03/10/2026
Carl Jung a swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, was renowned for his exploration of the human psyche. He introduced concepts such as the collective unconscious, archetypes and various writings on the 'shadow'. It is the foundation and base upon which Chakradance has been developed.
According to Jung, the 'shadow' represents the hidden parts of our personality that we suppress or deny because perhaps we were taught they were 'bad' or shameful, or to be feared or unacceptable (our anger, sadness, rage, fear or certain traits, emotions or desires - maybe simply to have voice and be heard was not allowed).
These parts for whatever reason, or from wherever they came from (family, society, culture, religion, etc etc) were ones we understood should never be shown or admitted to others,
Perhaps we just learnt over time to ignore or hide these aspects of self, because they conflicted with our self image, or societal expectations.
As they may be hidden - difficult for us to 'accept' or acknowledge within ourselves we may resist and react to those aspects when we see them mirrored in others.
Jung believed that 'integrating' these unconscious parts of ourselves 'the shadow' was crucial to growth and healing.
He emphasised the importance of recognising and reconciling these 'repressed/hidden/unacknowledged' parts of our ourselves; understanding their origins and bringing them into our awareness for integration in our psyche to achieve 'wholeness'.
He proposed that our symptoms can be the the body's language through which the unconscious speaks to us.
And so working with our bodies can help reveal the 'unconscious' for healing.
Body awareness (tuning into where these aspects of our shadow) may sit/be felt/stored in our bodies can help us to integrate these parts of self in conscious gentle ways without overwhelm or fear.
If suppressed or unprocessed emotions can live in our bodies through physical tension, discomfort, tightness, then this is where we can work and soften/ become aware and feel /move this in our bodies; the anxiety in our tight chest, the nervousness or fear in our stomachs, or the anger in our clenched jaw.
Through movement awareness practice, we can begin to become aware of these sensations and where they sit, connect to the underlying emotions/memories, and to create space (with gentleness, kindness and compassion) to release and soften (allow them to move through you/surface).
It helps to bridge the mind-body disconnect; those 'shadow' aspects which remain hidden in the unconscious can be accessed through somatic/body focused experiences.
Various modalities such as breathwork, chakradance, meditation, tapping, reiki, provide this 'space' to tune into our bodies to see what sits there and to bring gentle loving non judgemental awareness and intention.
We don't acknowledge or bring attention to them to shame, blame or rebuke/struggle with them as if they are our worst enemy.
The aim is to foster a deeper connection with ALL PARTS OF YOU, not just those we like or think we 'should' be, but those that we may reject, or hate/exp conflict within (even if not aware what those feelings/conflict is about).
We bring awareness so they don't direct our life and actions from the shadows, create turmoil and angst, inner conflict - unbeknownst to us. We don't walk through life projecting this pain/ rejection/rigidity, violence and anger onto others.
So in this way, we talk about such intentional practices to do this 'deeper' work as 'healing' or 'transformational' because they work to reveal those deeper parts of ourselves and bring and act from acceptance, compassion and conscious choice to our lives to make a difference.
It is this 'wholeness' and mind -body connection and integration that is a lifelong journey and practice.
