In order to be in our light we must be willing to dance with our darkness

It's not all rainbows and unicorns people. Anyone promising you otherwise is lying.

Social media has created an unrealistic image of perfection, of what growth and healing looks like.

Manifestation teachers and courses tell you that the reason your life isn't what you want is because you're not thinking positive thoughts. And, well, if you are, then you're not doing it good enough.

Spiritual bypassing has become the promise of a better life. Ignore the things in your life that are negative, just be the bigger person, be the more 'spiritual' person.....ugh, vomit.

These are phrases I hear that make me cringe. Yes, we want to operate out of love and in that sense we want to be the bigger person, but not at the extent of compromising ourselves, our beliefs or our boundaries.

We are told and shown that 'light and love' is where it's at. And I couldn't agree more, but you can not authentically and fully be in that space until you've done the necessary shadow work.

Our shadow side, is the part of us that we believe is unlovable. It's the part of us that we shove down and hide only to have it burst out and project on others or internally tear ourselves down at the most inconvenient moments. It's the part of us that says we are not worthy of love, success, happiness, security, wealth, or any flavor of 'you're not worthy'. It is not 'light and love' if our shadow is still lurking and waiting for it's opportune moment to do it's song and dance.

So here is a little secret....our shadow wants exactly what our Higher Self wants it just has an effed up way of showing it. The shadow and Higher Self are two sides of the same coin. Once we understand that, sitting with our shadow is so much easier.

The reason that sitting with our shadow is so important to personal growth is that until we can love the wholeness of who we are we are only living from a partial truth of who we are. Partial truths keep us limited in who we are and how we show up in the world.

Our shadow has valuable information to how we keep our self safe, how we act to make sure we are liked and loved by others. Shadow tells us that our safety is dependent on others. Higher Self tells us that our safety is dependent on ourselves. They are both seeking safety, they just tell us it comes from different places.

Shadow is truly where we grow spiritually. Our Higher Self knows that everything is perfect. It would be great to be there, but there is no growth that needs to happen there. I don't know about you, but I have no plans of operating like the Dalai Lama in this lifetime, so shadow work it is.

The other piece of shadow work I see in the land of social media is that it has to be hard and ugly and soul crushing to be effective. If it's not hard, you're not doing it right. Shadow work isn't always easy, but can be done with ease. It can be fun and inspiring. It can foster a self of sense of self-empowerment. Especially when you have the right internal support in place first.

We approach shadow work, only when you have your light in place. You wouldn't go into a dark, uncharted forest without a light source and a plan.....why would you do shadow work any differently?

We work to build a foundation of your light, build you internal resources before we dive into the shadow work. This gives you a huge advantage to work with your shadow with more ease and confidence.

Using a combination of Emergent Coaching and Somatic Journeywork we can build your tool box and welcome your shadow's messages in with love and curiosity rather than self admonishment and fear.

The path to healing and wholeness is through our shadow, but it can be done with a sense of ease and confidence when we have the right support and tools in place.