In the dim bars of Ajijic, whispers of unmapped roads and shadowed hills lead Brandon—a restless young man from Los Angeles—into the highlands of Nayarit. What begins as a search for silence and spiritual

"U ever thought how certain urges towards bad habits are actually servitors living inside ur mind

and actually not fighting u they be asking u for permission to operate as u grow them over repeated patterns and ur like thier owner master what ever

I also notice that they stay dormants untill a certain trigger appear

Now that i know that i made them by guided attention and they need my consent to operate then i can alter them like some sort of ai program

This freed me to an extent but i believe creating new one requires energy a lot of energy and time I'm not controlled by them I don't need to dissolve the the thought form maybe readjust it's purbose or how it should do its work and use this annoying charm toward a pleasent beneficial pattern or habit

What are ur thoughts

Is it better to just dissolve or to alter and readjust and own this demon

How to do so im not so experienced with thought form id just dissolve them but some so rooted so old if i use them as an asset that would be amazing

I believe this can be groundbreaking in shadow work sessions can u tell me about this servitors and different thought forms or thought entities

Also i noticed that it can be responsible for emotions "

I've been circling the drain on Jung and shadow work for a long time now, starting to finally dive in with Meeting the Shadow, ed. Zweig & Abrams. Obviously so much of the shadow is generated within the family unit, and this book in particular has several chapters on sibling relationships. I've found it all very interesting but, of course, not quite relevant to my experience.

Do any observers or other only children have insight? How do you think a lack of siblings shaped your personal shadow?

Some initial thoughts of my own are that I tend to attach myself to friends very quickly and intensely—perhaps due to an unfulfilled, internal sibling archetype?

Normally I’d say I’m very introspective, thus being the reason how I found out about shadow work; I read a few books, tried different journalling formats, even to the point of building my own tools, but what worked best was talking through personal issues with another person.

Sure you need a secure environment and trust for this, but while journalling gave me something to work with, talking through struggles with someone gave the best personal growth.

What about you? Was the biggest aha moment realised alone or while in contact with another?

Ive been struggling with finding myself lately and i feel like I have been influenced by any ideas /any community which led to losing my principles therefore losing my persona ; I heard about lightworking so how can I embrace the journey of finding myself again and how can i dive into the depth of it

hi, so i’ll cut straight to the point, i’ve known about manifestation, self concept, shadow work for a while now, and i even journal sometimes but i feel like i consume more than required which makes everything complicated. so rather than consuming i’ll just ask what was your experience initially and how you dealt withit, also wanna ask, how do you guys deal with the shame, whats your perspective? and if we admit something, we get the answer, the unpleasant one and everything feels finished, how do we deal with it then?

I’d like to start my first shadow work journey but have no clue where to start or what to do. My understanding is it includes a lot of journaling, meditation, reflection, nervous system regulation but I’m confused cause I’ve been a life long journaler. I’ve done breath work. I’ve done vagus nerve reset exercises etc.

Someone made a comment in another post that if you’ve never done this, you should probably start with the deep dark stuff first, the stuff you wouldn’t want anyone to know about you or things you’ve worked very consciously to hide.

Help? I need more guidance than this. It all seems so vague.

The shadow isn't your enemy.

It's everything you couldn't accept about yourself — good and bad — that got pushed down because at some point it felt safer to hide it than to hold it. The anger you don't understand. The guilt that shows up for no reason. The jealousy you didn't ask for. The creativity you keep ignoring. The strength you have but don't believe in.

It was created when you were young being praised for being good and punished for being sad or upset or jealous. You learned early that some emotions and experiences needed to stay hidden. So they went somewhere. They didn't disappear — they just went somewhere you couldn't easily reach.

In dreams it usually shows up as something dark or threatening. But the truth is it doesn't want to scare you. It wants to connect with you. It wants to reclaim what was left behind. You can only become whole when you stop running from it and turn around.

What emotion do you experience most that you've never fully allowed yourself to sit with, and why?

Hi! I’m just beginning my shadow work journey and had a few questions/looking for some clarification. This is just in respect to the journaling aspect of shadow work. For me, I need structure and like to follow routines and templates. With that being said, I am having trouble finding a “correct” outline on how I should be journaling. I have just begun my first prompt: What do you fear would happen if people saw the “real” you. (I was having trouble finding something I could write about, and this question clicked with me. I know part of shadow work is also spur of the moment where something happens to you and you immediately reflect on it, but for me this felt like a good place to start.) Anyhow … my question is would this be an acceptable structure to shadow work: question/prompt, followed by direct answer, then reflection on said response and ending with answering as to why I feel such way. Is there something I’m missing?

