When some aspect of ourselves is not in the light of awareness, it becomes the shadow. And it has power over us to the extent that we are not looking at it or conscious of it. It becomes enacted through the protective structures. What is in our shadow experience is actually life energy itself held in a knot of contraction. When we shine the light of compassionate presence on it,  it starts to relax, open and release.

From Roberta:

I especially like the first sentence- the "shadow", and its power,  is not fixed or static, not different in that respect from any dharma; it is part of the mindfulness process; like Thich Nhat Hanh says, mindfulness is always  mindfulness of something; when we don't bring mindfulness to something inside ourselves, the shadow is created...

The third sentence is how we work with this with  NVC-  we recognize and embrace it as life energy itself held in a knot of contraction. We hold it, listen to it, step into its energetic flow,  and give it empathy. And,in  turning it inward to ourselves, we shine the light of compassionate presence on it,  it starts to relax, open and release. It will teach us what is so important to our beingness that it sticks around.

    With NVC, the next step is to incorporate the needs locked up in this shadow side into a request of ourself.

      This Dream Flow worksheet can help you!

Dream Flow Worksheet

Musings on a fine morning!

Roberta