With shadows, the idea is clear:
You are a way more powerful incarnated human being when you know what you are made off!
Someone who has no idea about their darkest impulses is way more dangerous to society and others than someone who explored and mastered their shadows.
The first step is to look inside and identify your shadow aspects.
This by itself is an ongoing exploration.
You simply bring awareness and presence in the areas in your life where you perceive shadows.
The second step is to identify the best way to relate to these shadows.
With every shadow, you identify if:
- You want to embrace it?
- Use it?
- Transform it?
- Transmute it?
- Etc
Do you run away? Deny it?
Or do you consciously look at it and play with it?
Denial will usually create an inner split.
That's something you want to avoid because you create an inner conflict that might consume a lot of your energy by creating friction and tension .
So back to relating to your shadows...
You must identify the mind sets, emotional responses connected with the exposure to that shadow.
For instance if you see yourself systematically triggering fights with your partner, you can choose to:
- Go wild and start fights whenever you want. This means that even with awareness of that shadow, you consciously decide not to block or influence its flow. This is a conscious decision to stay real and true to whatever is alive in you.
- Accept fights when they happen
- Transmute your excess of aggressive energy through a gym workout
- Go to therapy to understand why you want to fight with your partner
- Fight with a friend instead
- Transmute this energy excess through wild sex
- Hit pillows
- Take a cold shower
- Play with conscious Vital Fights (More about that on my site)
- Etc
The difference between checking your shadows or denying them is that by choosing awareness you have now more power, presence and tools to master shadow dynamics.
Instead of shadows being this dark place you don't dare to look at, they become clear and exposed.
It takes some courage to do this.
Most people will be in a state of denial when it comes to their shadows.
You might tend to expose other people's shadows, critize or blame them rather than seeing and accepting your own shadow patterns.
You might feel your shadows but deny them or refuse to have a deep look at them.
So, stage 1 is awareness! Just looking at your shadows!
Stage 2 is shadow tactics! How you consciously decide to respond to shadows.
Stage 3 is action! This is where you head to shadow mastery through repeated exposure and skillful energetic response to given shadows!
You can have awareness of your shadows, understanding of possible responses and still be totally enslaved by these shadows.
It's a bit like surfing a big wave.
You see the wave, you have awareness of it.
You know the moves you are supposed to perform.
And still, when the wave approaches, you might be completely useless at navigating it.
Mastery takes practice, emotional, energetic, mental and physical intelligence.
With shadow waves, mastery means a high degree of emotional or energetic intelligence.
Energetic intelligence is your ability to play with energies and master them.
Right now, we are checking your own shadows.
Of course you can apply the same tactics when shadows are coming from those around you.
For instance, how do you respond to a lover's jealousy, insecurity or triggers.
This is another set of situations but the idea is is similar:
- AWARENESS
- TACTICS
- ACTION