60 Beginner Shadow Work Prompts
Beginner shadow work prompts for those starting their mental healing process!
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*Trigger Warning: The contents of this post can be triggering to some people going through a hard time. Know that I am here to share my stories with my audience and in no way mean to upset anyone. If you are struggling, don’t ever hesitate to reach out to someone for help.*
*UPDATE*
Happy New Year Cozy Urbanites!
What a year it’s been. I’m not gonna lie, 2022 was rough and extremely stressful (emphasis on FULL), and as we move into 2023, it’s important that we all take a moment to reflect on all the moments that came out of the previous year. Maybe you lost someone important to you, maybe you got engaged or married – had a baby! Whatever it is you went through, take a second to step back and give yourself a pat on the back.
I haven’t done a great job at keeping up with this blog in the last 6 months so I’m going to try my best to try again and see where it takes me. I figured updating this post would be the most appropriate place to start since the holiday season can be a bit emotional for some people. So, if you’re looking to do some post-holiday reflection, keep on reading!
Have you ever felt sad, depressed, upset, angry, resentful, jealous, scared and/or just downright miserable? The kind of shitty feeling that makes your stomach feel like it’s in a knot, or makes your heart feel like it’s in your throat?
If you answered yes to any (or all) of these, let me tell you that you’re not alone! All of us are gonna get REAL personal today.
Where It Started
I’m gonna be honest with you guys, I always feel bitter-sweet thinking about my childhood. I have some good memories, but thinking back, I constantly found myself living in a state of ‘fight or flight’. An anxious mess (still am and working on it) because my parents argued all the time, and a slew of other reasons that we don’t have time to get into, I had to be a parent to myself and sometimes to my parents (ok often), and that was hard!
When they got separated, it all went downhill. My mother and I moved to Montreal with her then partner; making me feel very isolated in my new surroundings. Our relationship isn’t great and virtually non-existent at this point, which is better for my mental wellbeing anyways.
I’ve always been a bit of a daddy’s girl, so living in a different city away from him was far from the ideal scenario.
Adulthood…
Fast forward 9 years, I’m graduating high school – miserable as ever. Feeling like there’s no end in sight. This was my life now. Persistent suicidal thoughts, debilitating anxiety, a cloud of depression and not a care in the world about it getting any better.
At ages 19-20, I was coming up on my lowest of lows. Questionable decisions and not caring about my schoolwork; I was bitter and resentful towards almost everything and everyone. Rock bottom.
I was waging a war on two fronts. It was one part of me vs. the other. My brain constantly felt full and foggy, and it took one hell of a toll on me – physically, emotionally, you name it. Numbness was the default.
Good days were becoming increasingly more overwhelming. Moments of happiness would send me into a panic attack because I wasn’t used to feeling happy anymore. Feeling sad was so much easier. It was comfortable. My brain was at its calmest when I felt down.
Rock Bottom
Skip to 21, my breaking point. What changed? What happened?
The truth is, I just got fed up. I had reached my mental cap and I didn’t have any more mental real estate. My anxiety had increased tenfold. I no longer felt “calm” when sad.
I was anxious when happy, anxious when angry, I was just anxious!
All. The. Time.
I had no other choice but to go up. After all, that was the only direction I could go, right? It’s corny, I know, but hear me out ok?
I started counting my good days and how long I could go. My longest streak for the first while was maybe 3 days tops. Not gonna lie, it was rough but I eventually got there.
Turning It Around
I’m 26 now and still working on how to cope with some of my triggers, setting boundaries, being kinder to myself (this is the hardest one), and the list goes on and on and on. Revisiting the past is never easy, and trying to better understand our inner selves is even less so.
There are so many resources out there to help you through whatever it is you’re going through and if you chose this blog post as one of them, welcome and congratulations. You’ve decided to not let your dark side win, and as someone who’s been there, I’m proud of you. You might not be ready to say it to yourself (I 100% struggle with this still every single day), but you’ll get there with time.
