7 Tips for Psychic Protection

Once you open yourself up to working on your psychic abilities you’ll probably notice that you’re more in tune with subtle energies all around you. This is great most of the time but can also be troublesome when it’s negative or unwelcomed energy.

When you’re honing your psychic abilities it’s important that you learn ways to cleanse yourself after challenging psychic work, ground yourself, and protect yourself from unwanted energies.

In fact, you should perform some sort of psychic protection ritual anytime you perform an intuitive or psychic act. Leaving yourself so open may be seen as a welcome mat for negative energy and spirits.

I’m going to share simple and effective techniques with you so you’re able to protect yourself in a way that won’t block you off from all the positive effects of your newfound psychic abilities!

First, let’s cover some clues to know if you’ve ever experienced any negative side effects from doing psychic work. Keep reading for some common signs.

Have you experienced negative side effects from performing psychic work?

It’s true that there are many reasons you could experience the symptoms below. To be sure it was from practicing your psychic abilities, pay attention to your mood and emotional status on days you’ve been performing any psychic work.

• You feel anxious, nervous, or restless like you can’t focus on anything. This may indicate that you need to ground yourself more before practicing psychic work.

• You feel a heavy cloud of negativity for no reason at all that you can’t shake. This could mean that you picked up some negative energy from a lower-level spirit while performing psychic work.

• You feel a wave or attack of pessimistic thoughts about yourself. This might mean you’ve left yourself too open and receptive to others and are experiencing a psychic attack. People can knowingly or unknowingly psychically attack you.

• You’re receiving messages all the time and feel distracted and overwhelmed by them. This indicates that you need to learn techniques to better control when and how you receive psychic information. If you’re empathic, you likely identify with this!

How to protect yourself during psychic work

Shield Meditation

Create a psychic shield around yourself before practicing any psychic work or at the start of each day. If you’re very sensitive to the thoughts and energy of others you’ll find this tool very helpful! One popular meditation shielding technique is a white light meditation.To perform a white light shielding meditation, sit, close your eyes, get comfortable, and begin by focusing on your breath. Imagine your crown chakra (located right above your head) bright, white, and growing bigger with every breath. Next, imagine a cord of light stretching from your crown chakra out of your room, and out into the stars above you. With each inhale imagine light from this cord coming to your crown chakra and with each exhale visualize this white light creating a glowing white shield around your body. Continue this meditation until your shield is complete. You can visualize your shield anytime throughout the day as a reminder that you’re protected.

Crystals

There are a variety of protective stones available to you. The most effective are usually dark or black in color. Try having one near any time you practice psychic work or simply carry one around with you throughout your day for added protection. Here’s a short list of some of the most effective protective stones:

• Fire Agate: This stone is especially helpful at shielding you from negative thoughts from others and psychic attacks.

• Black Tourmaline: This stone is helpful at blocking negative energy of all kinds, it is also very grounding.

• Hematite: This stone is great for protecting and balancing your auric field. It is especially helpful for empaths and psychics who feel other people’s energy.

• Obsidian & snowflake obsidian: This stone does wonders for releasing and letting go of negative thoughts and energy. This stone will come in handy if you’ve picked up negative energy from a darker spirit and you’re having a hard time getting rid of it.

Salt

Cleanse, practice, repeat! Cleansing the energy of yourself and your workspace is key while doing psychic work and salt is a super simple and powerful protector and cleanser. Like I mentioned above, by opening yourself up, you may also be opening yourself up to some lower-level energy.Here are a few ways to use salt as a protective and cleansing tool:

• Create a mixture of salt and water to spray around the perimeter of your home and around yourself.

• You can also just sprinkle some salt around your house, this doesn’t work as well for cleansing yourself though!

• Cleanse your psychic tools (oracle cards, tarot cards, pendulum, etc.) in a bowl of salt (no water for this one!) every once in a while to keep them energetically sound.

• Take a salt bath! This is not only relaxing but will help wash away any negative vibes you’ve picked up.

Recruit the help of your favorite angels, guides & deities

This is a super powerful psychic protection technique that’s often overlooked. Your guides, angels, and beloved deities are always at the ready to help and protect you, but you have to ask! Place a picture or a reminder of some kind of your guides, favorite angles, or respected deities in your workspace, this will serve as a reminder to call upon them for assistance and protection during psychic work.

