40 Powerful Affirmations for Shadow Work

Using affirmations for shadow work can be really beneficial to your practise and mindset during your journey of self-discovery.

Positive affirmations are not only confidence-building and great for feeling more positive in general, they also help soothe and comfort us during uncomfortable times. And, at times, shadow work definitely falls into that category.

What is shadow work?

Shadow work is the practise of discovering and meeting your own shadow.

Your shadow is the side of you that you keep hidden; it encompasses the traits you’ve been taught to suppress and keep, well, in the shadows.

I go into a lot more detail about where the theory of our shadow comes from and what it is in my blog post on shadow work journal prompts, which also includes – you guessed it – plenty of shadow work journal prompts to get you started on your journey.

Some shadow traits you might possess are:

• Anger
• Manipulativeness
• Anxiety
• Envy
• Sexuality
• Greed
• Selfishness

These traits can stem from trauma, suppressed emotions, learned behaviour from parents, and a number of other events that occurred during the early stages of your life. They can also be traits that we’ve been taught or conditioned to believe are negative and while some can be, this isn’t always the case.

By meeting our shadow, we can learn more about the person we truly are, underneath it all, and what makes us tick.

Shadow work sets us on an illuminating journey of self-discovery that can be uncomfortable and even upsetting at times, while also being the most rewarding and liberating experience many people ever go through.

It encourages us to assess why we are the way we are, how we feel about it, and decide whether this aspect of our true selves needs work.

It also teaches us forgiveness, especially towards ourselves, since we become incredibly aware of what being a human being means.

As you can imagine, it’s amazing for self-awareness and growing as a person.

If you want to get started on your shadow work journey, feel free to grab the free shadow work worksheets that I put together.

How do affirmations help with shadow work?

Affirmations are a good tool to use alongside shadow work for a few reasons.

• They improve confidence and self-esteem
• They improve our mindset overall
• They comfort and soothe us during times of stress

Repeating positive affirmations works by almost essentially rewiring your thought processes. The theory is, if you consistently repeat a statement over and over, you start to believe it to be true.

In the case of shadow work, if you repeat affirmations about being strong, healing, and growing over and over, your brain will begin to recognise what a tough cookie you are and embrace the process a little easier.

Shadow work affirmations are also a great way to bring your mind back down to earth after a particularly intense shadow work session.

They can reassure you that you’re on the right track, that you’re capable of healing, and that you’re choosing to grow from this experience.

They give you the confidence to continue with your practise; they instil a deep inner-knowing that you’re strong enough to sit with any uncomfortable feelings and move on from them in a positive, healthy way.

Plus, positive affirmations help improve our mindset and outlook in general, so using them as a tool is basically a win-win.

Powerful affirmations for shadow work

Below are some of the most powerful shadow work affirmations that I personally use to reassure and rebuild myself during and after difficult sessions.

1. I am strong
2. I can heal
3. I choose to move forward
4. I am not defined by my mistakes
5. I choose to learn from my mistakes
6. I am not my past
7. The future is what I make of it
8. I choose to live in the present
9. I choose to grow as a person
10. I love the person I am
11. I love the person I’m becoming
12. My trauma is not my fault
13. I am grateful that I get to learn about who I really am
14. I have to feel to heal
15. I choose to confront my problems
16. I am grateful for the person I am
17. Facing my emotions makes me stronger
18. The only person I seek validation from is myself
19. I choose to grow and learn from pain
20. I am worthy of respect
21. I choose to release grudges
22. I choose to accept my parents for who they are
23. I accept my true self for who I am
24. I deserve love
25. I accept responsibility for my mistakes and vow to put them right
26. I forgive myself for my shadow side
27. I forgive others for being human
28. I am the master of my own destiny; the main character of my own story
29. I am in total control of who I give my energy to
30. People who have been cruel to me are not worthy of my energy
31. I embrace negative emotions as I see them as an opportunity to learn and grow
32. I am grateful for the negative experiences that have blessed me with empathy, kindness and compassion
33. I am independent and choose to remain that way no matter who comes into my life
34. I choose to be positive, while acknowledging and learning from the negative
35. I welcome change into my life
36. While I do not deserve anything bad that’s happened to me, I can choose how I move on
37. I am grateful for emotional maturity
38. I choose myself every single day; I always have my own back
39. When I choose to sit with uncomfortable emotions and deal with them, I thrive
40. I am grateful that I can now see myself for who I am and embrace that

How to use Shadow Work Affirmations

My steps for using shadow work affirmations are:

• Choose only 1-3 affirmations that resonate with you. Only choosing a couple instead of loads helps prevent you from getting overwhelmed. Ensuring that they resonate with you will make them much more effective than repeating affirmations that don’t mean a thing to you or your shadow work.
• Rewrite the affirmations in your own ‘voice’. You might not have to do this, but I find that affirmations resonate a lot more with me if I rewrite them in exactly the same way I would speak them out loud.
• Write the affirmations in your journal before or after using a shadow work question or journal prompt. (I have a list of 100 shadow work journal prompts, if you want to check them out.)
• Once you’ve written the affirmations, repeat them in your head or out loud a few times until the intention behind them becomes solid and your confidence regarding its message grows.
• Make sure to repeat shadow work affirmations any time you’re feeling uncomfortable, stressed, or deterred by your shadow work practise. Affirmations are at their most powerful when used as a tool to combat negative self-talk or self-doubt.
• Get shadow work affirmation flash cards. They help you stay consistent and can inspire you.

A couple of bonus tips for shadow work that I swear by are:

1. Meditation: Make sure you’re meditating after your practise to clear your mind and energy. Meditation can also be a useful way to access your shadow side. There are plenty of shadow work guided mediations on YouTube.
2. Self-care and self-soothing: It’s important to practise self-care every day, especially if you’re doing shadow work. It helps look after your mental, emotional, and physical well-being, which is crucial. Finding healthy, positive ways to self-sooth and maintaining a consistent self-care routine should be a huge part of your shadow work journey.

If you want to get started with shadow work affirmations, I have a whole set of 50 printable affirmation cards especially for shadow work.