Now, it's good to know that although the shadow and ego are interconnected--they are still different. The ego is personal, conscious, and complex. Whereas the shadow is more unconscious, and can be more stereotypical or follows a pattern. In short, your ego is your sense of self, your shadow is all the things your ego has rejected and well, swept under the rug so to speak. Deepak says that if your ego doesn't like looking under the carpet at the stuff, it will not like it, and attempt to stop. Your ego is a protector of sorts that tends to overcompensate when it feels challenged in its opinions and beliefs--what it has deemed "sense of self" instead of allowing conflicting opinions that allow us to grow.
The ego overcompensates with the following (from the Holistic Psychologist):
– strong emotional reactions
– false confidence (overcompensation for low self-esteem/worth)
– black and white/rigid thinking
– rejection of any idea that conflicts with the ego beliefs
– extreme competition (a belief that another person’s success hinders their own)
– constant comparison to others
– judgment of others (mocking, insulting, threatening)
– analysis paralysis (obsessive thoughts that stop you from completing any action)
The ego resists change, let it come without judgment. We are working to soften the ego, not deny it.
It's important to keep balance when you start working in the depths of your psyche to reveal and adjust patterns that no longer suit you. The longer your ego runs the show, the more it becomes inflexible and open to new experiences and knowledge, even about yourself. It's important to be self-aware when working with your deep psyche to create a harmonious balance that leads you onwards and upwards on the right path with confidence and inner peace.
When is it time to do ego work?
Ego work is a key to changing your perspective and mindset. In softening the ego and allowing self to have new experiences. You're giving your personal guard a break and allowing you to make choices (not your ego) for yourself.
This helps when you are ready to stop being so guarded and safe and stop letting your ego make all your choices for you. Eventually, it becomes time to step out of your hard outer shell into the experiences you've wanted and worked towards. Fear is okay and a good emotion to keep you safe when needed, but ego-based fear can be the thing holding you back and causing you to self-sabotage. The rigidity may have been needed in the past, but now that you are coming into your own self-awareness and getting ready to break patterns and cycles of your past and those before you, you can finally let that guard down softly.
This is something I've personally been thinking about and slowly working on since the beginning of this year. I found some articles on ego work a while after I started doing shadow work and it made me realize that's why it had been hard for me to truly dive in and go deep. I could do prompts here and there but I tended to barely scratch the service, or quit before I wrote down what I needed. I just kept distracting myself with other things because it was scary.
I was thankful when I learned about ego work and knew that it wasn't just me, and I wasn't "bad" in a sense for not wanting to find the inner subconscious patterns that had been holding me hostage in old mindsets. I'm still working on all of these things. I know that I'm worthy no matter how much or how little self-work I do. I know that resting and reflecting are highly important to help heal and integrate this work. It is all part of the process of gaining serenity in the chaos and blossoming into your highest self.
I have found it is so important to work with both shadow and ego to uncover and integrate them into your self-awareness so that you can change your mindset, your reactions, and your outcomes in life. Even in the mindset changes I have had, I know there is always more to come, more to learn and integrate. It's truly exciting to think about knowing myself on such a personal level that I can truly connect on all levels.
I hope that in the process of uncovering my own truths and sharing my experiences I can show you all that the path is bumpy but definitely worth the ride. We've made it this far, and growth is one gift that keeps on giving.
With Love,
Kenzie
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