Ground yourself

One issue with honing your psychic abilities is that you may start to feel flighty and restless like you don’t belong here on the physical plane. Bad news, you’re still needed here and you can’t take off just yet! If you feel like your head is in the clouds call upon the nurturing and protective energy of Gaia after opening yourself up psychically. Click here to check out a previous blog post with lots of tips for getting grounded.

Cleansing Smoke

There are a variety of plants and herbs that can help cleanse your space and yourself. Bonus, some of them smell great too! Giving yourself a quick smoke bath in your favorite cleansing herb is a great way to “wash off” any residual negative energy from something you picked up while out or during a psychic reading. Click here to learn more about making your own cleansing smoke stick and which herbs are best suited for protection.

Prayer, mantra & positive affirmations

Super simple but very powerful, this is another protection technique that is often overlooked. The simple act of taking a few quiet moments to recite a prayer of protection can go a long way. Similar to asking your guides and angels for help, simply speaking it aloud and asking for what you need will help a lot. Here are some suggested mantras and positive affirmation to use during psychic work:

• I am safe and protected.

• I am surrounded by white protective light.

• I open myself up to only the highest beings of love and light.

• My guides and angels are always protecting me.

Try a variety of these tools out to know which ones work best for you. You might find that all seven bring some extra brightness into your day!

You are Psychic! How to Determine What Kind of Psychic Gift You Have

You have psychic abilities. We all do. Some of our psychic gifts are more pronounced than others, but we all have them. The best place to start when it comes to making your psychic gifts more effective is knowing what kind of psychic you are.

The way that we each receive psychic information varies. Just because you don’t see premonitions of the futures does not mean that you’re not psychic! Some of us intuit psychic information through touch, feel, sight, and even smell. Once you determine what kind of psychic you are, you’ll be able to perfect and hone your abilities.

Let’s find out what kind of psychic you are so you can start mastering your psychic abilities! I’ll break down signs to look for each psychic category and a few ways for you to sharpen your skills.

What kind of psychic are you?

As you read through this list, keep in mind that It is entirely possible that you contain gifts from more than just one of these psychic categories. Many of us have two to three that stand out, or, you may have one that is very prominent.

If you haven’t been practicing your psychic abilities you may not be receiving fully formed messages from the other side just yet, and that’s perfectly ok! Determine which of the psychic skills listed below pique your interest, start paying closer attention to that ability in yourself, try out some of the suggested “fine-tuning tips,” and see what happens! If you do have that psychic ability you’ll likely notice that you become more sensitive to it.

A little note: the Latin word “clair” translates to clear, which is why each of the psychic abilities starts the same. I’ve added the English translation to break each one down.

Clairvoyance // Clear Seeing

Clairvoyance is the most commonly referenced of the clairs and is likely one you’ve heard mentioned most often. Don’t be fooled by the term's popularity. It certainly isn’t the most common form of psychic ability!Clairvoyance is the ability to see things before they happen. If you’re clairvoyant, you may have intuitive hits that include seeing visions of future events or having dreams about future events.How to fine-tune your clairvoyant abilities:

• Write down any visions you have so you can cross-reference their accuracy if/when they happen.

• Keep a dream journal.

• Practice third eye meditations often with the help of crystals like amethyst to help open your third eye.

Clairaudience // Clear Hearing

If you fall into the clairaudient category, you’re likely very sensitive to sound and may even get different feelings from sounds. Practiced clairaudients may hear messages from loved ones who have passed on, music from the other side, or hear about the future. If you’ve ever heard voices or music when there are none to be heard you may be clairaudient.How to fine-tune your clairaudient abilities:

• Try sound healing with gongs or singing bowls.

• Keep a journal of how certain sounds make you feel or any messages you hear.

• Practice sound healing meditations often.

Clairsentience // Clear Feeling

If you’re clairsentient, you’re also likely an empath or consider yourself very empathic. Clairsentients can feel the energy of others with ease through their energetic field or aura. You may even have strong feelings about the well-being of plants and animals too. If you’re the type of person that knows that someone is no good immediately upon meeting them, you’re likely clairsentient.How to fine-tune your clairsentient abilities:

• Experience Reiki and consider learning more about Reiki and the auric field.

• Keep a journal to record any intuitive hits you receive about people you come in contact with.

• Practice aura and energy meditations often.