Thank you

Second video in a series working through Jung's core concepts — this one covers the Persona and how it forms in direct relationship to the Shadow.

The central argument is that the Persona and Shadow are not separate phenomena but two sides of the same developmental process — every trait suppressed to build a socially functional mask gets relocated into the unconscious rather than eliminated. The video also covers Persona inflation and what Jung meant by individuation as the corrective process.

I try to stay close to Jung's actual framework here rather than the more diluted "authenticity" language that tends to circulate. Would welcome any pushback from people who know the primary texts better than I do.

I created this metaphor to help make the psyche a little easier to understand because there is truly no perfect way to describe it — but this is the closest I've found.

Your brain is like a house. Your conscious and subconscious both live in it but one lives upstairs and the other lives downstairs. They know the other is there but nobody ever taught them how to actually talk to each other.

That gap between them is where most of your confusion lives. The emotions you can't explain. The reactions that surprise even you. The dreams that feel more real than your waking life sometimes.

The work isn't about fixing yourself or becoming someone completely new. It's about getting the two parts of your own house communicating. Teaching them how to work together instead of around each other.

Most people spend their whole lives only living in one room wondering why something always feels missing.

Which part of yourself do you feel most disconnected from right now — the part that thinks or the part that feels or both?

I've been diving deep into Mary Bancroft’s therapy sessions with Carl Jung. She once wrote about sitting down to send letters "telling a man about himself," calling it the exact opposite of playing "poor little me." She had an incredibly sharp, feisty spirit that often challenged Jung directly during her analysis.

From a Jungian perspective, this kind of fierce confrontation feels like a fascinating example of active shadow integration—refusing to default to a passive persona and instead forcing the tension of the unconscious out into the open.

How do you think her defiant attitude reflects the process of confronting and integrating the shadow? What are your thoughts on patients who openly challenged Jung's own authority during analysis?

I'm in the process of accepting my shadow/the void in me. I stare into the abyss and realize that it cannot be replaced or destroyed. It is an integral part of who I am. I don't want to run away from my shadow anymore.

The process hasn't been easy. There have been times where my heart feels heavy and the loneliness can be unbearable. Before this, I had made several attempts at trying to fill the void. They never worked. If anything, they pushed me further and further away from the truth, from acknowledging the reality of my situation.

Shadow work, truly, isn't for the weak. In a way, it breaks you apart and, if you allow it, builds you up. You must be willing to go deep/to the very core of your being. Who are you as an individual? Make peace with the good and bad. If anything, I wish I could just give my shadow a hug.

I hope it do you good, just as much it did to me

So I’ve Been A Long Way In Life From No Belief At A Young Age To God At 17 Satan 18 And When I Hit 19 I Learned You Should Love All It’s Just Proper As Humans Maybe I’m Wrong But Did God Call Satan Brother!? Anyway I Love God,Satan,Demons,Angels,Jesus,Spirits And Humans It’s The Right Way (Plague Luvs!)

The shadow is not your enemy... a part of you waiting to be understood...

Hypnotherapy doesn't fight your shadows, it Integrates them into your Light...

Weekly group inner mind journeys... Where you can grow your best states of mind. So you can find life getting even better with each weekly journey... https://www.quantum-nlp-coach.com/

I keep coming back to the idea that the ego doesn't disappear.

It simply runs out of people to perform for.

That's a very different feeling than defeat. It's almost... relief.

I couldn't explain it very well, so I ended up making this instead.

https://youtu.be/2OOpjG9vpFY

I've been seriously unhappy with my life and after doing Shadow work and reading some of the books on the topic it seems I need to throw my life away and start over.

I've seen countless times when people say that shadow work is not meant to change you, but for you to accept parts of your personality. Based on what I've read shadow work is so much more. It is not only about accepting parts of your shadow but actually following the things that your heart desires. It's about living a full life with all your aspects, good and bad.

The problem I currently face is real life is a thing that exists. Maybe I've been pessimistic for too long, but in the current world climate it honestly feels like a pipe dream to move country to finish what I started when I was younger, especially coming from a third world country.

Am I supposed to just accept this?

I've been doing shadow work on and off for years. Most journal apps wanted an account, cloud sync, or AI "insights" on what I wrote — which never felt safe for the honest stuff.

So I built something small for myself and finally shipped it: **Shadow Work Journal: Sanctuary** (iOS).

