Some seem to manifest their desires at will while others struggle with even the simple ones. If you are among the latter group, you must be wondering whether there is something wrong with you.
The answer to that is yes. Since you are already into manifesting, you should know that it is all about focus, belief, and maintaining a positive attitude all through the process. Unfortunately, for someone like you, this is not as simple and straightforward as you think it is. A shadow hangs over your mind or a shadow resides in your mind, to be more accurate, making your efforts go awry.
Have you heard about shadow self? It is the confluence of all the negative elements in your personality that you are ashamed of, afraid of, or uncomfortable with and hence disown. Without realizing it, you push them into the furthest corner of your mind, where they remain and create trouble for you unless you decide to do something about them.
As the shadow self becomes part of the subconscious, you are not even aware of its existence. When things don’t work out the way you want them to, even after putting in all your efforts, you can safely conclude that the shadow is the trouble-maker.
How to get rid of the shadow self? Carl Jung, the eminent psychologist, came up with shadow work to bring these bad elements out in the open and cleanse the mind. A Shadow work journal is an excellent tool to make this happen on your own. Armed with shadow work journal prompts, you can be on the path to recovery in no time.
Once the inner work is done, you too can manifest successfully at whim. This article helps you understand the process of shadow work healing to get you ready for manifestation. Here you will also find some thought-provoking shadow work journal prompts that will do the dirty work quickly and effectively.
Shadow work for manifestation
As you are having trouble manifesting, let’s assume that you have a flawed mindset with some undesirable elements in the subconscious. The goal of shadow work is to bring these parts out in the open, acknowledge and accept their existence, and find an amicable solution so that they are no longer negative or harmful.
How to do shadow work for manifestation? And, what are its benefits?
Shadow work helps you become resilient and develop a positive attitude. You will be aligned perfectly and all set for manifestation. One aspect you need to deal with when engaged in shadow work is to recognize the distortions in your psyche. Low confidence and self-worth, poor attitude, helpless feeling, ego, anxiety, addiction, abandonment issues, and emotional baggage from past trauma all need to be dealt with kid gloves.
Shadow work for manifestation also involves recognizing and healing inner wounds inflicted in your mind by others as well as yourself. When one or more of these shady aspects are present in your psyche, no wonder your manifestation is not succeeding.
Shadow work prompts for manifestation are specifically framed to unearth these negative elements and help you deal with them in the least disruptive manner possible.
Without further ado, here are some powerful and effective shadow work journal prompts to get you started on the shadow work.
Shadow work prompts for manifestation
- Do you recognize anything wrong with you or your life? Think hard and come up with some answers. If you can’t find anything, then your problems are more deep-set. Shadow work may be harder for you.
- Make a list of all the problems you usually encounter in your daily life. Consider one at a time and ask yourself whether it is possible to see them as opportunities.
- Can you answer the question “who am I?” truthfully? Try to disassociate your persona from what others or society have created for you. Recognize your true self without the trappings of the outside world.
- Do you often think about your future? Does it make you anxious, stressed out, or scared? What exactly is troubling you about tomorrow?
- Do you think that your contributions remain unrecognized? Do you expect a pat on the back from others? Do you think you were too timid and shy that people failed to see you at all? Is that making you dejected or angry?
- In your opinion, what are the worst character flaws a person can have? Do you have any of these? If yes, recall an instance when it surfaced in your behavior. What have you done about it?
- What are your triggers for discomfort, despair, and anger? How have these affected you and your relationship with others? How successful are you in keeping them under control?
- Do you get the feeling that you are being constantly judged by others? Can you look at yourself as an impartial observer and figure out how much of this feeling is real and how much is perceived? Now that you are aware of reality, how does it make you feel?
- Are you aware of your habit of judging others? You may have to search deeper as this may not be easily evident. What flaws do you judge others about? Do you have the same flaws?
- Remember the last time you felt let down. What was it about? How did it make you feel? What did you do about it? Do you think of it as a reflection of yourself or the other person?
- Who is your real-life hero? Or who is the most influential figure in your life? How much control do they have over how you live your life? Do you think anyone should have this power over you?
