The benevolent nature of your shadow

5 prompts to help you reconcile with your shadow self

        Your shadow is not out to get you
        It’s out to awaken and enhearten you
        It’s out to remind you of true inner peace
        No, not the fleeting sense of relief
        You often get from banishing
        your inner conflicts to your emotional attic
        I speak of the serenity that can only be claimed
        when your heart has sufficiently stretched
        to include aspects of yourself once seen as unlovable
        That peace is holy,
        For it reminds you of your wholeness.
        Reclaim it… Reclaim it…

The hidden benevolence of your shadow

When you think of your shadow, what is the first impression that comes to mind? I would imagine that it is not one of benevolence. Would you agree?

In fact the mere thought that they need to work with some shadow material, can be enough to fill some spiritual seekers with dread.

The main association we still have collectively of the shadow, is that it’s a storehouse of unresolved pain and traits that we were conditioned to see as unlovable at best. This explains the dread.

That aversion to the shadow itself is what deepens our inner fragmentation and it results into the collective divide we are noticing during these times.

With that said, it’s important to realize that there is great benevolence infused in the very existence of your shadow self.

I will share with you at the end 5 prompts that will help you deepen this knowingness.

Your shadow’s benevolence when you are in survival

When you are in survival and dealing with something you feel under-resourced to fully resolve, the benevolent voice of your shadow often sounds like:

“Let me hold it for you. Let me hold the pain and discomfort, so that you might be able to function in a world that isn't yet welcoming of your fullness.”

The pain that you didn’t know how to resolve, your emotional conflicts, the traits you’ve disowned… all these aspects are held by your shadow to help you function in an environment that is not often welcoming of your entirety.

I don’t know about you but that to me sounds like benevolence.

I find it fascinating that there is a space within you that will hold (like a devoted servant) your inner conflicts, until you mature enough to resolve them. When I the entire inner architecture that supports human’s life, it blows my mind.

The only hiccup is that the shadow was only ever meant to hold it temporarily.

Your shadow’s benevolence when you reach for deeper integration

At the moment you start reaching for deeper integration, or as soon as you grow in terms of emotional and spiritual maturity, your shadow starts demonstrating its benevolence in a slightly different way.

It attempts to remind you of what was disowned and that is ready to be reclaimed. That’s the higher purpose of every trigger or episode of reactivity. They are a deeper awakening in disguise.

That’s the reason why I often say that:

If you pray for deeper self liberation, do not be surprised if the answer is a trigger.

Your reactivity and triggers are your shadow self saying:

“Here is what needs to be met with love within yourself, so that you may be free... Come a little closer.”

When you embrace that calling openheartedly, there is a purification process that ensues.

Authentic shadow integration is a purification process

When people often get into the practice of shadow integration, especially when they are into the law of attraction and manifestation, they often fear that shadow work will get them to focus too much on the negative. They fear that it may lower their vibration.

I understand where that comes from. I lived that fear myself. It was mostly a rationalization I was telling myself to avoid the pain my body was inviting me to fully meet.

It is important to keep in mind that your repressed emotions affect your overall vibration. The pain that is unresolved within you impacts your overall vibration. The repressed anger or shame within, influences your point of attraction and what you get to create.

So doing authentic shadow work, one that is focused on creating integration and completion within yourself, and not on ruminating pain from your past, is NOT about focusing on the “negative”. It is about deepening your capacity for love. It comes from love, and the outcome is deeper capacity for love. It unifies your focus and amplifies the power of your intention because you operate from less and less inner divide.

Authentic shadow work will not lower you vibration. It purifies it and amplifies the creative potency of your intention and focus.

When we approach the work of shadow integration from a less mature perspective, we can happen to see the shadow itself as a trouble maker, or a master puppeteer that is making your life harder.

Yet when you recognize that your shadow flares are life’s attempt at inviting you back to your wholeness, it softens the resistance.

Shadow integration is not a chapter of your spiritual journey that you open and close at some point. At least not for devoted seekers. It is an integral part of your expansion in a world where duality if woven into the fabric of the human journey. It is what initiates us to the possibility of a more unified consciousness. It deepens the potency of your power.

5 prompts to help you reconcile with your shadow:

Here are 5 prompts that I hope help you reconcile with your shadow self

• When I think about my own shadow, the first impression that comes to mind is…

• The pain my shadow held for me when I was in deep survival is…

• The gifts I am reconciling with as I dive deeper into my shadow are…

• A situation that caused me to get reactive recently is…

• If that episode of reactivity was my intuition in disguise inviting me toward deeper liberation, that inner wisdom would sound like…

Please share your reflections below.

PS: I would love to hear your thoughts please share with me topics or questions you’d like me to write about in future small essays.

In gratitude,

— Xavier