The Eight Archetypes of Your Shadow
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded the concept of analytic psychology. He was the creator of what we know today as the introverted and extraverted personality types. He is also the father of, you guessed it, the idea that we have an inner shadow.
Your shadow is actually part of the collective unconscious (a collective of eight archetypes). A post written by Maggie Wooll on BetterUp describes these archetypes best:
- Self | The center of the personality or psyche – your conscious awareness
- Shadow | The dark and emotional aspect of your psyche
- Anima | Image of an idealized woman that draws people into their feminine side
- Animus | A part of you that has the capacity for reflection and self-knowledge
- Hero | A Part of your psyche that can overcome evil and destruction
- Wise Old Man | A personification of the self that contains your wisdom
- Trickster | A childish part of your psyche that needs gratification
After having read the definition of the shadow, you might have thought: “Ew. No thanks. I’ll keep suppressing that and keep it all the way down”. Listen, I get it, I really do, but don’t do it! It’s a trap! Integrating your shadow into your daily life is critical.
When I first started my mental healing journey, I tried to suppress my depressive thoughts and tried so hard to ignore the bad things because I thought that maybe it would be easier to have happy thoughts. The more I did that, the worse I felt.
There were many times I’d questioned whether I’d ever get out of it. But I had spent the majority of my life feeling that way, so how could I expect myself to just flip a switch?
The reality was, I couldn’t. Ignoring your shadow can lead to a plethora of other issues that you may not have thought were related.
What Happens When You Push Your Shadow Away?
In the same article, Maggie notes eight issues that can arise from pushing your shadow away:
- Self-loathing or poor self-esteem
- Self-deceit or deceiving others
- Anxiety and depression
- Offensive behaviour toward others
- Struggling to have healthy relationships with others
- Self-sabotage
- Self-absorption
- An inflated ego
She goes on to say that rejecting your shadow can lead you to start projecting onto others. “Projection happens when you see things in others that you subconsciously recognize within yourself.” Does any of this sound familiar?
This leads us to the big question of the day.
What Is Shadow Work?
It’s essentially exploring your unconscious mind to find the parts of yourself that you either repress or don’t realize are there. These things can include anxieties, traumas, personality traits, and other things you might subconsciously find undesirable about yourself.
I like to think that your shadow CAN be a positive one. The reason is because if you’re used to saying awful things about yourself, well the “suppressed” or “unknown” thoughts are positive ones. Doing shadow work can, with time and effort, help bring out those good thoughts.
Everyone and anyone can do shadow work. But full disclaimer, it can be hard and there can be many bitter pills to swallow. There are no guarantees in life, and shadow work might not work for you immediately. Especially if you’ve already gone through a lot. If you don’t feel ready to take on this kind of task yourself, seek help from a professional and they’ll be able to guide you through your journey to self improvement.
Whether it be through thoughts, or journaling, shadow work can help you find inner peace and help you work through the parts of yourself that you’ve suppressed throughout your life.
Instead of hating your shadow, try befriending it. It’ll help you tap into your true authenticity, and you’ll find yourself having more clarity while navigating your day-to-day.
Beginner Shadow Work Prompts
In light of all this, I’ve put together 60 beginner shadow work prompts that will start you on your new (or not so new) journey. Some of these prompts will be easy, and some of them will be difficult.
Do not, under any circumstance, feel obligated to do them in order. Pick which everyone you feel is most relevant to how you’re feeling on a given day. You could pick numbers out of a bowl or even just typing “random number generator” into google.
Remember that this journey is yours and no one else’s. Take the time you need to heal properly. Be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself and be equally as empathetic towards your shadow. Because remember…
This might be the first time it ever stepped out into the light.
xo
What your own shadow work journal? We’ve got you covered!
We’re put together this beautiful 128-page shadow work journal with all 60 prompts and lined pages to match. Visit our Amazon Store to grab your very own copy!
