This is the last post in the series, and it would be irresponsible not to stick a warning label on Shadow Work. If you’ve read the series on why to do it, how to do it and how to integrate, that’s great. Now comes the part where you really think about whether or not you want to do it.

Sometimes things we do to move forward on our spiritual journey are small steps, superficial. The “you can’t get it wrong stuff.” From my experience, most of it is like that, but then you have profound and life-changing things. Shadow work is one of them.

It’s not a process to take lightly. You are facing yourself with no makeup and no filter. There is nowhere to hide when you do this, although I know people try to dodge truths about themselves and then have the nerve to wonder why it didn’t have as profound an effect as they expected. If you want life-changing, you must be willing to dig as deeply as necessary to facilitate it.

For some, though, serious issues are associated with the things they’re trying to change. For example, they can’t meditate because their shadow self is afraid it might see images from a traumatic childhood. They might want to take an energy healing class, but they hesitate because the shadow self sees it as witchcraft due to their rigorous religious upbringing.

Often when these situations come up, people dismiss them as being due to other things, such as being too busy. It’s really a belief holding them back. One they would have never found unless they were doing shadow work. However, in finding it during the shadow work process, conflicting emotions and confusing thoughts can come with it. Support from a person you trust can be helpful here.

This is not something you can do in a day. Well, I take that back, you might be able to do some things in a day, but if you’ve chosen to work on something substantial that you’ve had for a long time, a day isn’t going to cut it. You could unearth something you thought you already dealt with, like grief, regret, or forgiveness. Things you might not be ready to face, and that’s okay. You’re in charge. You get to say what you’re ready for and when you can take it on. It doesn’t have to be today, tomorrow, or the next day. Only know that if it’s coming up during shadow work, it will come up again. If you want to progress, you will have to find a way to come to terms with it.

Whether or not you choose to face something is your choice. Whatever you achieve and accomplish and whatever consequences you face are yours alone. No one is going to know except you, and no one is going to judge you. Some of us have lived through very traumatic and painful things. If you need to close the door on it and try to find another way to achieve what you’re looking to do, then do it.

There are many ways to get where you’re going. Think of shadow work as being the highway to get somewhere, but if there is a roadblock on the highway, you can take the main roads or the back roads to get there. It may take you longer, but there might also be some great scenery on the way. Whatever happens, you get to decide.

Along with that decision-making, you get to do, make sure you really know your shadow self before you attempt integration. Here’s a story for you to remember. I met a client at a psychic fair. She came to me after discovering that I specialize in removing negative energy and entities from people, places, and things. I thought she was going to tell me that she was having nightmares, as that is what I usually hear from people as a symptom of what they believe might be negative energy. Instead, she told me that she had been doing shadow work and had embraced what she thought was her dark side. It wasn’t. She had a negative entity attached to her, and she had started communicating with it thinking it was her shadow self. In the interest of making metaphysical progress, she integrated with it and invited in a negative entity to share her body.

Long story short, nightmares were the least of her issues. She was bombarded with thoughts and urges that she knew were not her own such as to say and do mean things to her family and friends. There were other things, but it hardly matters. If such a thing were to happen to you, I’m writing this, so it doesn’t happen to you. The experience would be different. You would have different things occur. Entities calibrate to their hosts, so whatever your negative tendency would be, it would play on that.

I removed the entity from her, and she felt ten times better afterward. Her aura was full of light, and I could feel her energy shift back toward what she was like before. Her family came up to me later in the day, thanking me for working on her and saying that she felt and acted more like herself.

This is another reason for asking your higher self to attend the meetings with your shadow self. You, the conscious part of you, is the ego. It has its own reasons and motivations. You might not be aware of its agenda until it’s too late. The higher self being in attendance can prevent a lot of issues. The higher self can see things that the ego, you, and the shadow self can’t. It can stop a negotiation as it will be able to see that what is sitting across the table from you isn’t your shadow self.

Some of you might ask, “How can you be sure that is your higher self?”

When they sit at the table with you, gauge how you feel. If you feel like something is hinky, ask your higher self to find a way to assure you that they are who they say they are. Only you will know how to convince you if they are really you. This scenario is unlikely, though. Most of the time, if an entity tries to pass itself off as an aspect of you, it’s going to be the shadow self.

Do I recommend doing the work? Yes, but only when you’re ready. You have to be ready to do this kind of work. I don’t think about doing it until something comes up, and I ask my guides if it would be easier to handle it by working with my shadow self, and if I hear a yes, that means it’s time. I understand that not everyone can get obvious messages from their guides as I do, but however you communicate with them, they can be helpful in letting you know it’s time and the best way for you to do it.

All the things I’ve said are suggestions for how to do shadow work. There are many other ways and methods. Find the one that works for you, and don’t be afraid of it. When you come out on the other side, you will know yourself better and have solved a problem or made great strides toward the solution. You will be stronger for it even if shadow work doesn’t go according to plan.