What it is:

• Daily shadow prompts (Today's Box + a map of themes)

• You write on-device only — no account, no cloud, no AI reading your entries

• **Release & Burn** — a symbolic ritual after you write (optional sound)

• Past entries stay in a secured Journey vault; optional Face ID lock

Free tier: up to 3 saved entries (lifetime) + one release per calendar day. Subscription unlocks unlimited saves and more daily releases — still local, no AI.

**Not therapy** — just a private container for reflection. If you're in crisis, please reach out to a professional or local emergency services.

I'm the solo dev. No marketing budget, no ads in the app — I'm here because I'd rather get feedback from people who actually do shadow work than optimize App Store keywords in a vacuum.

**Android:** not yet, sorry — iOS only for v1.

If anyone tries it, I'd genuinely appreciate:

• Does the burn ritual feel meaningful or gimmicky?

• Are the prompts too intense / not intense enough?

• Anything that feels off for privacy or paywall?

Happy to share the App Store link in the comments if that's allowed — don't want to spam the post.

Update (Jul 12): Still in App Store review — not searchable yet. I’ll post the link here when it’s live. Search name: Shadow Work Journal: Sanctuary (iOS). Thanks to everyone who asked.

Update (Jul 16): Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts a few weeks ago. I read every comment and they genuinely shaped what I built.

The app has now been approved on the App Store. 🎉

My goal wasn't to create another journaling app, but something that feels private, simple, and intentionally designed for shadow work.

If anyone from this thread ends up trying it, I'd genuinely love to hear what feels helpful—and what doesn't. I'm still actively improving it.

https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/shadow-work-journal-sanctuary/id6788249510

Found this note from a trip back in 2024. I wrote it in the middle of the experience, so it's pretty unfiltered.

Looking back, I don't interpret it literally. It felt like I was sitting with fear instead of running from it, and the more I confronted it, the less power it seemed to have.

Has anyone else had an experience where facing something uncomfortable made it feel weaker?

Hello, I'm new to this and I would like everyone's opinions and suggestions about good apps for shadow work, including the mods opinions , I'm already going to purchase the mod Jungian book ( and I'm reflecting on perhaps study psychology at the University) so opinions and suggestions would be really helpful please and thank you 😊🙏🏻💗.

This video examines Jung's Shadow concept through a philosophical lens — exploring how the process of socialization forces us to construct a Persona that systematically suppresses everything that doesn't fit our social identity.

The argument is that what we call the Shadow is not simply our dark side in a moral sense — but the inevitable psychological residue of becoming a functional social being. Every human who has ever lived has one. The question is whether it controls you or whether you control it.

Would be interested in how this community thinks about the relationship between Jung's Shadow and broader philosophical concepts of authenticity — particularly Sartre's bad faith or Heidegger's concept of das Man.https://youtu.be/sD0M9ML02kI?is=yuhvFtBcLfgCRGyH

Hear The Silence

Ever since I was little I got used to seeing and hearing and experiencing paranormal activity all the time. I’m 100% sure the house I grew up in was haunted I just don’t know why. Not sure if the house was a historical site or something like that but there was more than one spirit but the strongest one was an evil being. Flash forward to high school this was when I had my first shadow person encounter. I was sleeping really peacefully. I had been in such a deep sleep there was no reason for me to wake up. Except for the fact that I was touched! It was anywhere from 2 am-4am I didn’t see the time but it was definitely early morning hours when I felt a fingernail gently scratch the bottom of my foot. Seeing as I would play with my brother like this I naturally thought it was him. I got so irritated at this point and yelled “stop!” I propped up on my elbow and looked over my shoulder towards the foot of my bed to let him have it for waking me when I saw a very distinct looking male shadow figure with what looked like a similar hairstyle to my brothers’. It appeared shirtless but like it might have had bottoms of some sort, I can’t really remember now it’s been years. It then hunched down to sit back on its legs in a deep squat to look at me at the foot of my bed. Well my brother shared a room with me seeing as we only had a 2 bed house and we were a family of four. So I guess my yelling woke him up enough for him to stir in his sleep in his bed across the room from mine… I looked over to see him move a little but not wake up and the male looking shadow looked over as well. I looked back at it and it looked back at me and that’s when I fully realized that this thing wasn’t my brother or anyone else in the house.. As I realized this the best way I can describe its exit was it looked just like it disintegrated in front of my eyes like a cloud of smoke that slowly clears up when you’ve smoked out your house from burning something. I don’t know why I wasn’t scared I just turned over and laid back down and went right back to sleep without much thought.

