Jung said: “Shadow work is the path to the heart of the warrior”
There are many different approaches to shadow work. The approach that we take in the upcoming Basic Sexual Shadow Work 7-week mini course comes from the ancient tradition of Advaita that recognizes the ego’s dance with polarities.
The premise is that we are attracted to certain states that we identify with, and that we are also equally repulsed by their opposites. This dance of polarities remains mostly unconscious in us and yet it is shaping the structure of our egos, our limited sense of self, as well as the happenings in our lives. The method of Advaita is focused on the integration of polarities, recognising that polarities are integrated through the full exploration of each opposite.
Polarities include the ‘light’ and ‘shadow’ aspects of our experience. The light side of our reality is that which we are ready and willing to present to the world and will easily acknowledge to ourselves. Most of us are happy to share that our eroticism is guided by deep and undying love for one other, as this approach to sexuality is viewed positively and approved of by our culture.
The shadow side of our experience however – such as our erotic fantasies and desires that contain elements of taboo – is that which is shunned, suppressed and most often not even fully conscious in us. For example perhaps we view our lover as an object whose attractiveness makes us look good. However, we wouldn’t want our lover or others to know that; so we push that truth away and it remains in the shadow.
Much of Shakti Malan, founder of the Shakti Shiva Academy’s work as a Tantrika was helping people access their shadow states – guiding individuals in developing a witness to the suppressed, shunned and denied aspects of their own experience. Assisting them to touch the real of their experience fully enough so that whatever energy the polarity held could be integrated back into the whole…
Typically, when we enter into the dark side of dualities, the following uncomfortable and awkward feeling states start surfacing for us:
- Shame
- Humiliation
- Embarrassment
- Guilt
- Anger
- Emptiness
Sound familiar?
Most of us have spent a lifetime doing absolutely everything we can to avoid feeling the intense body sensations and uncomfortable emotional states that we have lived with for most of our lives.
Paradoxically, the resolution and integration of these states involves acknowledging the contradictory experiences that are often coupled with these shadow states – complex emotional states that include the intertwining of fear and desire. For instance:
- Desire and arousal can be coupled with shame, anger or humiliation.
- Contraction can be a gateway to release.
- Taboo desires can have strong associations with feeling deeply loved.
Your liberation requires the willingness to feel it all!!
We welcome you to come learn how to feel it all with us in our upcoming 7-week Basic Sexual Shadow Work mini course.
With LoveRhianne & Claire
PS. One of the theme’s that we’ll be addressing in the upcoming Basic Sexual Shadow Work 7-week mini course is: Frozen in the Act. In this module we will explore archetypal fears that arise from the unconscious and investigate ways in which our fear of being shamed, humiliated, embarrassed or feeling guilty shows up in our erotic lives and how to work with this. Registration is open now until Thursday 14th May. We are offering a Covid-19 discount price of $197 to everyone who enrolls. (50% off our regular price of $395). And you can retake the course when we offer it in the future – for free! – as many times as you like.