I sit and try to write, the a voice in my head, my shadow, keeps stopping me. The voice of the shadow tells me it’s hard work, and wonders if anyone will read series. It tries to stop me from doing what I know will be good for me, because I’m afraid. The anxiety begins, my shoulders and back tighten, I can’t think straight. And the writing grinds to a halt.
It’s amazing how the voice of the internal self can be so paralyzing at times. For me it is a daily struggle to continue to focus on the things I can change, rather focus on the things I cannot. The voice can be overwhelming at times, that I should do more, be more, should have made a right turn at restaurant at the end of the Universe, what ever the excuse it can think up for things being they way they are and things be a direct result of something I did. This is the voice of the shadow. It is something that each of us has.
If left to it’s own devices the shadow can lead to depression, feelings of helplessness, giving into fear and doubt. How do you stop the struggle and anxiety the shadow brings?
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I believe that every type of voice we have within us is not necessarily a positive or negative. Rather, I think, that each voice is neutral and it is our value judgment at the time which leads us to follow one perspective or another. We all fear things, we all have jealousy and doubt. But each perspective and voice can carry a message that is not meant to be taken in a negative fashion. If we, instead of dwelling on fear, listen to what that fear is telling us and prepare ourselves against things which we fear might happen (within reason) we do not need to relegate any thought and feeling into the realms of the Shadow. We cannot deny these voices, they speak an internal truth. If we try to suppress these thoughts and the feelings that accompany them, they take on mythic proportions within our psyche because we have not addressed them. We push these types of thoughts and voices away from our center of being and conscious mind by allowing them the benefit of doubt that they are inherently harmful to us. By why do we do this? Why do we allow these thoughts, feelings, and voices to go unchecked.
Thoughts cannot be inherently harmful. It is when thoughts are paired with feelings that we can experience internal pain. This pairing of thought and feeling is not random or predetermined, but based on our experiences. When trying to determine the message our internal voices are trying to get through,we need to take stock of both the voice and the feeling attached to it. We can do this figuratively, through journey and trance work, or we can use more conscious psychological methods, like word association and therapy. What matters is that we begin to understand which voice(s) is our shadow speaking. Generally speaking we know a shadow voice when it contains one or more of the following characteristics:
- Makes the situation or feeling you are currently in seem very dire, with no or little alternatives.
- Thoughts and feelings cannot resolves themselves, and can be cyclical or triggered by an event or situation.
- Thoughts or feelings which seem to provide information you do not really know, such as the thoughts and feelings of others, “what if” scenarios, any thoughts that are focused on things or feelings not based in the present moment.
When we are having these types of thoughts, these shadow based thoughts, we should try and remember that they will never offer a solution to our problems. Instead they are clues to what the problem really is. First we need to know what type of emotion or feeling the shadow thoughts are addressing. At first we don’t need to be specific about the details, we just need to know generally what
we are experiencing. Each feeling is associated with a wish or
want for yourself.
- Anger-I want justice or equality
- Jealousy- I want this in my life (usually not a person or thing, but rather a quality or characteristic).
- Frustration-I want to know how this works.
- Embarrassed-I need validation.
- Trapped/powerless-I need to learn how to control my life.
- Lonely-I need to learn how to relate to others or I need to begin to trust others.
- Scared-I need a more solid foundation in life or I need to be empowered to stand up for myself or I need to work my personal boundaries and defenses.
These are, of course, generalizations and there are of course other feelings to be had. These are listed for example only. But by turning the emotion or feeling around into a statement of need or desire, we can begin to build a plan on how to fulfill that need or desire. We begin to take the shadow forms and turn them into something real and solid and something that will give us a holistic solution to our perceived problems. Like a child having a tantrum, sometimes if we ask the right questions or do the right things we can calm that shadow voice into something helpful.
It is my opinion that we all must examine our life and feelings at some point, though admittedly I think of it more as a daily devotion. This is not process that is easy or one that will keep from having any negative feelings. But the more look closely at the messages behind our feelings, the more we can begin to address our real needs and desires instead of denying them. This is an internal learning process and not one where we can easily compare results from one to the next. Each person has their own specific needs and desires, their own specific DNA sequence, their own specific frequency of energy body. Keep our needs and desires in shadow keeps us from obtaining the things we need or desire for ourselves. Our shadowed thoughts and feelings are destined to become physical reality in one way or another. We have the choice to allow them to fester in our subconscious gaining destructive momentum or we can embrace the message our thoughts and feelings are trying to express and make positive progress toward manifesting our needs and desires.
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[level-current-students]
Thoughts cannot be inherently harmful. It is when thoughts are paired with feelings that we can experience internal pain. This pairing of thought and feeling is not random or predetermined, but based on our experiences. When trying to determine the message our internal voices are trying to get through,we need to take stock of both the voice and the feeling attached to it. We can do this figuratively, through journey and trance work, or we can use more conscious psychological methods, like word association and therapy. What matters is that we begin to understand which voice(s) is our shadow speaking. Generally speaking we know a shadow voice when it contains one or more of the following characteristics:
- Makes the situation or feeling you are currently in seem very dire, with no or little alternatives.
- Thoughts and feelings cannot resolves themselves, and can be cyclical or triggered by an event or situation.
- Thoughts or feelings which seem to provide information you do not really know, such as the thoughts and feelings of others, “what if” scenarios, any thoughts that are focused on things or feelings not based in the present moment.
When we are having these types of thoughts, these shadow based thoughts, we should try and remember that they will never offer a solution to our problems. Instead they are clues to what the problem really is. First we need to know what type of emotion or feeling the shadow thoughts are addressing. At first we don’t need to be specific about the details, we just need to know generally what
we are experiencing. Each feeling is associated with a wish or
want for yourself.
- Anger-I want justice or equality
- Jealousy- I want this in my life (usually not a person or thing, but rather a quality or characteristic).
- Frustration-I want to know how this works.
- Embarrassed-I need validation.
- Trapped/powerless-I need to learn how to control my life.
- Lonely-I need to learn how to relate to others or I need to begin to trust others.
- Scared-I need a more solid foundation in life or I need to be empowered to stand up for myself or I need to work my personal boundaries and defenses.
These are, of course, generalizations and there are of course other feelings to be had. These are listed for example only. But by turning the emotion or feeling around into a statement of need or desire, we can begin to build a plan on how to fulfill that need or desire. We begin to take the shadow forms and turn them into something real and solid and something that will give us a holistic solution to our perceived problems. Like a child having a tantrum, sometimes if we ask the right questions or do the right things we can calm that shadow voice into something helpful.
It is my opinion that we all must examine our life and feelings at some point, though admittedly I think of it more as a daily devotion. This is not process that is easy or one that will keep from having any negative feelings. But the more look closely at the messages behind our feelings, the more we can begin to address our real needs and desires instead of denying them. This is an internal learning process and not one where we can easily compare results from one to the next. Each person has their own specific needs and desires, their own specific DNA sequence, their own specific frequency of energy body. Keep our needs and desires in shadow keeps us from obtaining the things we need or desire for ourselves. Our shadowed thoughts and feelings are destined to become physical reality in one way or another. We have the choice to allow them to fester in our subconscious gaining destructive momentum or we can embrace the message our thoughts and feelings are trying to express and make positive progress toward manifesting our needs and desires.
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