05/15/2026
I get asked this a lot and truthfully it’s not as scary as it sounds. If you feel afraid of shadow work, what you may actually be afraid of is stepping into a version of you where you are big, seen and powerfully you. Yes there may be some blocks in the way that are uncomfortable or painful to deal with but if you don’t move through them, you will stay small and stuck where you are more uncomfortable and unaligned.
This too is reflected in the body. You feel pain in the body or maybe don’t even feel anything. Just stiff, numb. Sometimes we need softness to feel again, and then when we can feel there is still pain and discomfort. This is where our instincts would say “ow this hurts so this must be bad” and we run away and go back to the comfort zone where numbness returns. Though light work can help a lot to move through dense ness, there is just something more we need. Sometimes we need to embrace the pain and discomfort to heal, move forward and receive the lightness of life again.
But the idea of this work being so painful and uncomfortable has never sat right with me. Like the universe has shown me a way to work through denser energies in a way that is comfortable, loving and inviting. Maybe even fun. That is where I learned about shadow work in massage. Finding where the source of the pain is, isolating it and being as light or as heavy pressure is needed to be on the edge of pain and discomfort, but in a way that you can actually be comfortable in, relax into and breathe deeper into until you ARE comfortable there. Then we go deeper, and move through that area as much as can be handled at that time, and move onto the next area because the pain will usually move once released through one area of the body.
This is not a forceful release, crazy deep massage, nor a light and fluffy or even firm pressure, gleaming over your painful bits.
It’s slow, focused, pausing, listening, giving the body exactly what it needs to release. It’s nearly impossible to do a full body on one session. It’s working exactly where we need to in the moment, with as much time you have given to work through.
It’s not a one and done session. It will take multiple sessions over time
