Core Beliefs & Shadow Work Integration
Just when you think you have a pretty good idea of who you are … just when life seems to be going well … everything starts spiraling downwards … Have you ever felt this way before? (Note: most of us have at some point in our lives!) We’ve all experienced periods of life where everything is sunshine and roses. We seem to be on the right track. And then – out of nowhere – a mysterious depressiondescends upon us. (Surprise! ) Or we get ahuge anxiety attack that cripples our self-esteem. (Surprise!) Or we self-sabotage, attract the wrong person into our lives, and wind up heartbroken. (Surprise!) Why does this happen? You can probably guess what I’m going to say. Yes, our core beliefs are what happened. “But I’ve focused so much on self-growth and spirituality – what’s going wrong?”you might lament. My answer is that, most likely, you haven’t gone deep enough into your psyche to undo your old patterns. You’ve most likely taken the outside-in approach where you: - change your diet - take care of your body - ‘hack’ (optimize) your daily routines - read lots of self-help books - do sexy yoga - organize your life … but for the most part, these are all very external or superficial practices. No matter how much you work on your external life, you still find yourself consumed by toxic shame, anger, self-pity, and self-destructive behaviors. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. No one taught you that you need to take the hard path, peek underneath the curtain of your mind, and shine a torch into its deepest recesses. Examples of Core Beliefs to Look Out For A core belief is not an everyday garden variety belief that pops up spontaneously – it is the mother of all beliefs, the Big Kahuna of suffering, and the King or Queen of your own personal underworld that becomes the central part of your shadow self. This is why shadow work is one of our most recommended methods for exploring our core beliefs. Often, we are completely unaware of what our core belief/s are (even if we think we are “conscious”!) – and it is quite common to disbelieve their existence.