Clairtangency // Clear Touching

Clairtangency is also referred to as psychometry and is the ability to receive intuitive hits from holding different objects. Many people that are clairsentient are also clairtangent, not always, but there are many overlaps between the two. The objects that clairtangents read carry the same energy that clairsentients pick up on. You may receive intuitive hits from holding objects through feeling or visions. Think about the last time you were in an antique store or someone’s home with a lot of older items, how did it feel? If you’ve ever had a strong sense or vision from holding an object, you may be clairtangent.How to fine-tune your clairtangent abilities:

• Keep a journal with any intuitive hits you receive from touch.

• Have friends or family test you by giving you different objects to hold, check with them to see if any intuitive hits you receive are accurate.

• Practice meditations while holding different stones and objects and be aware of how each meditation feels different based on the object.

Claircognizance // Clear Knowing

This psychic ability is a little tougher to pin down and to describe. Claircognizants know things, from either the past or the future, and may not understand why or how they have the information. Unlike clairvoyants, claircognizants may not see a vision, they simply know. If you’ve ever had a strong feeling of knowing something to be true without anyone having told you, you may be claircognizant.How to fine-tune your claircognizant abilities:

• Keep a journal for anything you know all of a sudden, so you can cross-reference it for accuracy later.

• Begin to trust your instincts more rather than questioning them.

• Practice crown chakra and third eye meditations often.

Clairalience // Clear Smelling

Smells are powerful and one of our strongest ties to our memories. Though this psychic ability may seem strange, it’s not surprising that scent can invoke a strong intuitive hit. Seasoned clairaliences receive messages through smells, even if there are no actual smells present. If you’ve ever become overcome with the scent of a loved one that has passed on this not only may indicate that you’re clairalient but that your loved one is nearby.How to fine-tune your clairalient abilities:

• Keep a journal to record any intuitive hits you have that include smell, be sure to include where you were and what you were doing at the time too as this may have something to do with the intuitive hit.

• Surround yourself with scents you enjoy like, herbs, plants, flowers, or essential oils. Record how they make you feel.

• Practice third eye meditations often with the intention set to receive intuitive hits through scent.

Clairgustance // Clear Tasting

Like clairalience, clairgustance involves one of your senses, taste. Not always one of the most pleasant psychic abilities, if you fall into the clairgustance category, you may taste things when you don’t have anything in your mouth. Odd as it may seem, these mystery tastes may be related to intuitive hits. For example, if you’ve ever experienced a familiar taste that took you back to childhood and you weren’t eating anything, you may be clairgustant. How to fine-tune your clairgustant abilities:

• Practice mindful eating to become more in tune with your palette and any feelings you receive from different tastes.

• Keep a journal to record any intuitive hits you receive through taste. Remember, you may not actually be eating anything when you receive a hit of this nature!

• Practice third eye meditations often with the goal in mind to receive intuitive hits through taste.

If you love visuals, below you can find an infographic with some of the psychic abilities that we went through:

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Opening your third eye will help to hone any psychic ability listed above!

How to Open Your Crown Chakra & Know When it’s Blocked

Your crown chakra, known as Sahasrara in Sanskrit, is the highest of the seven chakras in the traditional chakra system. It’s located on the crown of your head and is the center of your connection with the Universe and with your highest self.It’s where you’re able to channel messages from the divine, access higher states of consciousness, and deeply trust the Universe. An open crown chakra helps you connect with something greater than yourself, experience the interconnectedness of all beings, and know that you are truly taken care of by an abundant, loving Universe.When your crown chakra is blocked, it may manifest as:

• Feeling disconnected from the Universe

• Feeling disconnected from magic

• Experiencing loneliness

• Feeling like life is meaningless

• Disconnection from your spiritual side

• Experiencing migraines and headaches

• Strong attachment to material possessions and achievements

If any of those sounds like you, don’t worry. Our chakras are ever fluid, just like us, and they can change from day to day. Scroll down to get eight ways to unblock your crown chakra and experience a connection with the divine.

Slow down

Are you stuck in the “grind?” Waking up, going to work, taking care of all the necessary human things in life but not tending to your inner world?The first thing you can do to open your crown chakra is to simply give it space to breathe by carving out more time in your day to just be. To read a good book, take a salt bath, or take a leisurely walk with the purpose of just experiencing the pleasure of the outdoors rather than getting somewhere.

Do a ritual

Maybe it’s been a while since you sat at your sacred space and made time for magick. That’s okay! Open your crown chakra by doing a ritual that is meaningful to you, or try this simple one.You’ll need:

• Purple candle

• Pen

• Piece of paper

On your paper, write “I connect with the Universe” or a similar phrase. Create a sigil out of the phrase by removing all of the repeating letters and vowels, and connecting the lines together into a symbol.

