On amplifying your inner light

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Examining and working with our shadows can be an incredibly meaningful, powerful, and healing experience.

(Our “shadows” being the aspects of ourselves we’ve disowned, rejected, or suppressed – because, on some level, we feel they are unacceptable.)

For example, in my own life I’ve had to work with and through my Shadow of Perfectionism.

This is a shadow based on the flawed belief, “I must be perfect for others to love me.”

Based on this belief, the Shadow of Perfectionism will run on automatic patterns and behaviors, such as:

• Never feeling like we’re good enough
• Never being fully satisfied with our accomplishments – and always seeking to accomplish MORE
• Double-checking (or triple-checking!) everything we do and say to ensure we’re still being “perfect”
• Trying to be productive at all times
• Resisting rest, play, and relaxation – i.e., finding it hard to just be

So it can be really helpful to examine, for instance, where and how did my perfectionistic tendencies first develop?

How did my parents or caregivers (consciously or unconsciously) fuel my perfectionism?

What was it about my upbringing or past experiences that led a part of me to believe, “in order to be worthy, I must be perfect at all times”?

These are incisive questions we can ask, to better understand the origin, development, and root causes behind our shadows.

This is why shadow work can be so impactful, and why it can support us in becoming more evolved humans and healers.

At the same time…

I recently heard spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson say:

“Constant analysis of the darkness doesn’t necessarily lead us to the light.”

Wow.

I realized – that’s true!

Sometimes we can get OVERLY caught up in attempting to analyze every single nuance of our past, our wounds, our unhelpful or dysfunctional patterns, and even our shadows.

We must hit a delicate balance when doing this kind of self-analysis, so that we can honor everything we’ve been through, feel any unprocessed feelings from the past, and be radically honest about the aspects of ourselves that no longer serve us… WHILE simultaneously staying focused on the present, on our brilliance, our power, and what we want to actively and joyfully create now.

Otherwise, shadow work – and healing work in general – can become another tool hijacked by the ego, to serve its own agenda.

And the ego’s agenda is ALWAYS to avoid, prevent, or derail your growth and evolution – so that nothing changes, you’re not required to own anything or do the inner work, and the status quo can be maintained.

(Ego’s agenda could also be about keeping us focused on our wounds and on all the ways in which others may have failed us in the past… SO THAT we don’t have to take responsibility for what we are creating now.)

The more you can directly step into the light – YOUR light – now, many of the “shadowy” or wounded places in yourself will naturally be illuminated, and will begin to heal.

So, two good questions for today are:

• How can I soften my focus on the past, on any past wounds, or whatever isn’t serving me… and INTENSIFY my focus on turning on my inner light, as brightly as I possibly can?

• Which rituals, practices, tools, and activities support me in connecting to and amplifying my inner light? (Once you have a list of 3-5 of these – DO THEM!)

With love,
Josephine