What Exactly Is 'Shadow Work'?

If you have been seeing this phrase everywhere, you are not alone.

- Gabriela Herstik

Shadow work is in this season, but S guess what-it never left! If you have been seeing this phrase all over your Instagram feed or weekly horoscopes but you don't know quite what it means, we are here to help. Shadow work is the magical tool that every esoteric person needs in their practice. Here is the rundown on what exactly shadow work is, why you absolutely must try it, and how to get started with it.

So, What is Shadow Work?

Shadow work is introspection made spiritual. It is a method of uncovering what Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called the shadow, or the unknown dark side of the personality. Your shadow is the part of yourself you reject or disown, either consciously or not. It is like realising that the one person who annoys you most in the world...is actually yourself!

One of the ways your shadow self shows up is when you project your insecurities onto others and then see these as deficiencies in someone else. Like, if you are annoyed by your co-worker who always vents to you about their roomie drama and never asks you any questions about your own life, maybe you are subconsciously aware that a tad self-centered yourself.

How Do I Do Shadow Work?

A big part of shadow work is owning your shadow self, whether that is through ritual, journalling, tarot, meditation, hypnotherapy, talking to a therapist, or a combination of all the above. Your shadow may be the judgmental part of yourself or the really insecure part of yourself or the part of yourself that just will not shut up. However it presents, it is the part of yourself you really wish was not there.