shadow work x human design
I define "shadow work" as a practice of self-examination anchored in the core values of curiosity, compassion, and creation.
When we engage in shadow work, we bring into the light the "darkest" parts of ourselves, the parts we might prefer to keep hidden away. These dark parts, these unconscious behaviors and conditioned mindsets, are often rooted in fear, hurt, and anger, and trap us in patterns of self-sabotage and self-abandonment.
When we engage in a shadow work practice, by choosing to bring our attention and awareness to all of the conditioning and programming we've taken on over the course of our lives, we begin to strip those patterns of their power, and make room for more peace, more joy, and more genuine connection.
To choose to identify and integrate the shadow is an act of radical ownership and deep self-love.
To quote Debbie Ford: "The future we deeply desire can only be ours if we are willing to complete the pain of our past. It is only by not just accepting but embracing the past that we are delivered a future unlike the past we have lived."
In short, if we want things to be different, we have to be willing to do differently, and shadow work illuminates where we need to make the shifts that count.
Two of the core purposes of Human Design are intentional de-conditioning and empowered experimentation.
Our charts provide us not only with a guide to how we're wired, but a map directing us toward the highest, most-aligned expression of our energy...if we only choose to engage with it.
Active contemplation of not only how we're wired but our conditioning around this wiring leads us to purposeful experimentation around how we walk through the world.
A Human Design-informed self-reflective practice is powerful, life-changing shadow work.
Inside our Human Design chart lies an abundance of information about:
patterns we perpetuate and cycles we are meant to complete.
where we are likely to self-sabotage and self-abandon.
where we need to set healthy boundaries, and where we need to work on vulnerability and openness.
1) shadow work switches off autopilot
When we bring our awareness to not only the patterns we habitually engage in but the conditioning that informs these patterns, it's something we can't unsee. This awareness can make it almost impossible to continue to walk through the world in a disengaged state and serves as a catalyst for change.
2) shadow work deepens empathy
By digging into the unconscious conditioning that informs our default patterns and behaviors, our curiosity about and compassion for the unconscious sources of the patterns of others expands.
3) shadow work gives us the gift of our entire selves
As Debbie Ford so eloquently writes, "it is your birthright to live a fully expressed life." We deserve to experience all of the parts of us that are human as well as all of the parts of us that are divine. Shadow work is the pathway to access ALL OF YOU.
Do you currently have a shadow work practice? What benefits have you seen emerge from this work? And what questions do you have about shadow work? Let me know in the comments!
If you're interested in creating your own Human Design-informed shadow work practice, join the catalyst | fire community! It's our focus for October & November.