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Breathe that intention into your sigil. Take a moment to visualize how you will feel when your crown chakra is open and energy is flowing freely.

Then, light your candle, and burn your sigil over it as you continue to focus on your intention. You might like to say, “As I burn this paper, I connect with the Universe.”

You can rewrite your sigil on another page and place it on your altar as an ongoing prayer to the Universe.

Affirmations

The crown chakra is not associated with a bija (seed) mantra like the rest of your chakras. Try meditating on one of the affirmations below instead.

• I am deeply connected with the Universe

• I trust the flow of the Universe

• I am a channel for divine wisdom

• I am a channel for divine light

• I am always open to receiving messages from the Universe

• I am magic

• I am light

• I am a deeply spiritual being

Use scents

Try using one or more of the oils below on your skin, in your bath, or in a diffuser to open Sahasrara:

• Frankincense for tranquility and meditation

• Vetiver to connect with the divine and your own spiritual nature

• Sandalwood to quiet your mind and ego

• Helichrysum to help you access higher spiritual states

• Palo Santo for healing, purification, and opening up to higher spiritual realms (be sure it comes from a sustainable and ethical source)

Learn more about balancing your chakras with aromatherapy and crystals from this past blog post.

Meditate

Find a comfortable seat and lengthen your spine from your tailbone to your crown. Start to breathe deeply, focusing on sending your breath to a white flower at the crown of your head.

As you continue to breathe, visualize this flower blossoming open, opening the crown of your head as a channel to the Universe, letting the bright white light of the divine enter your energy field.

When you feel complete, close with a deep breath in and a long breath out of your mouth.

You can also try one of our guided meditations here.

Crystals

Try working with rutilated quartz, clear quartz, sugilite, selenite, or amethyst to help you open your crown chakra. Meditate with them, place them on your altar or by your pillow while you sleep, and journal with them to see what comes up around what’s blocking your crown chakra.

Yoga poses

As we move up the spine to the higher chakras, they become more affected by meditation than by physical postures. But there are still some yoga poses you can use to open Sahasrara:

Headstand

This pose directly activates your crown chakra. It restores the flow of energy in your body and inverts the flow of blood towards your crown. If you have trouble balancing in headstand, try doing this pose against the wall— you’ll still get the benefits!

Savasana

The most important yoga pose. As you come into savasana, set your intention to open your crown chakra. Then remind yourself that it is safe to relax completely, and release into your savasana.

Half or full lotus pose

Lotus pose helps balance the body and mind, helping you tap into higher consciousness. Find a comfortable seat, and start in half lotus. If you’d like to go deeper, try the full version.

Pray

Send a simple prayer into the Universe: “Please help me connect with you. I am open and willing to receive messages.” Try saying this prayer or a similar prayer that resonates with you each morning when you wake up.

Breaking Down the Yamas & Niyamas

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that there is a lot more to yoga than just asana, or physical postures.

In classical yoga philosophy, we use something called the Patanjali’s eight-fold path for guidance. These eight limbs, or steps, help us reach the state of ecstasy and deep connection with the divine known as samadhi.

Patanjali’s eight-fold path for guidance are:

• Yamas

• Niyamas

• Asana

• Pranayama

• Pratyahara

• Dharana

• Dhyana

• Samadhi

In this blog, I’ll be breaking down the first two limbs: the yamas and the niyamas.

Yamas

The first limb, the yamas, are about personal practices that relate to our interactions with others and to the outer world. They are:

• Ahimsa, nonviolence

• Satya, truthfulness

• Asteya, non-stealing

• Brahmacharya, moderation

• Aparigraha, non-attachment

Ahimsa

This is probably the most well-known of the yamas (you probably know a yoga studio, clothing line, or juice bar named after this one, even if you didn’t know what it meant until now), with good reason.

Ahimsa isn’t just about a lack of violence, it’s about active compassion. To connect with this principle, ask yourself how you can bring more compassion into your relationship with yourself and each interaction with others.

Satya

Satya, truthfulness, speaks to not just honesty but to speaking your personal truth. To me, this principle is super connected to the throat chakra.

What does it feel like when your throat chakra is balanced? When you aren’t afraid to speak your truth, even when it’s uncomfortable? This is satya.

Asteya

Asteya, non-stealing, is about not taking what isn’t ours. This practice isn’t just about stealing physical items. Most of us wouldn’t steal a bracelet or a snack from a store. But what about stealing someone’s ideas? What about when you get extra change at the store or when a teacher you love accidentally registers you for an online course you never paid for? What then?

