Your shadow is the side of yourself that you’ve pushed away, hidden, or repressed. That side gets locked away in your mind instead of being accepted as part of you. It’s still there, but you’re not fully aware of its presence in you.
Everyone has a shadow. As we grow up and live our lives, we’re taught that people don’t like some parts of us. These parts are pushed away so we can be accepted by others. They don’t go away, but they quietly influence our behavior from the background without our noticing them. Over time, we may forget that these parts of us exist at all!
Our shadows don’t go away when we ignore them. Instead, they act out of our control or awareness. Have you ever gotten angry and done something you would never normally do, then wondered where that behavior came from? Maybe you’ve been deeply annoyed with someone for a reason that seems silly when you think about it. Those moments often come from our shadows. Other times, our shadows are the roots of behaviors or mindsets we’d like to change. If you refuse to accept that you have a problem, then no amount of effort to fix its symptoms will solve its cause.
When you do shadow work, you learn to notice these rejected parts of you and accept them. There are a lot of ways to do this, and many of them involve noticing things that make you feel strong emotions or act impulsively.
See also: Internal Family Systems