Imagine you’re a kid. You’re loud, silly, messy, creative, bossy, emotional—fully yourself. Then the messages start: “Don’t be so loud.” “Big girls don’t cry.” “Don’t be selfish.” “You’re too much.” “Stop showing off.”

To be accepted by parents, teachers, and friends—which you desperately need as a child—you hide the parts that got negative reactions. You “put them in a bag and drag them behind you,” as poet Robert Bly beautifully describes it. That bag is your shadow.

What the bag may contain:

• The anger you weren’t allowed to express
• The creativity that was called “messy”
• The self-expression that was called “showing off”
• The sensitivity that was labeled “weak”
• The confidence that made adults uncomfortable
• The desires you were taught to feel ashamed of

Here’s what most people don’t realize: the shadow isn’t just “negative” stuff. It also holds the positive qualities you repressed—ambition, playfulness, sexuality, creativity, confidence—anything that felt unsafe to show. Psychiatrist Carl Jung, who developed the concept in the early 1900s, explained:

“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”

Translation: the more you avoid these hidden parts, the more power they have over you.

Keeping parts of yourself hidden doesn’t just create inner tension. It shapes every area of life. Tap a category.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung

1. You progressively minimize overreactions. Once you own your own desire for recognition, that confident coworker stops bothering you. You might even admire her. Projection disappears when you reclaim what you’ve disowned.

2. You discover hidden strengths. Often the “gold” in your shadow is what you need most. Your confidence, once labeled “showing off,” is still in there. Your sensitivity, once called “weakness,” is a superpower for connection and creativity. Your ambition is your life force. Abraham Maslow found creativity is a spontaneous occurrence in integrated, mentally healthy people, and Jung observed his patients naturally began painting, dancing, writing, and sculpting once shadow work began.

3. Your relationships transform. Without projecting, you see people as they are and stop attracting partners who embody your disowned qualities.

4. You make better decisions. When conscious goals and unconscious beliefs stop fighting, you can move toward what you want without sabotage.

5. You feel whole. No more splitting into “acceptable me” and “hidden me.” You’re one person: complex, contradictory, messy, human, and real.

Think of someone who triggers you, whether they irritate you or fascinate you. Then walk through the three stages at your own pace. Jot your answers in a journal or the boxes below (they aren’t saved).

Traditional talk-based shadow work is helpful, but it misses a crucial piece: your nervous system and body hold shadow material your conscious mind can’t reach through thinking alone. Trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk’s landmark book The Body Keeps the Score shows how traumatic experiences and repressed emotions are stored in the body.

When you were criticized as a child and learned to hide your authentic self, it didn’t just create a thought (“I’m too much”). It created a physical pattern:

• Tightness in the throat (from not speaking up)
• Constriction in the chest (from holding back emotions)
• Tension in the hips (where we store emotional stress)
• A nervous system stuck in “alert” mode

You can’t think your way out of these body-based patterns. You have to feel and release them.

1. Centering (2 min): Sit quietly. Notice what you’re feeling without judgment. Set an intention to meet yourself with compassion.

2. Breath awareness (3 min): Even breathing, 4-count inhale and 4-count exhale, to regulate your nervous system.

3. Gentle movement (5 min): Move slowly through Cat-Cow, feeling where you hold tension. Breathe into those areas.

4. Shadow-releasing pose (3 min): Choose one: Pigeon for grief or old pain, Child’s Pose for safety and nurturing, or Warrior II for power and boundaries.

5. Integration (2 min): Lie in Savasana. Notice what surfaced. No need to analyze, just witness.

After practice, journal about any emotions, memories, or insights that arose.

You’ve heard of “becoming whole” or “integration.” Here’s what it looks like day to day. Tap to compare.

Wholeness means reclaiming all of yourself—the messy, powerful, vulnerable, and creative parts—and expressing them in healthy ways. You’re not trying to be perfect. You’re returning home to your essence, your True Nature, with the added compassion gained from your unique life lessons.

Your shadow = parts of yourself you learned to hide in childhood, both “negative” and “positive.”

It controls you through projection (seeing your issues in others), overreactions (present trigger, past wound), and self-sabotage (unconscious beliefs blocking conscious goals).

Shadow work = making the unconscious conscious so it stops running your life.

Starting points: notice who triggers you (they’re mirrors); track patterns; journal “I want / I don’t want”; express repressed qualities in small ways; use yoga to release what’s stored in the body; get guidance if you need it.

The goal isn’t perfection but integration. The reward: less self-sabotage, better relationships, access to your full potential, and feeling like yourself.

Shadow work is an ongoing practice, not a one-time fix. Every moment you notice a projection, journal a trigger, or let yourself feel what you’ve avoided on the mat brings you closer to wholeness. This week, pick ONE practice:

• Notice one person who triggers you and journal: “What quality in them am I judging?”
• Do the “I want / I don’t want” exercise for one goal
• Attend an INDA Yoga class and notice what emotions surface
• Write about one message you got as a child about being “too much” or “not enough”

Your shadow isn’t your enemy. It’s the lost parts of yourself, waiting to come home. As Jung reminds us:

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

The darkness isn’t as dark as you think. On the other side of facing it, your full, authentic life is waiting.

Shadow work can bring up intense emotions and old trauma. Guided self-practice and coaching can be highly beneficial, but some situations require other experts.

Seek help from a mental health professional if:

• You’re experiencing panic attacks, or severe anxiety or depression
• You’re having thoughts of self-harm
• Shadow work is not working

Approaches that combine well with INDA Yoga:

• Jungian therapy or depth psychology
• Somatic Experiencing (trauma-focused body work)
• EMDR (for processing traumatic memories)
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy
• Trauma-sensitive yoga therapy

Coaching and guided inner work are for personal growth, purpose, direction, life goals, encouragement, and accountability. INDA Yoga’s approach also helps you dismantle limiting beliefs, master energy and time management, navigate career transitions, improve relationship dynamics, and break self-defeating habits. For deep trauma, work with a mental health expert.