Shadow Work.
Shadow work is the proccess of transmuting ones suppressed aspects of ones self. Unconscious habits or some buried thought patterns inside it.
When someone is not getting their shadow integrated they tend to be naive and is not their whole self anymore, thus, not being the best version of themselves.
Integration of the shadow could be a dangerous process. What’s even more dangerous is having an unintegrated shadow. This is a lifetime process and should be studied carefully. There’s no going back after you’ve started it.
Fundamentals of Integrating the Shadow Self
The first and most important step is admitting that you have a shadow self: stop being unreal and all fluffy living inside a rainbow and admit that there’s a dark part of yourself that needs to be balanced with your light self (lets assume).
To proceed, the next step is to look for triggers: anything that triggers negative emotions or makes you feel uncomfortable. This could be anything and it could be thoughts and actions of your own, or someone elses. Look for similarities and start connecting the dots.
Then, you need to ask yourself questions: why am I responding this way? and where has this way came from? this is to know the root cause of that thought pattern, and it is very powerful and necessary in order to move into the next step.
Last but not least, Be the destroyer and the healer: Take the limiting beliefs and start asking: what is this belief causing me? is it serving me or not? then destroy it. Destroying a belief has multiple ways, but for me the most powerful way is to say: I reject that thought. you could say it out loud (and it’s more powerful) or you could say it in your head. Be attentive and creative about it.
