The Power of Shadow Work and Self Acceptance - Facing Your Demons

Are you ready to challenge your deepest fears and emerge stronger? Welcome to an episode of Affirmations of a Bad Bitch that's going to push you to confront your own demons, hone in on your unwanted patterns, and transform them into strengths. This isn't about self-judgment, it's about understanding and accepting your fears and insecurities. As your host, Tiona Thompson, we'll walk this tightrope of self-discovery, self-love and healing together, and learn how to trust ourselves enough to ask the hard questions.

Shadow work - an intriguing, intense, and often intimidating process, will be our primary focus. It's time to tackle those sabotaging behaviors head on and turn them into our greatest assets. Remember, your darkness is not your enemy. It's the key to your light. We'll also be exploring the beauty of patience, the power of self-acceptance, and how pivotal it is to support ourselves throughout our journey to transformation. Get ready to shift your perspective, break free from self-inflicted pain, and become the best version of yourself.

Better Beauty Sleep
Code: Affirmations25 for 25% off site-wide
https://northamericanherbandspice.com

Fitness Fashion
Code: Bad20Nux for 20% off
https:/www.nuxactive.com

Transcript

Tiona Thompson: 0:00

Need better beauty sleep. North American herbs and spices. Melatonin-free sleep aid is completely 100% natural, made from chamomile, magnolia bark extract, co2 extracted hops and a proprietary blend of extra virgin black seed oil. This innovative sleep formulation is designed to give a restful REM sleep without the melatonin effect, which consists of unpleasant dreams and heavy morning grogginess. Melatonin was never intended for long-term use and dependencies are known to occur. Visit wwwnorthamericanherbinspicecom and enter promo code affirmations25 to receive 25% off site-wide, including herbal seeds. Power through Pilates. Dare to reach your hit goals and strive for that extra.

Tiona Thompson: 0:50

Rep and nukes active High performance, active wear that doesn't compromise on the chic. Located in Los Angeles, their diverse women operated team oversees every meticulous detail, from the first stitch to the last shipment. Nukes active is active fashion that flexes and fits like a buttery second skin Run. Don't walk over to nuxactivecom that's N-U-X-A-C-T-I-V-E. com to check out the latest collection in energizing colorways. As a gift to you, take 20% off your purchase with code BAD20NUX at checkout. Hello, my beautiful babies, I'm your host, Tiona Thompson, and this is Affirmations of a Bad Bitch.

Tiona Thompson: 1:44

Now, as you all know, being a baddie is a lot harder than it looks, because it's really not at all about how you look, it's about how you think and it's about your mindset, the way you carry yourself, as within as without. It starts with your inner reality. We are all just products of our environment and unfortunately, a lot of us come from unstable or unpredictable environments, which has instilled in us this need to be prepared, to feel prepared or to feel this false sense of protection. By overthinking and overanalyzing, you feel like you only have control when you know what's going to happen. So you try to come up with every possible outcome in your head and you usually attach yourself to the outcomes that are non-favorable, because that's what you are afraid of. You just want to be prepared, but you are wasting your time, your energy and really just inducing your own anxiety, bringing more suffering onto yourself, by doing so. What if you have no expectations? Just go with the flow and trust in your ability to handle whatever outcome you are dealt. Trust that everything always works out in your favor and trust that, even when it seems like you aren't getting what you want, it's because you are being guided to what you need. Something even better is coming along. Remember that better and bigger takes longer. Be patient, give yourself grace and give yourself some extra love during this journey because, although it is not your fault that you are filled with this sadness, anxiety, anger, it is your responsibility to heal yourself. No one else can do that for you.

Tiona Thompson: 4:00

So where do you start? I recommend starting with shadow work. I hold shadow work so close to my heart because it has truly transformed my own mindset and my life, the way I interact with people, the way I interact with the world, the way I see the world. I've said it on the podcast multiple times stop running from your darkness, lean into it. Your shadow is the part of you that you keep hidden, such as trauma, shame, resentment. You probably are not even aware of these parts of your subconscious, but they are with you, following you like a little shadow. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This shit is hard. It hurts. It hurts to become aware of these bits of ourselves, but it's necessary to fully understand ourselves. So get yourself a journal. You can get yourself a super cute one so that you'll feel more excited to write in it. If that helps, that helps me. And go ahead and grab some tissues just in case, because the last thing you want when you're journaling is to be crying and your tears are dripping all over the page and then the snot that you wiped on your sleeve is being transferred from your sleeve to the paper. It's not fun and yes, I am speaking from experience, so just trust me.