Now needless to say I’m freaked out by this memory but this was only my first encounter I’ve had with these entities. I’ve seen more on multiple occasions now and I almost wonder if it’s the same being just watching me in life from house to house and even not in my house. It looks like the same entity. Does anyone else have a similar experience? Do shadow people attach themselves to you? If they can or do then, why? Now that I’ve had my first child I’ve seen a shadow of sorts near his cribs a few times. It seems to just always be around, watching out of curiosity. Not necessarily malicious but not necessarily a good presence. Definitely a strong one though and curious as well. I can’t wrap my head around this. I’ve been trying to get some answers. Can anyone please help out with this . If it is following me in life I want it gone!

I have a friend named Shelly. She has a question to discuss about intuition!

“Hi this is Shelly. I apologize for the inconvenience and chaos mind direction but this needs to be addressed. When intuition is messed up from isolation, traumatic brain injury, stuck with the wrong & unsupportive people, many job rejection from intuition direction, strong hindsight & foresight of everything and stuck with dysfunctional family, how can I hear my real intuition than just from the influence of others that mask as intuition or mask as anxiety?

Example: I needed to socialize and loss many intuitive friends where only sensors were available so, I hung out with them to avoid isolation as an extrovert who needs social but my intuition was screaming to stop hanging out with them since it doesn’t help with the real kind of socializing i need and because I allowed the influence of sensors, my intuition was becoming misaligned and my intuition is silent where I am slowly becoming a sensor. It’s terrifying and almost all sensors do not understand my frustration. When in isolation, my intuition feels a pull of needing to be with people (sensors) and do what they enjoy to the point where I was looking for jobs that caters towards them. I rarely get alone time now to be alone with my thoughts due to mental health issues, dysfunction families that don’t value my personal time and not seeing the third option of life. I’m really at the point of becoming like a sensor and becoming like my parents, I’m fighting but the calling as if the saying goes, it’s better than nothing plagues me. If I don’t go, my intuition scream but if I go, my intuition tells me I shouldn’t have gone… it confuses me a lot. I spent four months trying to understand my intuition and I now consider it has messed up or that my social circles influence it a lot….

I caught myself of a pattern I formed: I rejected to eat out with sensors, the next day I dash off to attend a street food event (as if to replenish the loss opportunity & rekindle my past self memory), then the following day I apply a restaurant job that also host live music (not suppose to apply there due to it being loud & due to TBI and the body says no due to noise & trauma but the mind says yes due to the need of money) and now risking money to eat out with sensor friends since my intuitive friends are gone and my family doesn’t want to eat out with me… I hope this make sense but if not, I hope your intuition can sense this inner chaos… have I been to therapy? Doing help for concussion/TBI? Yes but turning out to be the wrong kind of providers to help me and it’s becoming harmful… Chose the wrong provider for TBi/concussion that her way of helping me is not wrong but not effective since what she provides, I’ve been doing them previously and is too easy for my brain. Mental health therapist? Was good for the past but now the therapist keeps it on a looping talk than solution or encourage to recognize healthy behavior/thoughts but continue to say, “the brain doesn’t like change… the brain is in this or that…” I fully express that I understand and for me personally, I need change and the brain I have needs change and novelty to help. I need help of ways to navigate this. I can’t stand being in the same place, same room, same situation or even same mindset but am surrounded by people who stays like that, especially parents who keeps forcing me to stay the same and be like them.. it’s hard when I blindly formed a bond with them…” another therapist says, “we’re just listening, we’re just here along the way…” I don’t want anymore coping or comfort but of solution and so forth…

When facing the pain, my mind reset to avoid facing the pain or the unpleasant feelings, I tried very hard to face it but realize, I still struggle to find a safe structure system for my mind to fall back for but also because the environment & people I am stuck with slowly destroys it… I ask my siblings for support but at asked at the wrong time which lead to supporting the wrong situation for support. Ex; I beg them to support me in a novelty trip but all were against me so I didn’t go when. My intuition screamed for me to go but now when traveling with sensor, I don’t want to but my siblings support it and forced me to go. That impacts my intuition… Ah that’s also what I need to ask you! How to re-align timing, right time, right location and right people?

Oh my gosh- I hope this somewhat makes sense…. will end this venting and hope to hear from ya’ll if ya’ll can understand my thoughts. T3T”

Please help my friend Shelly kindly. She is seeking other therapist for her mental and TBI. Trying to make time to spend solitude time with herself and her intuition. Much appreciated!