Winter Solstice: Bringing the Darkness to Light

We are approaching the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year when our hemisphere begins the journey towards lightness. The final culmination of our shadow rising to the surface, asking to be noticed. During this time, we are meant to sit with our own darkness and explore our shadow self. If you put in the work, the solstice season can be a time of tremendous growth and healing.

“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”  – Carl Jung

Every person has a balance of light and dark. Too often our society focuses on “living in the lightness”, while ignoring the dark parts of ourselves that need tender loving care. In Psychology, the shadow is the part of us we try to hide and/or deny. It is the dark undercurrent of our being that insights fear, hate, heartbreak, distress, pride, envy, inaction, etc. As children we learn it as the monster in the closet, or my favorite, the troll under the bridge. As adults we apply it as self-sabotaging excuses, thoughts, and actions, or inactions. How does our society commonly treat the shadow? As children we learn to leave a nightlight on to keep us safe. As adults we change our reality – the monster under the bed does not exist, there is no such thing.

Sitting with the Shadow

What if we turn off the light, sit in our own darkness, and ask our monsters* to reveal themselves? When we sit with our shadow, we can overcome addictive habits, low self-esteem, destructive patterns, and both chronic and mental illnesses. We must greet our shadow self with open arms and get to know their every part. Ask what it wants, what it needs? If you are feeling sad this time of year, sit with your emotion. If you notice a destructive habit, sit with the habit’s birth. If you feel shame, sit with your remorse. This work it not easy and can take time, an entire lifetime even. It can be uncomfortable and scary. Trust that as you find the courage to face your darkness, healing will take shape. Sitting with the shadow is a true practice in self-love and compassion above all else. Below are a few examples of how to sit with your shadow self this season.

How to Practice Shadow Work:

1.     Pay attention: Acknowledge the swinging balance of light and dark within yourself

2.     Emotions: Notice your feelings to unbury the shadow

3.     Self-care: Practice self-compassion and self-love on the daily

4.     Meditate: Sit with yourself and notice the messages you receive

5.     Write: Journal, poetry, a letter, free form

6.     Create: Art, recipes, projects, etc.

7.     Dreams: Pay attention to any emotional patterns revealed by your dreams

These exercises can help guide you through the initial shadow discovery, however I highly recommend working with a qualified health professional to guide your work. Some inner demons are more complex and triggering than others and require a specific plan of care. Everyone has a different story and therefor a unique path to resolution. Remember that as you move through the practice to trust your intuition and to ask for help when you need it. Whether it be from myself for nutrition care or from a practitioner in another field. You are not alone on this journey.

Holistic Nutrition: Mind, Body, and Shadow

What does shadow work have to do with Holistic Nutrition? Everything! From a holistic standpoint, we must consider the mind, body, AND spirit of the individual. This work is especially important in healing your relationship with food because the shadow greatly influences how we nourish the mind and body. And here, I not only acknowledge our personal shadow, but the larger cultural norms that have been learned from media, family, and friends. For example, our cultural obsession with chronic dieting. This is a societal shadow expression meant to control and capitalize on our negative self-beliefs related to our bodies, image, and health. Imagine our world free from the negative influence of forces around us – the family member that greets us with an update on our weight, the infomercial on perfect body pills, or the rom com that glorifies the female protagonist’s eating disorder. This cultural obsession trickles down with varying influence into our concept of nourishment. When studied, diet culture perpetuates a restrictive/binge behavior that gravely harms our emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing. I am so grateful for the champions in the nutrition and wellness field working to dismantle this societal shadow, making way for individual healing. And we must acknowledge a certain level of privilege (time, money, status, health, etc.) in having the resources to heal.

Having a positive relationship with your shadow self, understanding who they are and what they want, is pivotal in any healing process. You can eat all your veggies and follow every recommendation, but block your healing with a negative thought emanating from your shadow self: “I’m never going to get better”, “I have to be good”, “I’m not worthy”, “I’m hopelessly flawed, in need of chronic repair”. As a practitioner, I help my clients notice their self-imposed limitations and remind them of the endless possibilities that lay ahead. We work together to bring the light and dark into harmony.

Finding Harmony

What does harmony with your shadow look like? This holiday season, imagine drinking one more glass of wine (or not), eating a few more holiday cookies (or not), or skipping a workout (or not) and feeling TOTALLY fine about it. It's like giving your shadow self a high five and saying "I see you, I love you, and I am living a beautiful life.” No shame, no guilt, no judgement because we have chosen to acknowledge the shadow, learn what it needs, and do the work to heal. Everyone has a unique path arriving to the same destination of self-acceptance – the harmony of light and dark. Harmony is realizing that we are dynamic beings with ever changing needs, our worthiness does not depend on our food choices or health status, and we have limitless potential to heal from personal discord.

The Root of Resolutions

Which brings me to New Year’s Resolutions. If you have ever made a New Year’s Resolution, then you have interacted with your shadow self. Every year, we are asked "what negative pattern in your life do you wish to change?" I ask that you think about the root of your resolution this year. Is this resolution coming from a place of self-loathing or self-love? Instead of reacting harshly to a piece of ourselves we don’t like, maybe we can be more gentle? In terms of nutrition and wellness, maybe less restriction and more reframe? Not none, maybe less. Not all at once, maybe one step at a time.

I wish you a peaceful start to the New Year! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

To your health and harmony,

Megan