The Hidden Power of Shadow Work: Healing Through Self-Compassion

This powerful episode dives deep into shadow work—not as something dark or frightening, but as a pathway to wholeness and authentic manifestation.

Shadow work is often misunderstood. Drawing from Carl Jung's psychological concepts, Dr. Norma reveals that your shadow isn't bad—it's simply hidden. These are aspects of yourself you've suppressed or rejected because somewhere along the way, you learned they weren't acceptable. Your shadow might show up as the part of you that desires rest but feels guilty, wants attention but labels itself selfish, or knows your power but hides to avoid being "too much."

When left unacknowledged, your shadow manifests through procrastination, overwhelm, people-pleasing, and self-sabotage. Dr. Norma walks you through a gentle three-step process for shadow integration: witnessing without judgment, approaching with curiosity instead of criticism, and offering compassion to these protected parts of yourself. The magic happens when you realize these shadow aspects contain untapped power—anger transforms into healthy boundaries, fear becomes wisdom, and jealousy points toward your deepest desires.

This episode isn't about fixing what's broken—it's about reclaiming what's been fragmented. "You are not broken. You are becoming whole," Dr. Norma reminds us. By embracing your full self, light and shadow, you stop the cycle of self-sabotage and start creating from your embodied truth. Your manifestations become more aligned when they come from this place of wholeness. Ready to transform the parts you've been hiding into your greatest source of power? This soul-nourishing conversation is your gentle invitation to begin.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction
• 1:07 Understanding Your Shadow Self
• 2:15 Recognizing Shadow Patterns
• 4:00 Three Steps for Shadow Integration
• 6:14 Shadow Integration and Wholeness
• 7:39 Closing and Working Together Opportunities

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to the Manifesting Latina podcast. I'm your host, dr Norma Reyes, a spiritual manifestation coach, and your guide to creating simple spiritual routines that bring more calm, peace and inspiration into your daily life. As a busy, ambitious Latina myself, I learned how to ditch the overwhelm by slowing down and connecting with my inner wisdom, and I want to teach you how to do the same. By listening to this podcast, you'll learn how to expand your mindset, your abundance and your ability to receive without the burnout. So if you're ready to step into your power, elevate your spiritual practice and make manifestation a way of life, you're in the right place. So let's get started. Hey, everyone, welcome back. Today I want to talk to you all about learning how to love your shadow, how to recognize it, integrate and heal the parts of yourself that you may have been avoiding, consciously or subconsciously. And if you're new here, I'm your host, dr Norma Reyes. And if you're new here, I'm your host, dr Norma Reyes, and I cannot wait to dive into this very sacred episode, where we will be diving into the topic of your shadow self. What is it, how to recognize it and why? It's not something to fear or even fix, but a powerful part of your wholeness, to love and integrate within you. If you have ever felt like you're self-sabotaging or you're stuck in the same frustrating cycles or just feeling disconnected from your magic, chances are there's a part of your shadow that's calling to be seen. So let's take a breath, open our hearts and gently go there.

Speaker 1: 2:09

What is the shadow? The shadow is a term that is often used and maybe some people don't really even know how to describe it. Some people think of shadow work as maybe like your dark self, or maybe even something that feels like kind of scary, but the shadow is a term that comes from the work from a psychologist named Carl Jung. It's all the parts of you that you've suppressed, rejected or disowned, usually because you were taught that they were unacceptable or lovable. Your shadow might include emotions like anger, jealousy, shame or fear. It might show up as part of you that wants to rest but feels guilty, or a part that desires attention but feels selfish for wanting to be seen, or even the part that knows that you are powerful but hides because they're scared of being too much. Your shadow is not bad, it is just hidden. It's parts of you that formed in protection, not destruction. And here's the thing If you don't acknowledge your shadow, it doesn't go away. It gets louder through procrastination, overwhelm, negative self-talk, people pleasing perfectionism, avoidance and even self-sabotage.

Speaker 1: 3:32

So how do you know if your shadow is coming up? How do you know if it's not your ego or maybe other things, or maybe even situations that you're in? Here's some ways for you to know how your shadow might be showing up, and that is if you are triggered by something or someone and overreact. Maybe it was something really small and simple and you explode. And then you look back and you're like, ooh yeah, I really did overreact on that. This is when you say yes, but you really did not want to do something and you really wish you said no. You feel stuck in guilt, resentment or comparison. You have strong emotional response that feels out of proportion. You keep repeating a pattern, even when you know better. Right, you keep getting yourself in a very similar cycle. Those are all signs that your shadow is trying to protect you or get your attention. Remember, all the things that we do are in protection of ourselves, but we may not know the right way to protect ourselves, or that we don't need protection anymore because we're not our younger self who needs protection. Okay, how to show your shadow self-compassion.

Speaker 1: 4:48

The most healing thing you can do is stop judging your shadow and start listening your shadow and start listening. So a three-step process you can do is starting by witnessing your shadow. When a strong emotion or pattern shows up, instead of shaming yourself, pause and say I see you, I hear you, I'm listening. For example, you can say something like I'm noticing a lot of jealousy right now. I wonder what part of me feels unseen or worthy. Next, get curious, not critical. Ask yourself what is this emotion trying to protect me from when did I first learn that this part of me wasn't safe or okay? What might this version of me need right now? And the last step is offer compassion. Talk to your shadow like you would your inner child. I understand why you feel this way. It's safe to be here. You're allowed to feel this. Sometimes, just saying of course I feel this way softens the grip of shame. So the three-step process is witnessing the shadow, getting curious, not critical, and offering compassion.

Speaker 1: 6:04

And the next thing is you need to know that integration is the path to wholeness, it's the path to wellness, it is the path to manifesting with ease. You don't need to fix your shadow. You need to welcome it in. When we integrate our shadow, we reclaim parts of our power. The anger it can become boundaries. The fear can become wisdom. That jealousy can point us to our deepest desires.

Speaker 1: 6:35

Your shadow isn't your weakness. It's your hidden strengths waiting to be honored. Here's a loving affirmation for your shadow work Place your hand on your heart and say I welcome all parts of me, light and shadow. I honor the ways I protected myself. I honor the ways I protected myself. I choose to listen, love and lead with compassion. My wholeness is my power. My wholeness is my power. Take a moment there and to remember you are not broken. You are becoming whole. The parts of you that you've rejected are still holding pieces of your magic. When you meet them with softness, you stop the cycle of self-sabotage, self-hate, self-criticism and start creating from your full, embodied truth.

Speaker 1: 7:39

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone you love. Leave a review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more people like you find the healing they need. And a friendly reminder to join my email list for moon updates, rituals and soul nourishing tools. If you're wanting deeper support, I offer two powerful ways to work with me. One is through a three-month monology reading package where I meet with you after completing a monology reading, we go over it and discuss the next three lunations that are coming up for you specifically, and I also offer bi-weekly one-to-one coaching over four months where we go deep into healing, integration and soul-led expansion.

Speaker 1: 8:23

I invite you to book a free discovery call. I'd love to hold space for you and your wholeness through my coaching, and I want to remind you that you are worthy of your light and your shadow. Until next time, keep shining and I send you lots of love and healing. Thank you for tuning in to the Manifesting Latina podcast. I hope today's episode has inspired you to expand your mindset, embrace your spiritual power and manifest with confidence. Remember, growth happens when you allow yourself to receive, and if you love this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with a friend who's ready to expand too. Until next time, keep believing, keep thriving and keep manifesting your best self.