- Have you ever been jealous of another person? Recall the last time you felt jealous. What was it all about?
- What do you enjoy the most now and what makes you happiest? Do you sense a fear of foreboding lurking in the shadows? How does it make you feel? Does this ruin the whole experience?
- Recall the last time you tried to manipulate things to suit yourselves. Did you feel happy and successful then? Now, when you look back, how do you feel about it? Would you do it again?
- Do you think there is such a thing called healthy competition? Can competition ever be productive? Recall an instance when competition produced positive results. Have you experienced the ugly side of competition? Write about your thoughts on the topic.
- How does it make you feel when someone makes fun of your emotions? How do you respond when your feelings are downplayed, mocked at, or belittled? Dig deep down and view it from all possible angles.
- How do you deal with something that is upsetting and frustrating you despite your best efforts? Do you look for help from others? Is there someone in your life who will rush to help you? How do you bounce back from demoralizing episodes in life?
- Are you in the habit of running away from responsibilities? Do you think escape is a permanent solution? Why do you feel the urge to flee at the first sight of discomfort? How can you overcome this affliction?
- Do you like to be in charge of everything and everyone around you? Have you ever considered how this makes others feel? Don’t you think it is healthier to give more space to others and allow them to run their own lives?
- What would you like to say to the person who hurt you badly? Would you like to say this to the person face-to-face? If not, put all that you want to say in the form of a letter.
- Give your mind free rein and dig up all the dirt you can about yourself. Don’t try to hide or sugarcoat any of the negative traits you may come across. What would you like to say to this version of you? Write it as a letter and read it to yourself. Which version is the real you – the caring and thoughtful version or the monster? Explain your answer.
- How does it make you feel when others express their disagreement, disapproval, resentment, and anger in your presence? Do you agree with their views or how they express them? Explain.
- Do you have a goal that you keep postponing? Have you made plans to achieve this goal? If not, write down the steps you need to take to make it happen. Now that you know what to do, will you work towards your goal without wasting any more time? Why?
- Have you ever come across self-sabotaging or self-destructive behavior in yourself or others? How does it make you feel? Later on, when you look back at the episode, do you think there is any justification for it?
- When you suffer mistreatment at the hands of others, do you want to retaliate and get revenge? Or be kind and understanding and make them realize their mistakes? Have you tried either approach? Write about your experiences in this regard.
- How do you feel about someone who can manage to kill your enthusiasm in one single blow or word? Have you ever experienced such an incident? How did you deal with the situation? What is the right way to deal with such a person?
- Do you believe there is a constructive version of criticism? Do you think criticism can ever be said with positive intent? Have you come across constructive criticism? How did you react to it?
- Among your repertoire of emotions, which one/s do you find it hard to deal with and keep under control? How do you usually deal with it? Is there a better way to tackle the emotion? Do you think you can change your approach?
- How well can you get along with yourself? Or how well do you cope when alone? Do you think this is an important aspect of your personality? Why?
- Does the term “punishment” occupy a prominent position in your way of life? Do you think when someone does something wrong, intentionally or not, deserves punishment?
Bottom line
Manifestation works like magic when there are no pitfalls or roadblocks on the path. Often you may not even know about their existence and you are left disappointed when your manifestation attempts fail again and again. Instead of feeling disillusioned and abandoning manifestation, you should inward and cleanse your mindset of all its negative elements. This is what you can achieve with shadow work.
Shadow work is never an easy activity to attempt. To help you stay focused and on track to achieve what you set out to do, shadow work journal prompts are immensely helpful. Manifestation journal prompts are like your best friend who holds your hands while you sort out your problems.
Related:
- The Ultimate Manifestation Workbook to Attract Your Desires
- How to Manifest Abundance and Prosperity
- 3×33 Manifestation Method
- 30 Shadow Work Prompts for Trauma
- 75 Shadow Work Prompts For Healing
- 30 Shadow Work Prompts for Self-love
- 30 Shadow Work Prompts for Relationships
- 30 Journaling Prompts for Anxiety