Tiona Thompson: 5:40

The key to shadow work is self-reflection. You have to be open to seeing yourself in ways you haven't before. It's becoming aware of the self-inflicted pain through patterns of unwanted behavior or sabotaging behavior. You need to start asking yourself hard questions. Why do you do the things that you do? What happened or what circumstances were you in, most likely in childhood, that caused you to close yourself off like this? Maybe you sabotage your romantic relationships because you have a fear of intimacy? Well, ask yourself what is your experience with intimacy? Were you ever truly nurtured emotionally? Beyond that, what beliefs did that lack of nurturing, that lack of safety bestow on you? Do you believe you deserve to be fully loved, to be seen and to be loved? Do you believe you are truly capable of the love that you desire? But fear, and do you actually fear love, or is it you fear that what you've always believed about yourself is true? Pour your heart out to yourself and identify your fears, identify your insecurities and the patterns you've been repeating as a means of self-protection.

Tiona Thompson: 7:37

It's really important to understand that our shadow selves, our darkness, is not bad. It's not anything to be ashamed of by yourself. This is true understanding. You know. It makes sense that you've built walls. It makes sense that you feel however the fuck. You feel you are entitled to that. This self-support and acceptance in itself will cause a mental shift. And again, this is just an example. Maybe you feel unworthy of love. Okay, admit that to yourself. Admit it, and now that you are aware of it, you've accepted that you feel this way you can dismantle it From this point forward.

Tiona Thompson: 8:36

Every time you are put in a situation where this belief is triggered or you feel afraid, you will be aware of it. So it's no longer a subconscious pattern. You get to make a choice. So will you continue to reinforce this belief, this lie, through the self-sabotage, or will you make a conscious choice to end a cycle? Things don't change unless we do, but we can't change things about ourselves that we aren't even fully aware of, and that's why shadow work is so important in the journey of self-discovery and self-love. You can only reach the light by fully stepping into the darkness.

Tiona Thompson: 9:33

Shadow work is hard because we don't want to know these hurt parts of ourselves. We feel shame, guilt, even for the ways that we've coped with the pain. But you have to let that go. Forgive yourself for the suffering you've caused through trying to protect yourself, because in the end, that protection is out of love. These dark parts of you, your demons. They love you so much that they've done everything in their power to prevent you from feeling the pain that they feel. But that's a burden that doesn't need to be carried. Integrate your demons by loving them. Transmute the pain into love and the darkness becomes the light.

Tiona Thompson: 10:35

You're right. You didn't deserve to be treated how you were treated, maybe as a child. You deserved unconditional love. You didn't receive it, but that wasn't your fault. It wasn't because of anything that you did or didn't do or weren't worthy of. These are circumstances that are out of our control. Now you not only know, but you truly understand your darkness. You realize that you are worthy of that love you always have been. You do deserve everything of light.

Tiona Thompson: 11:23

It may take a while for these things to kind of catch up. It takes a minute to process. That's okay. Be patient and don't bypass these feelings. Feel them. Allow yourself to feel them. Like I said, support yourself. Through that, it makes sense that you felt that way. It makes sense that you've tried to protect yourself from feeling that way again.

Tiona Thompson: 11:55

Once you do realize that you deserve this love, you'll start acting like it. You see more beauty in the world because you start to see the beauty in yourself. The strength in yourself to overcome your fears becomes your strength to be you authentically, the real you, no longer making yourself smaller and no longer believing the lies you've told yourself. Start looking at the things you're afraid of as a way to grow, a way to show your strength. Challenge yourself, because it takes a lot of strength to face your demons. It fucking hurts and you may feel like you're drowning in the deep of it because you are opening up core wounds. But, as always, it will pass. If it was easy, everyone would be aware of their shadows, everyone would wear their hearts on their sleeves. But only the toughest of cookies and the baddest of bitches can transmute that pain into power. You'll start to see your power, identify your darkness, accept it, and only then can you change it.

Tiona Thompson: 13:32

Now let's say our affirmations. Repeat after me I am strong, I am kind, I am loved. I sent love Again. I am strong, I am kind, I am loved. I sent love. And one last time. I am strong, I am kind, I am loved, I sent love and my DMs are always open to anyone with questions about shadow work or even just to talk. I know this stuff can be hard and I really mean that Sending love.