Shadow Work meditations can be intense. This is the third of this Shadow Work series so they are starting to delve deep into who you are.
We can often feel controlled and defined by strong emotions. This can hold us back from taking the actions we want to make changes in our lives. This meditation will explore a feeling that may be trapping you.
If at any time this meditation gets to be too much, stop and you can always try it again at a later time or with a feeling that is not as intense. Take good care of yourself in this process and remember to seek help if this is too overwhelming alone.
Take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Find yourself in a pine forest with a soft breeze blowing. Smell the pine and hear the crunch of pine needles under your feet. The forest is dark and cool.
You see a hooded figure up ahead walking through the forest. Walk towards them and they greet you with a nod. Ask where they are going and they wave for you to follow.
Your guide walks through the forest until they come to a small cluster of rocks. The rocks form a tiny cave just large enough for one person. Your guide waves for you to enter. You crouch down and sit just inside the mouth of the cave as it is not very deep.
Your guide begins to collect sticks from around the cave. Your guide stands the sticks up in front of the cave like a makeshift door. The sticks are light so you know that you can push them to exit the cave at any time. The sticks are also not too close together, so they make the cave darker but some light still filters in.
You sit in the darkness of the cave and feel the cool air around you. The air seems to breathe with you.
As you sit with your eyes open in the cave, colored balls of light appear briefly in front of you. Watch them for a bit, until one seems to persist and solidify. Reach out to touch the ball of light in front of you. A feeling seeps into your body from this ball of light. When have you felt this feeling before? What does this feeling make you think of?
Try to feel this feeling while letting go of the situations in the past that made you feel this way. There is nothing you need to do or fix. Just have the feeling. Where does it reside in your body? Is the feeling bearable without feeling you have to act on it?
Does this feeling define who you are? Is it the only way you can feel? Imagine when you have not felt this way? Recognize this feeling as one of many you can experience. When you are ready, I want you to push this feeling away and watch the ball of color fade away into the cave.
Take a deep breath and clear the sticks away from the door of the cave. Your guide sits by a campfire in front of the cave. Your guide reaches out their hand to you. Sit next to your guide and take their hand. Feel the love and pride your guide has for you enter your body. This guide has given you an ordeal and you have completed it. Feel your body release any tension from the cave as the love of your guide fills you up.
Silently thank your guide with a nod as you stand. Release your guide’s hands as they nod back to you. Walk back through the pine forest away from your guide.
When you are ready, begin to hear the sounds around your physical body. Wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes.
Take some time to journal or pull oracle or tarot cards to explore the following questions:
How do feelings control your thoughts and actions?
Are you able to sit with difficult feelings without needed to change them?
Do your feelings define who you are as a person?
Take Care,
Jessica Cross
Free meditation recordings on Spotify: CLICK HERE
Journals on Amazon: Click Here
