🌱 Shadow work is deep diving into your heart, mind and soul. It’s a meditation on what really bothers you, pains you and matters to you. Shadow work can be really uncomfortable as you have to be transparent and honest to yourself. You have to face your shadow self and some parts you have hidden even from yourself. At the end it helps you reach acceptance, and processing traumas, unhealed emotional wounds and understanding yourself and your surroundings better.🌱
These are some shadow work prompts I worked with so far, I will add more with time. I hope it will be helpful.
1- when, where, how and with who do you feel most like your authentic self ?
2- is your perception of yourself and your surroundings filtered by your traumas?
3- are there any parts of yourself you don’t show to anyone? What are they and why
4- what are aspects of yourself you project onto others?
5- what traits get under your skin? Do you possess any of those qualities?
6- how’s your relationships with your parents and how does it affect your relationships ?
7- what is an emotion/feeling you constantly avoid? Do you suppress it? If yes, why.
8- how did your parent show love and what is your love language ?
9- do you have strong boundaries? How do you usually react when someone crosses them?
10- who hurt you the most and can you forgive them?
11- what toxic traits you have learnt from your parents?
12- what’s the best way someone can describe you and is that the best picture you have of yourself?
13- are you honest with yourself about who you are?
14- describe your first heartbreak. Does it still affect you?
15- do you tend to fall for self-destructive behaviors or self-harm activities?
16- when you meet someone what are the first qualities you tend to notice? Are they physical or mental and why are they important to you
17- is there a pattern in your relationships and do you tend to attract the same people ?
18- what are the common themes, symbols , emotions in your dreams ? What could they mean?
19- are there any generational curses/traumas in your family ?
20- what are the things you need to forgive yourself for?
21- did your caretakers teach you about self-care and self-love or was it self-learnt ?
22- do your goals and achievements bring real satisfaction and joy to you or you are doing them for other people and external validation ?
23- what are you afraid someone would judge you for?
24- do you hold any resentment against your parents? What are they and why can’t you let it go
25- what do you think your friends think and feel about you?
26- how do you handle criticism?
27- what is something you are jealous of?
28- what positive or negative patterns keep repeating?
29- think of people who have done you wrong, is there a possibility you were responsible too?
30- did you ever intentionally manipulate someone? If so, why?
31- what are your values and morals?
32- did you ever judge someone for things you did or do ?
33-What really matters to you?
34- what mistakes do you keep repeating?
35- are you living on autopilot mode ? What was the last time you did something for the first time?
36- do you think you are similar/different to other people? Why?
37- what makes you , you ?
38- do you follow your intuition and do you make the difference between intuition and anxiety?
39- are there any unfair or tyrannical rules in your family? Do you challenge them or surrender to them?
40- how do you feel about being vulnerable and showing your weak side to someone?
41- do you find difficulties forming long lasting friendships? If so, why?
42- do you stuff down your feelings until you blow up or you communicate them?
43- who were the adults surrounding you when you were a child? How did they make you feel?
44- did you hurt someone unintentionally and how did you deal with it? Do you carry any shame or regret?
45- do you have any repressed anger inside? Where does it stem from?
46- how do you feel about other people’s success?
47- were you allowed to express negative emotions and opinions when you were a child?
48- how do you feel about your achievements? Do you still feel not enough after doing something great? If so, why
49- how do you deal with conflicts, arguments and how do they make you feel?
50- who would you be if all the wounds and pain didn’t happen?
