When we are doing Shadow work, it is not enough just to have insight about the qualities we push away and how they might serve us. Since our ego pushed those qualities away in order to protect us, it is going to resist any attempt to accept, much less embrace them. Whether the qualities are viewed as “dark” or “golden,” the resistance runs deep and can be visceral. It is stored in our emotions and our physical and energetic bodies.

For example, welcoming anger can feel terrifying and even shameful. The accompanying sensations can feel trembly and shaky and hot, like a wave of powerful energy that we cannot control.

Expressing our true selves and being seen can bring about fear, and self doubt, which can manifest as a dark, hard pit in the stomach or constriction in our throat.

The idea of putting one’s self first, asserting one’s own rights or needs, and the associated fear of being seen as thoughtless or selfish or entitled, can bring about a lot of tightness and nervous energy in the chest. You might feel a strong urge to hide or disappear.

Whatever the sensations and emotions you experience, you have to practice meeting, welcoming, and getting comfortable with them, if you want to stop being so reactive; if you want to open up that space between stimulus and response so that you have the power to choose your response.

This visualization is intended to help you do that. You can return to it anytime with any shadow quality you are integrating to help you make space for and welcome the accompanying emotions and sensations.

When we resist these feelings and sensations we only give them more power. And, when we project resentment and blame onto those whose actions trigger such feelings, we make the external world responsible for our actions and how we feel. Instead, we can take responsibility for our unintegrated material and become the agents of our own lives, which is extremely empowering.

We can learn to see our triggers as a gift; they show us what still needs to be welcomed and integrated for us to be more whole; they are the base material for the sacred alchemy of turning our struggles into our gold.