Debbie Ford and your Shadow

Debbie Ford and your Shadow

I spent the weekend with Debbie Ford viewing her soon-to-be-released film on the Shadow (which featured Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Mark Victor Hansen, and many others whose work includes the Shadow) and experiencing the interactive version of the film where you answer questions to reveal your relationship with your Shadow. Debbie Ford is the  author of several books including Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Why Good People Do Bad Things, Spiritual Divorce, and The Secret of the Shadow: The Power of Owning Your Story , to name just a few.

The Shadow, a term coined by Carl Jung, is comprised of the parts of ourselves that we’ve disowned and deny. The Shadow has the characteristics and qualities that most bug us in other people, those that we’re likely to judge others for and would least want to be seen as having ourselves much less be judged for having. These are our many Shadows.  We expend a tremendous amount of energy attempting to conceal our Shadow and create masks to cover our many Shadows. We cannot succeed at this 100% of the time no matter how much we effort.  When these efforts fail, we act out.  The characteristics and behaviors we’ve tried to conceal are revealed in a raw form. The masks become our prison.  The Shadow holds a tremendous amount of power over us! Power that we could be using in positive ways if we weren’t denying the Shadow.  Anything that we are identified with has control over us. Anything we can disidentify from, we can control.

Here are a few quotes from the film:
What we can’t be with, won’t let us be!

Either you’re going to use the Shadow or it’s going to use you.

Whatever we judge in others is something we’ve disowned in ourselves.

We possess every human characteristic whether dormant or active- this includes the flip side of all of your positive qualities!

What you resist, persists.

At our very core, we all believe that we are bad and wrong; this is why we are constantly trying to be good and insisting that we are right (and also insisting that others are wrong and bad).  

Anywhere you are overcompensating or trying to prove something, the Shadow is present.

When we suppress any part of ourselves, we’re living in denial of all that we are and we’re cut off from the totality of our power.

The Shadow is merely a part of our humanity. It’s completely normal to have one. Having a Shadow is an impetus for creativity and growth.

More than anything, we long to be set free and accepted for who we really are.
As we move through our Shadow, we reclaim our light. Our external world can shift once our internal world shifts.

The current economy: fear, constriction, and dissociation OR a potent opportunity for discovery, growth, and transformation?

The current economy: fear, constriction, and dissociation OR a potent opportunity for discovery, growth, and transformation?
We are powerless to change that which we lack conscious awareness of.
Given our current financial condition, it is time to explore both our personal and collective relationship with money more deeply.  Money can be a very powerful teacher of what we have yet to learn about who we are as human beings.

We all possess unconscious beliefs, patterns and behaviors around money that are largely unknown to us.  It is time to embark upon a deeper learning and integrate money into our spiritual work.  We created it, we made it powerful, and its movement in the world is a direct reflection of our consciousness. As we become increasingly more conscious of this aspect of ourselves, we can begin to co-create a more meaningful and sustainable experience with money and the world around us. The other reward we will receive for doing our personal money work, I believe, is access to the pure potentiality that money represents that will allow us to become more evolved and fulfilled in all areas of our lives. This potential is greater than we ever imagined possible.

It’s interesting to note that the early alchemists did not attempt to turn lead into gold for financial gain, they were seeking spiritual gain. Quite literally, the process of turning the darker, heavier metal of lead to gold was to raise one’s consciousness, not one’s wealth. The alchemists were seeking enlightenment. On the path of seeking spiritual truth, gold was merely a physical manifestation of their enlightenment.
Until we understand and transform our relationship with money and become the alchemists in our own lives, money will always be problematic. Seeking to possess it without understanding its true purpose and meaning in our lives will only leave us feeling more conflicted and unfulfilled. The journey is not about money. The journey is about truth and self-discovery, an archeological dig to the center of the truth of who we really are.
Now, more than ever before we are all being called to delve deeper into our spiritual journey. We must take action to create a world to that values human beings and our planet above profit. We need to trust that there is enough for everyone. Spirit will provide. We must resist the temptation to go into fear and constriction as there is nothing that can be gained by this. That is a trap that only stands to fulfill itself. Now is the time to release and let go of all that no longer serves us so that we can create the space to receive that which does.

What will be your first action in this direction?

Freedom from Limiting Beliefs

Freedom from Limiting Beliefs

Here’s the process in a nutshell:

Step 1 Identify the limiting beliefs that are holding
you back.
Step 2 Create new empowering replacement beliefs.
Step 3 Remove the limiting belief file from your
subconscious mind.
Step 4 Release the ‘emotional glue’ that surrounds and
compounds your limiting belief.
Step 5 Install your new positive belief in your
subconscious mind.
Step 6 Strengthen your new beliefs with simple exercises.

Make sure the ones you hold on to are aligned to your
visions and dreams and the magnificent truth of who
you are.

It’s not rocket science, but it is difficult to do alone or without great tools. My work with clients draws on several modalities and allows them to clear old beliefs at the subconscious level for real and lasting change and creates new neural pathways for the new beliefs and the behaviors that go along with them. It’s very liberating and exhilarating. Some may think this odd, but it’s my idea of a great time. After decades of working on myself, I decided to work on others as well. It’s equally fun and exhilarating! Accelerated change is thrilling. If you feel the same, leave a comment or call me to schedule a session.

Replace old patterns of self-defeating behavior with new patterns

Open the gate of change and growth.

“You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind” – Dale Carnegie

You are not your habits. You can replace old patterns of self-defeating behavior with new patterns, new habits of effectiveness, happiness, and trust-based relationships. I encourage you to open the gate of change and growth. – Stephen Covey

Habits and patterns can be replaced and new habits and patterns can be installed and supported with the combination of coaching, NLP, and Ericksonian Hypnosis.  I facilitate this for my clients.