Coming back to this principle of non-stealing is a guiding light.

Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is all about moderation, or as I like to think of it, balance. It’s an invitation to develop a self-care practice and most importantly, to remember to feed all parts of yourself.

It’s a reminder to come back to your center. To make space in your life for dancing and meditating, for green juice and French fries, for deep conscious connection and memes—or whatever else looks like balance for you.

Aparigraha

It’s really hard to practice aparigraha. The idea of non-attachment is that it’s none of your business how your work is received. Whatever it is that you put into the world, do it for the joy of creating, for the joy of connecting, for the joy of doing the thing, not for some end result.

We can do this in all areas of our lives: our interactions with our friends, families, and partners, our careers, our passion projects, everything.

Can you experience pleasure and be present in each moment, rather than being attached to what may happen in the future?

Aparigraha also refers to not being possessive or hoarding. It’s an invitation to allow yourself, your possessions, and your relationships to be in a constant state of flow.

Niyamas

The second limb, the niyamas, are about personal practices that relate to our inner world. They are:

• Saucha, purity

• Santosha, contentment

• Tapas, self-discipline

• Svadhyaya, self-study and inner exploration

• Ishvara Pranidhana, surrender to God/Goddess

Saucha

Saucha can refer to the purity of the body, but more importantly, it’s about the purity of mind. This is an invitation to explore your thought patterns and limiting beliefs: What’s holding you back here? What thoughts take up the real estate of your mind, and are they serving you? Do judgment, fear, and lack consume your thoughts?

Saucha asks you to look at what’s really going on in your mind, and heal your thoughts.

Santosha

Santosha is about you—what you have and how you feel about it. It’s an invitation to be happy and content with everything that you have (which is a huge feat in a world that is always encouraging you to be unsatisfied and strive for more).

Think of santosha as embodying more lunar, yin energy: the energy of presence, of being, of contentment.

Tapas

Tapas is self-discipline. What is it that you want in life and are you willing to do what it takes to get there? It’s about showing up for yourself and really doing the work: sending those emails, grinding out that report, finishing your work instead of going to that happy hour.

It’s also about doing the work on yourself, by staying on your healing journey and doing the more physical work like eating healthy, practicing yoga every day, and meditating every day.

When you think of tapas, think of the Chariot in the tarot. This is about pushing forward in service of your greater vision.

Svadhyaya

Svadhyaya is key to your spiritual practice.

Who are you, really? What do you value? What are your deepest desires? What are your greatest fears? What brings you joy and purpose?

This niyama is all about learning about yourself and exploring your inner ocean.

Practices like meditating, journaling, shadow work, astrology, past life regression, and divination can all be part of svadhyaya.

Ishvara Pranidhana

Surrender to the energy of a higher power, whatever that means to you: whether it’s Source, Goddess, the Universe, God, or something else.

Practicing all of the other niyamas will help you get into a state where you are able to surrender to the Universe. Where you trust the constant flow of the Universe and know that it is an abundant and loving place where more magic than you could ever imagine is unfolding all the time.

Purify your mind. Practice gratitude. Do what you can with tapas. Explore your inner oceans. And then, it’s time to lay it all at the feet of the Universe and let magic take over.

5 Simple Summer Solstice Rituals

Litha, or the Summer Solstice, is one of the four solar festivals, celebrating the height of the season. Summer Solstice, of course, celebrates the height of summer: the longest day of the year.

This solstice is about honoring the vibrant, healing energy of the sun. But it’s also about honoring the duality of light and dark as we start to shift into the days getting shorter.

Honoring the sabbats with rituals is a beautiful way to tune into yourself, nature and connect with Mother Earth. You can learn more about honoring each sabbat by reading this past post. Scroll down for five summer solstice rituals to help you celebrate this day! And if you want more ritual ideas you can click here to check out a past post.

Burn Herbs on Your Altar

Fire, naturally, is heavily associated with the summer solstice. One beautiful way to honor this sabbat is to burn herbs on your altar. As you burn them, give thanks for the bounty of Mother Earth and for the healing, vibrant energy of the sun. Some herbs traditionally associated with Litha are:

• Lavender

• Vervain

• Mint

• Basil

• Fennel

• Rosemary

• St. John’s Wort

• Mugwort

• Iris

• Honeysuckle

• Mistletoe

Explore Your Relationship with the Sun Archetype

The sun represents the ego, the self, and the way you shine in the world. Try this five-card tarot spread (you can also use oracle cards if tarot isn’t your thing!) to explore your relationship with your ego and how you show up in the world.

