We all have our deepest, darkest secrets. Regardless of whether you stay active while working from home or relax outside, shadow work is a must for people trying to heal themselves, develop themselves holistically, or learn more about their inner self.
For those looking to benefit from shadow work, some prompts can help you dig deep inside yourself. These shadow work prompts can help you with your journaling to tap into your inner self even further. Here are 35 prompts that we know can resonate with you.
What Is Shadow Work?
Shadow work refers to understanding more of your shadow, which acts as your psychological dark side. The idea comes from Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist known among the fathers of modern psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis.
Jung described four main archetypes within every human, but there may be an infinite number of archetypes that may exist. These include:
- The Persona
- The Shadow
- The Anima/Animus
- The Self
The Persona is the face we show to the world – our public image. The Anima/Animus is our gender roles and identities, which may vary from person to person. The Self is the total package of our unified consciousness, unconsciousness as an individual.
The Shadow is the unconscious self, which contains many of the bad and repressed thoughts we have as humans. This includes anger, greed, hate, desires, instincts, shortcomings, trauma, and more. While the Shadow itself is not evil, it contains everything humans trained to keep away from themselves and others.
Benefits of Shadow Work
Shadow work has many benefits, such as helping you understand yourself better, see your strengths and weaknesses, handle trauma, and face your fears. When a person practices shadow work, they can face their traumas, fears, and traumas caused by others. They can understand their deeper motivations, desires, and self-image.
Shadow work has the power to heal. It can help us identify the negative parts of ourselves to deal with them more healthily. Much like therapy or counseling, shadow work can help us better understand ourselves to better cope with our actions.
Shadow work can also benefit us by helping us understand our traumas, past, and anything negative we have experienced. We may understand ourselves better and accept who we indeed are. While shadow work helps us identify parts of ourselves that can be harmful, it can also help us identify parts of ourselves that help us grow and further develop ourselves.
Building Shadow Work Prompts
With shadow work, you look into tapping into your subconscious, prying it slowly to heal and learn more about yourself. If you want to practice shadow work, a few prompts can help you connect with your inner self.
You can add these to your task tracker before starting your shadow work journal to help you learn about yourself, heal yourself, and change your perspective. These are perfect for beginners who are yet to establish deeper prompts or those looking to build it themselves.
1. What did you do today?
2. What were you thinking at the moment you felt an emotion?
3. What would you do differently tomorrow?
4. Why do you do what you do?
5. What do you love about yourself?
6. What do you hate about yourself?
7. What do you want to change about yourself?
8. What triggers you?
9. How do you think people see you?
10. What are you worth?
11. How are your past lives affecting your life right now?
12. What would you do if you could re-live one moment from your life?
13. What is your most painful experience?
14. What is the worst thing that occurred in your life?
15. Do you have healthy boundaries?
16. What do I hate about my parents that I got?
17. What family patterns am I afraid to repeat?
18. What is the biggest obstacle to your happiness?
19. When was the first time you were powerless?
20. What makes you feel good?
21. What do you do when you want to feel powerful?
22. What makes you feel happy?
23. What does your inner child like?
24. What do you wish you could do?
25. What makes you feel uncomfortable or anxious?
26. What makes you feel weak and powerless?
27. What do you wish you could accomplish?
28. What makes you feel safe?
29. What makes you feel alive?
30. What makes you feel like you’re from this place?
31. How do you express your individuality?
32. What makes you feel uncomfortable?
33. What makes you feel powerless?
34. What do you wish you could do?
35. What makes you feel powerful?
How To Do Shadow Work
Shadow work requires us to face ourselves, our deepest thoughts, and traumas. You’ll need a journal and pen or pencil to begin shadow work. You’ll also need a comfortable space, preferably somewhere outdoors or in a quiet place.
To begin shadow work, you’ll need some prompts to help you get started. These prompts will help guide you through your journaling process, so you’ll be able to dig deeper and find more about yourself and who you are. Once you have a prompt, start on the process.
- Find A Quiet Place
With shadow work, you’ll need a quiet place where you can relax and focus. This could mean a quiet place in your home, outside, or anywhere you feel most comfortable.
- Prepare
Give yourself a few minutes to prepare your environment. Arrange your tools, set up your journal, write down what you want to write about, or anything else you need to do so you can start shadow work.
- Initiate The Work
After preparing, you can initiate shadow work by sitting down alone, closing your eyes, and focusing inward. You can think of a place, situation, or even a person you associate with your shadow. While doing this, think about your Shadow.
- Write About It
Now that you’re focused on your Shadow, write everything that comes to mind. Don’t censor yourself. Write whatever comes to mind, whether it be positive or negative. Let yourself feel whatever you feel.
- Create An Image
After writing, you may want to create an image of the Shadow you have just made. This is optional, but it may help you visualize yourself with your Shadow.
- Reflect On Your Work
After creating your Shadow, reflect and write about your experience. Are there any insights you had? How does this work relate to your Persona?
Final Thoughts
Shadow work can be a powerful tool to help you understand yourself better. It can help you identify parts of yourself that can be harmful and help you find positive parts of yourself that help you grow.
These prompts can help you begin your shadow work journal and evolve into a deeper level of yourself. Shadow work is a practice, so the more you do it, the more you’ll understand about yourself.
