This meditation guides you deeper into cultivating a relationship with the facets of your wholeness that have been kept hidden in the dark.
We all have shadows within us.
In the shadow are the disowned parts of ourself that have either never had the chance to be cultivated or have been hidden in the dark and disowned at a very young age.
As we get older,
Cultivating a greater awareness of what gifts lay in the shadow helps us to move beyond any blocks we experience as we grow in our personal and professional lives and take on new challenges.
Understand that shadow work is powerful and shadow work can feel unsettling at times.
There are golden shadows,
Which are disowned positive attributes of ourselves that we project onto others.
And then there are dark shadows,
Which are negative attributes of ourselves that we'd never admit out loud to others out of fear that they would reject us or even worse,
Call us crazy.
So it may be best to listen to this meditation once or twice before taking part in this practice.
The gateway to our shadow is through our emotional reactions.
So before beginning this meditation,
Choose a moment in your life where you experienced a strong emotional reaction.
It could be a positive emotion like joy,
Or it could be a negative emotion like feeling anger.
Choose only one moment where you experienced an emotional reaction.
Then you're ready to begin.
Imagine standing in a field as you look out along the horizon.
In this moment,
Invite in a powerful emotional reaction you've experienced recently.
First,
Take a few deep breaths here and notice where in your body you feel this emotion.
Take a moment and send a breath or two to this area in your body.
Focus in,
Notice the sensations within your body.
If it feels okay for you to do so,
Go ahead and place your right hand over your heart and your left hand on your stomach.
As you breathe here,
Noticing the body,
Feeling the fullness of this emotion.
And then look out into the horizon.
Imagine sending this emotion like a sound wave out into the distance.
Notice it ripple out from you as it moves out into the distance.
Then imagine calling out into the horizon,
Inviting whatever wisdom to come forth.
Breathing deep and steady here,
You begin to see something take shape in the distance.
This could be a shape,
An object,
Or a being.
All of this is okay.
If it feels safe,
Go ahead and invite this energy closer.
Watch it move toward you.
Eventually,
You see this figure move closer to you,
So close that it is just beyond your physical reach.
Go ahead and directly face the figure.
Stand face to face.
What do you notice about its appearance?
What else do you notice about it?
Take your time here and take in as much as you can in the moment.
Speaking directly to the figure,
Complete the following sentences aloud.
You make me feel.
You remind me of.
I want you to know.
And speaking from the heart,
Go ahead and share anything else that arises.
Allow your words to pour out of you like water emerging from an earthen spring.
On the count of three,
You'll now go ahead and switch places with the figure to gain wisdom from this embodied perspective.
One,
Two,
Three.
Deep inhale now.
Go ahead and switch places,
Becoming the figure,
Looking at yourself.
First,
Allow your body to move here for a few moments in any way that feels natural.
This could be jumping up and down,
Shaking,
Or a slight roll in the neck or the shoulders even.
Now take a good look at yourself in front of you.
Stand face to face.
When taking this perspective as the figure,
What do you notice about your appearance?
What else do you notice?
Take your time here and take in as much as you can in this moment.
Now speaking directly to yourself as the figure,
Complete the following sentences aloud.
What I notice about you is.
I want you to know.
I can help guide you to.
And speaking from the heart,
Go ahead and share anything else that arises.
Allow your words to pour out of you like water emerging from an earthen spring.
And on the count of three,
You'll go ahead and switch places to take one additional perspective,
Standing from a bird's eye perspective to witness the figure and you face each other.
One,
Two,
Three.
Deep inhale now.
Go ahead and switch places.
See both yourself and the figure face each other.
And from this bird's eye perspective,
What do you notice about this relationship?
How can the figure be helpful in your life?
What wisdom is there to learn here?
What small step can you take to implement this wisdom?
And now on the count of three,
You'll switch places to once again,
Take the place of yourself.
One,
Two,
Three.
Go ahead now,
Take a deep inhale.
And once again,
Become yourself facing the figure.
Go ahead and thank the figure for appearing and watch it as it walks back into the distance,
Sending it back into the distance,
Into the vastness of the horizon.
Placing your right hand on your heart and your left hand on your stomach,
Take a deep belly breath here.
Then complete the following phrases out loud.
This figure reminds me of what I learned about myself today is.
I believe this can help me too.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and open up your eyes.
Remember that shadow work gives us the ability to cultivate our greatest gifts from deep within.
Sometimes the lessons emerge like a lightning strike.
Other times the lessons emerge like a gentle stream that leads to a roaring river.
As you continue on with your day,
You may notice an increase in sensitivity.
That is entirely normal.
As your inner world is learning to reorient itself,
This often is a sign to take a deep breath and breathe your heart a bit bigger.
Consider this,
You hold within you the keys to the doors you seek.
Yet the way through is by diving in.
The way through is by diving in.
