Shadow Work for the Soul: Seeing Beauty in the Dark

Mary Mueller Shutan's guide to deep shadow work helps individuals reconnect with the repressed and abandoned parts of themselves, reclaim the resiliency and joy of their authentic selves, and identify and free themselves from collective shadows to promote individual and collective health.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 25 April 2024
Publisher: Inner Traditions Bear and Company

Throughout our lives, we suppress and deny the parts of our authentic selves that our families, peers, and the world have told us are wrong, unlovable, or "too much," and from this repression, our shadow is born. By the time we reach adulthood, much of our authentic self is shadow. The connection we once had to who we truly are has been severed, and we no longer feel vibrant and enthusiastic about life.

In this practical and trauma-informed guide to deep shadow work, Mary Mueller Shutan explains how to find compassion for your dark side, reconnect with the repressed and abandoned parts of yourself, and reclaim the resiliency and joy of your authentic, whole self. She reflects on the positive, protective role of the shadow and describes how it is composed not only of the trauma and darkness we have experienced but also of the light we have yet to absorb. She explains how your reactivity to specific people and situations—your "triggers"—reflects your own pain and the ways you project your shadow onto others and the outer world.

Presenting a wide variety of shadow work tools and emotional intelligence exercises, the author teaches you how to identify your shadow projections and safely and skillfully work with the difficult emotions that may arise during shadow work.

As you discover and understand more of your personal dark places, the author then introduces the concept of collective shadows that are created by society yet affect us individually, including online shadows and relationship shadows. She explains how to identify and free yourself from the projections of collective shadows to promote individual and collective health.

Offering a self-directed process for healing trauma and reclaiming the eclipsed light.

Weight: 363g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9798888500149