn't work,
And running doesn't work,
And freezing doesn't work,
Maybe it's time to do something differently.
Maybe it's time to go on a journey towards the embracing and the rebuilding of a relationship between you and this part.
So here you can begin to explore what it would be like to dance with this part.
You caught that?
Yeah.
Yeah,
I feel fire.
There's energy boiling around you.
Fire and dreams.
Does that make sense?
That's exactly what I wanted to tell you.
The fire could be literal fire,
But it also feels like creative fire that's connected with big changes.
Do you know what I mean when I say creative fire?
I mean that creation which is also destruction,
When things have to be destroyed so that they can make way for something new,
Like a cocoon.
Don't fight it.
What's happening has to happen.
I certainly can't make a stop.
Your.
.
.
Your death experience.
What?
Look back,
Because I feel,
I feel strongly that you crossed over and came back.
If I did,
I don't.
.
.
I don't know anything about it.
You are connected to some major energetic forces.
It runs in your family.
This goes back,
Way back in time.
And you have these dreams.
Allow the music to move you.
As you begin to explore the movement with your part,
What would it feel like to dance with your shadow?
If you weren't afraid anymore,
If you released all the ideas that you somehow needed to get away from or transcend this part,
And instead decided to see what would happen,
If you embraced this part,
In the most beautiful dance,
It could be subtle,
It can be gentle,
It can be slow.
No more fighting.
No more freezing.
You have the opportunity to unfreeze now and to explore a different type of relationship.
A relationship in which you face yourself and you no longer run.
Instead you choose to engage with yourself differently.
Why not try and dance?
Why not try and understand?
Why not try and feel?
Why not lean into this part?
Come to the realization yourself.
Of what doesn't and what does work in terms of transformation.
It's never about getting away from.
It's always about reclaiming.
Reclaiming yourself.
And so as deeply as you can,
Let yourself go now and dance.
Dance through your heart.
Dance in your mind.
Dance with this part.
As your dance comes to an end,
You now have the opportunity to either sit or stand and just wrap your arms around this part.
Just enter into a deep and loving and beautiful embrace.
There is nothing more you have to do.
You don't have to understand anything.
You don't have to figure it out.
Just hold yourself.
Just hold this part in the deepest embrace.
And from your heart to theirs,
Do whatever you have to do to mend the relationship now.
Again,
Allowing this embrace to come to an end.
Thanking this part for being a part of you.
For the gifts.
For the magic.
For the experience.
For the opportunity to learn what it means to unconditionally love and embrace yourself.
Letting this part know there is enough space for it to exist.
That you are no longer afraid of it.
You're no longer afraid to be it.
It is just another aspect of God.
Now bringing your attention to your breath.
I want you to feel this space in your heart.
Deep inside your heart.
As a spark of all creation.
Where it all begins.
And where it all ends.
The history of the entirety of creation exists in this spark.
And it's within you.
It's the birthplace of all things.
And it's the resting place of all things.
And slowly,
I want you to see this spark grow and grow and grow and grow until it's starting to fill up your body.
Filling each cell with light.
With memory.
With history.
And starting to unlock the DNA.
So that your body can remember the wisdom of the ages.
Because inside of this wisdom is the truth of who you are.
It's the knowledge of who you came here to be.
It's the understanding of love.
It's the blueprint for compassion.
And so let this spark awaken the cells of your body so that you can begin to remember who you are.
Let it happen vibrationally fast.
Let it happen in a feeling.
And let that feeling transform into an emotion.
And eventually,
That emotion will awaken your mind to the remembrance of who you truly are.
And now notice that this spark inside your heart,
Inside your body,
Is not just within the confines of this physical being,
But it's all around you.
It's filling up the room or the space that you're sitting in.
In fact,
It's going far beyond that.
Beyond the country you are living in.
Beyond the world.
Beyond all the planets.
In fact,
Your heart isn't just in the body,
But it is everywhere.
And everything is within your heart,
Including all your parts,
Even those you have termed good,
Bad,
And ugly.
It's all within you.
And therefore it's all you.
And so if you run from yourself,
You're really going nowhere because there's nowhere to run.
It also means that you don't really need to embrace yourself.
All you need to do is remember who you are.
You're already within yourself.
You are already one.
You are already one with all of creation.
When you realize this,
The result is peace.
You stop fighting because you realize you're only fighting yourself.
You stop running because you realize there's nowhere to go.
And you stop freezing because you would prefer to live.
And so bask in this realization.
Rejoice in this knowing.
And allow all that has happened to you in the last hour to sink into the cells of your body and let it transform you.
Let it awaken you.
Let it remind you of who and what you really are.
