Managing your shadow side.
Managing your shadow side. Much of what we believe, think or feel is automatic, habitual, often unidentified and undifferentiated. Feelings, beliefs and thoughts can be so automatic that we do not even notice their presence, where they come from or the impact they have on our mind and body. For years I have held tension in my neck and often get a headache from this in very stressful interpersonal situations. Carl Jung referred to this as the shadow self and we are often not conscious of our shadow’s presence. Yet it is always there, to a greater or lesser degree. I believe part of the process of growing as human beings is to learn to identify, differentiate and manage this kind of baggage or the shadow self. To some degree we do this naturally. For example, we often become aware of differences in our beliefs and thoughts to those of our parents as we grow up. Unfortunately, however, this process can seize up and stop when we come to a conclusion that we have “grown up”...
