 With 1.9 billion views on TikTok, there's a new mental health trend on the block: Shadow Work. Whether we like it or not, we all have a so-called 'Shadow Self': a shadow-like aura that might seem hidden, often the result of years' worth of suppression, but can unravel as time goes on. And not always in a healthy way. What is the 'Shadow Self'? The term 'Shadow Self' was coined by psychiatrist Carl Jung, and denotes elements about ourselves that we repress or refuse to acknowledge. In his view, this 'self' is like an alter-ego or an alternative personality to present to other people that often doesn't represent who we truly are inside. What is Shadow Work? 'Shadow Work is when we intentionally uncover and reclaim suppressed parts of ourselves that we have suppressed as a result of either trauma and or because we were taught that these parts were undesirable and we would not be able to receive love, connection, safety and security if we were to actually show these parts of ourselves,' Dana Dozzyy, a coach who specialises in the nervous system, explains. As a child, Dozzyy had been shamed for preferring to read in certain social situations, detailing an experience in which she was shamed for choosing her book over playing with the other children at the beach. 'What my nervous system learned was that I should feel shameful, embarrassed and weird about the fact that going to the beach, I wanted to read my book and not do the same things as the other kids. This was something undesirable and weird about me', she adds. 'I would start to suppress those parts of myself. In social situations where previously maybe I brought my book, I would force myself to either not bring my book or try and force myself to participate in things that I didn't want to do.' How can Shadow Work benefit mental health and wellbeing? 'When we're talking about deeply traumatic experiences or chronic exposure to people shaming you, this Shadow Sel){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
With 1.9 billion views on TikTok, there’s a new mental health trend on the block: Shadow Work.
Whether we like it or not, we all have a so-called ‘Shadow Self’: a shadow-like aura that might seem hidden, often the result of years’ worth of suppression, but can unravel as time goes on. And not always in a healthy way.
The term ‘Shadow Self’ was coined by psychiatrist Carl Jung, and denotes elements about ourselves that we repress or refuse to acknowledge.
In his view, this ‘self’ is like an alter-ego or an alternative personality to present to other people that often doesn’t represent who we truly are inside.