Beyond Sobriety: How Shadow Work Helped Me Understand Myself on a Deeper Level.

Sobriety changed my life.

When I stopped drinking, I started to truly wake up...physically, mentally, and spiritually. The fog lifted, and I began to feel everything I’d spent years trying to numb. That alone was a massive freaking shift. Trust me!

But even in my sobriety, I realized I was still carrying so much underneath. Emotions I didn’t know how to process, stories I didn’t know how to release, and patterns I didn’t yet understand. That’s when I discovered shadow work. And it helped me connect with myself on a completely different level.

What is Shadow Work, Really?

Shadow work isn’t scary or dark. It’s about shining light on the parts of ourselves we’ve learned to hide. It's meeting the fear, shame, anger, and grief that we’ve buried under “I’m fine.” It’s learning to sit with discomfort instead of avoiding it, and realizing those hidden parts aren’t the enemy, they’re messengers.

When I finally slowed down long enough to listen to those parts, I realized they were never trying to ruin me. They were trying to protect me from pain, rejection, or failure. But in doing so, they also kept me disconnected from the peace I was craving.

Sobriety Gave Me Clarity... Shadow Work Gave Me Understanding

Getting sober allowed me to see my life clearly for the first time. Which, lets be honest, was a bit of a shit show. Shadow work helped me understand what I was seeing.

It showed me why certain emotions felt unsafe, why my body tensed up in silence, and why my mind tried to control everything to stay “okay.”It helped me face the parts of myself that still carried pain, self-judgment, and the pressure to perform and meet them with compassion instead of shame.

“The peace I was searching for was waiting in the very place I avoided most — inside myself.”

Learning to Be With Myself

Shadow work isn’t a one-time fix. It’s a relationship built on honesty and compassion. It’s choosing to pause when I want to distract, to breathe when I want to shut down, and to listen when I want to avoid.

Now, when life gets heavy, I don’t rush to make it go away. I close my eyes, place a hand over my heart, and remind myself:

“You’re safe. You’re feeling this because you’re healing.”

That’s the beauty of shadow work. It teaches you to trust the process instead of fight it.

The Light That Follows

Doing this work didn’t make me perfect. It made me PRESENT. It taught me that light and shadow will always coexist and the goal isn’t to get rid of one, but to integrate both.

If you’ve been trying to heal by “doing all the things” but still feel disconnected or stuck, maybe it’s time to turn inward. Your shadow isn’t something to fear, it’s the part of you waiting to lead you home.

True healing begins when we stop running from ourselves and start listening to what our pain has been trying to say.

This Month’s Release & Reset Workshop: Shadow Work

If this message resonates, I’d love to invite you to join me for this month’s Release & Reset Workshop where we’ll be exploring the theme of Shadow Work through gentle journaling, somatic release, breathwork, and guided hypno-meditation.

It’s a safe, supportive space to explore the parts of yourself you’ve been avoiding, release what’s been weighing you down, and reconnect with your truth.

The workshop is Thursday, October 23, from 6-7:00 pm at 1100 N. Lincoln Ave., Suite A, York, NE. We're located inside the Olde York Plaza. Hope to see you (and your shadow) there!