• How is my ego keeping me stuck?

• What is my ego telling me that isn’t true?

• How can I be more visible in the world?

• What blocks me from sharing my gifts with the world?

• My mantra and medicine for working with my ego

Charge Magical Tools in the Sun

At this solstice, the sun is said to be at its most healing and revitalizing. It can be powerful to charge any divination tools in the sun during the day, including (but not limited to!) crystals, tarot and oracle cards, and any talismans you have.

And on that note, don’t forget to get outside and soak up the sun’s powerful rays for yourself! Your magical tools aren’t the only things that can benefit from spending time outside. Lay on the grass and savor the feeling of the sun on your skin.

Meditate

Connect with your inner sun by meditating on your solar plexus chakra. Find a comfortable seat and breathe deeply into your belly. Visualize a golden sun growing brighter and stronger on your solar plexus chakra with each exhale.

You may like to incorporate the bija mantra for the solar plexus chakra, Ram (pronounced RUM), into your meditation by chanting it either mentally or out loud with each exhale.

Make an Altar

Making an altar is a beautiful way to honor Litha. Get creative and make it yours! Some ideas of things you might like to put on your altar are:

• Elderflower

• Any of the herbs from the list above

• The sun tarot card

• Tiger’s eye, goldstone, and/or citrine crystals.

• Summer fruits and vegetables

• Any summer flowers you’d like (try sunflowers if you have them)

• Yellow, orange, and/or red candles

• A mirror

Your altar is the perfect place to meditate, to give thanks to the sun, and to manifest what you want to create in the next 6 months.

To learn more about the different sabbats on the wheel of the year (plus, get a free printable), click here.

6 Signs Your Shadow Work Practice Is Working

We’re often encouraged to ignore our darkness. To pretend that we don’t have inner demons, that we can be all love and light, that we can be “healed” without diving into our wounds.

The truth is that we can’t, and that’s where shadow work comes in.

Shadow work is the conscious practice of exploring your dark feelings, often ignored in your subconscious, that you feel ashamed and afraid of.

The aim of shadow work is to bring that darkness to the light and integrate it into your whole self. So that you can heal and become whole.

Click to learn more about what shadow work is and 4 simple steps to get started with it.

But once you start working with your shadow, how do you know that it’s really working?

This post will share 6 signs that your shadow work practice is working, moving you towards being a more healed, whole human being.

1. Other people’s behaviors don’t trigger you like they used to. They no longer create intense emotional responses or cause you to go into your head. You notice their behaviors, of course, but no longer feel a need to react or respond.

2. You drop blame and denial. When a shadow aspect of yourself shows up, you don’t deny it and you no longer blame yourself or the person who may have triggered you. You’re learning to acknowledge and accept your shadow, so you may even feel grateful to those who have helped shine a light on it so that it can be transformed and healed.

3. You judge other people (and yourself) less. When you’ve gone into the depths of your own darkness and learned to offer yourself complete acceptance and forgiveness, it’s so much easier to offer that to other people, as well.

You’re able to be much more accepting and compassionate towards others because you realize that your judgments of others stem from your own unhealed places. Once you heal those wounds, other people’s behaviors don’t phase you.

4. You recognize that you have become part of someone’s shadow. According to shadow work expert Jessi Huntenberg, the shadow work journey starts as what was done to you— all the conditioning and fear and wounds you have from your family, your childhood, from society— and slowly you get to a point where you realize that you are someone else’s shadow, too.

When you can realize this and offer yourself forgiveness for the people that you hurt when you were operating from a place of your own wounds, you know that your shadow work is working.

5. You’re no longer afraid to be seen. So many of us have wounds around visibility. We’re afraid to be seen. We feel like if people knew this or that about us, they wouldn’t love us. They would see how “unworthy” we really are.

When your shadow work is really working, that shame around the darkest parts of you begins to dissipate. It gets transformed into acceptance and love. And so you’re no longer afraid to be seen as you really are because you accept and love yourself fully and wholly.

6. Your life has become more peaceful. This is what we all want, right? Shadow work can get you there. Your life becomes more peaceful when you fully embrace and love ALL parts of yourself— the parts that are easy to love and the parts that are really difficult. Your interactions with others, your relationships with others, and your relationship with yourself all become a lot more positive.

What is your relationship with shadow work? Which of these signs are you experiencing?