JoeyJoelle

Sooooo, remember in my last post when we talked about how sometimes we’re our own biggest obstacles?

I often found myself asking God and the Universe, “Why hasn’t it happened yet?” I knew I was putting in the work.

But the truth?

I was only doing the surface work. The vision boards, life scripting, the prayers for abundance. That was cute and all, but I was ignoring all that was hiding in the shadows. The baggage. The unhealed wounds. The fear. The shame. The voices from my past.

I realized it was time to get into the shadows.

But…What is Shadow Work?

Shadow work is the process of exploring the unconscious mind; the parts of us that we often keep hidden. It’s about facing the parts of you that you’ve tried to bury: your triggers, your toxic patterns, the beliefs you inherited from people that may be limiting us.

Shadow work is essential because it helps us understand the root of our problems. When we confront these hidden aspects of ourselves, we clear the path for real growth and transformation. By identifying what’s holding us back we can take actionable steps to move beyond them.

By embracing shadow work, we empower ourselves to break free from self-imposed limitations and open ourselves to the blessings that are rightfully ours. So, allow me to share some of the ways that I’ve been doing shadow work.

Alright, let’s get to it.

Brutally Honest Self-Reflection

I used to hate silence. I always had a podcast on, music playing, or somebody on the phone. Because when it got quiet, my thoughts got loud. I honestly would say that my inner voice was always yelling at me. And it would yell the meanest and ugliest things at me.

It was constantly telling me that I had to jump through hoops to prove that I was lovable, desirable, capable. And often times I did. It would push me to go above and beyond. But that kind of motivation? It’s rooted in pain, not alignment.

Knowing that I wanted to move different, I realized I had to think different. Since then I check in with myself regularly. I ask myself the following questions:

Where do these thoughts come from?
Why am I doing this?
Who am I doing it for?
Is this in alignment with my highest self?

And I had to look further than the first answer that came to mind, and be brutally honest with myself to understand what is hiding underneath it all.

Journaling

When I talk about journaling, your mind might wonder off to the aesthetically pleasing journaling like you see on Pinterest. But when it comes to shadow work it’s not about making things look pretty. This also applies for journaling.

To reach the deeper parts of me, I would do something I’d like to call mindless journaling — which basically meant I’d pull out my pen and starting writing on things that were happening in my life that I didn’t like.

I would ask the same questions as I would during my brutally honest self reflection, except now I would write them out.

Next thing I know, I would be from a version of myself that I abandoned years ago. The girl who swallowed her voice. Who thought being low-maintenance made her more lovable. Who didn’t know she could want more without being “ungrateful.”

Journaling made the patterns more visible, which in turn allowed me to call out my inner critic, and rewrite the narrative. It wasn’t not about perfection. It’s about truth. And the truth will set you free—but first, it might hurt you. Hell, it might even piss you the fuck off.

Feeling

I know you might be thinking: feeling sounds obvious. But is it really?

For the longest time, I thought I was just “busy” or “treating myself,” but truthfully? I was actively practicing escapism. Anxious? I’d doomscroll. Lonely? Call people, or dive into productivity mode the minute sadness started creeping in.

Shadow work taught me to pause and actually feel what’s coming up—without trying to escape it. Sitting with your sadness, anger, jealousy, or fear might feel uncomfortable, but it’s necessary. Emotions aren’t meant to be fixed or shoved down—they’re meant to be honored and heard. Now, instead of avoiding them, I ask, “What are you trying to tell me?” That small shift has helped me build real emotional resilience and stop abandoning/shaming myself when things get heavy.

Now that you’ve read all of this, you might still be wondering what’s the point of shadow work. Let me put it like this: The Universe doesn’t like clutter. It wants you to make space to receive those blessings. So, let’s call shadow work the spiritual decluttering. I mean, how else is there gonna be room to receive what you ask for if you’re still full of fear, doubt and old beliefs that do not match where you want to go?

And of course, these are human emotions. They might not ever go entirely away, and that’s okay. Important is that we acknowledge and learn how to navigate through the shadows. I promise, what’s on the other side of shadow work is not just healing: it’s freedom.