Latest / Laura and Lauren Podcast / Mystic Spiral Episode 19: What Is Shadow Work?

Transcript

Mystic Spiral Episode 19: What Is Shadow Work? · Laura and Lauren Podcast

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Mystic Spiral,
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: the podcast where earth-rooted magic,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: animal wisdom,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: and ancient enchantment twist together like a serpent and a snail in the moss.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Join us as we explore the unseen, the intuitive, and the beautifully strange.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode invites you deeper into the spiral,
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: into the myth, and into the wild magic that lives within and around all of us.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Lauren,
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Crystal Healer, Earth-Rooted Mystic, and Friend of Snails and Mossy Fae Folk Magic.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm Laura, Animal Communicator, Serpent Kinponowich, and Solitary Social Practitioner.
• 0:54
  [music]
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Hey Mythlings, welcome back to the Mystic Spiral.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: In today's episode, we're going to get a little uncomfortable, but in a good way.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: We promise.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: We are going to talk about shadow work,
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: which is something a lot of people are afraid to
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: do for themselves.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to lay down the basics for you and help you get started
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: when you're ready to do the shadow work.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: You should know that it is a long-term project and it won't always look pretty
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: or feel super rewarding at first,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: but it doesn't need to be intimidating and you can go at your own pace.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, you never have to share any part of this with anyone else.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: As a reminder,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: if any questions should arise during this episode,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: you can email them to us at mysticspiralpodcast at gmail.com
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: and we will address them in a future Q&A episode.
• 1:49
  [music]
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you might be wondering what shadow work even is.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: At its core,
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: it's very basically looking at the parts of yourself you don't like
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: or even hide away and finding ways to get to know them,
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: love them, and integrate them back into yourself.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you want to bring out the parts of yourself you don't like so much?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because you align with your highest good,
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: your values, and everything else the most when you are your whole self.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: It benefits you individually, and when we all do shadow work, it elevates us as a collective.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: We can show up better for ourselves and for everyone we care about,
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  SPEAKER_01: and sometimes ignoring our shadow is blocking our own magic.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Also, this world tells us each and every day that it only wants to see
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: the palatable pieces of us and that we should hide the rest away,
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: but that's not for our benefit at all.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: We have each of our parts for a reason,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: and they all deserve to be seen and held and treated as sacred.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so if you can't find the motivation to do the work for yourself,
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: you can use that external motivation of spite.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, pulling it back in, where does the term shadow work begin?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: The term shadow work was coined by Carl Jung,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: a psychiatrist,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: psychotherapist, psychologist, all the psychs, who lived from 1875 to 1961.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like many things in magic, psychology overlaps quite a bit here.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also a fun overlap with Jung himself and the occult.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: That was not taught to me in my psychology classes, for sure.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: But it's there.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And before it was called shadow work,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Witchy practitioners and other sorts of similar people had been doing this kind
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: of inner work for a really long time.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm sure other groups of people did it too.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: But Jung put a name to it and popularized it.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: So for our listeners, how do we do the shadow work?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of ways to do shadow work.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with the most basic.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're going to want a pen and paper or a journal or the notes app on your phone for this.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a millennial,
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: so I really feel the most engaged with a pen and paper,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: but you should use what you have access to.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or even try both and see what feels best.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: You'll want to sit in a quiet space for this where you won't be interrupted.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: You can light a candle if it will help you focus your intentions or get in the mood.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of people also do this during the new moon,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: like we mentioned in our moon phase episode, to get a little extra lunar boost.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then you'll think about the things about yourself you don't like that much or even suppress.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can think about your fears,
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  SPEAKER_00: secrets that you have, promises that you make to yourself and break.
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  SPEAKER_00: What kind of situations you find yourself in repeatedly that are frustrating to you.
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  SPEAKER_00: But also you want to think about things like who you really look up to
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  SPEAKER_00: and why you look up to that person specifically.
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  SPEAKER_00: Who in your life or in the media you really like and who really grinds your gears.
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  SPEAKER_01: So many people grind my gears.
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  SPEAKER_00: So many people, especially now in these times.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
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  SPEAKER_01: So what you're going to do is write all of that down on your paper or
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: in your notes app of your choice.
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  SPEAKER_01: Choose one at a time and really sit with it.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: The why of it all.
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  SPEAKER_01: Why does your friend being late sometimes bother you so much?
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  SPEAKER_01: Or why does it make you so upset that that TV show character talked
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: a little bit louder than the others?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or why do people chew so fucking loud?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my God.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's shadow work or if that's just really rational.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's true.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's very true.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Just close your mouth when you chew.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do this with as many things on your list as you have the emotional and mental space
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: for and also the time for.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then when you're in your regular life, try to notice when these emotions come up for you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice them and get curious about them if you can.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like, why am I really so irritated that the person in
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: the baking aisle is standing directly in front of the flour that I need?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, or why do they come up to you and ask you where the flour is?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: It just happens.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a good place for some cleansing, okay?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can do any type of cleansing you want for yourself and we have a lot
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: of suggestions in our cleansing episode but one of the best ways to help here is
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: to use a cleansing bath.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's just so relaxing for your body and nervous system
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  SPEAKER_01: and you can literally wash away what you want to let go of and just watch it go down
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: the drain.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Another ritual you can do is set your intentions with the candle and stand or sit
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: in front of a mirror and say affirmations aloud to yourself.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: If the shadow work for that day is speaking up for yourself,
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Tell yourself that you know and speak your truth clearly as many times as it takes
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: for you to feel like it has made a difference.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: At first,
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  SPEAKER_00: this might feel silly and like it isn't helping,
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: but the more you do this work, the better you will feel.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you're having trouble finding affirmations for your shadow work of the day,
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: you can search for some on the internet or think
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: about what you would tell someone you love.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: We are usually kinder to others than we are to ourselves, so use that to your advantage.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Support yourself like you would support your best friend.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can take those affirmations with you into your regular life too.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to say them out loud if you're somewhere public,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: but you can train your brain to think them to yourself in response to when
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: that shadow shows up.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: You're not pushing the shadow away.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're practicing noticing it and getting curious about it and then telling it affirmations.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Those parts of you will become easier for you to understand and manage
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: than they were before because you are learning why they exist.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: They usually protect you from something and how to care for them.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: My therapist also recently suggested a version of meta meditation
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: that I think can really help here.
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  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing meta meditation,
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  SPEAKER_00: you shine light on yourself,
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  SPEAKER_00: then on someone you love, and then on someone who has harmed you.
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  SPEAKER_00: But you can do this in a way where you shine that love and light on yourself as
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  SPEAKER_00: a whole,
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  SPEAKER_00: Then on parts of you that you really like and then on parts of you
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  SPEAKER_00: that you haven't learned to love yet.
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  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: You can adapt most types of meditation to help you with shadow work.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Another way you can do shadow work is sort of a self-love ritual.
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  SPEAKER_01: You can use a pink candle,
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  SPEAKER_01: a rose quartz,
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  SPEAKER_01: rose or jasmine incense or oils,
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: or even make a tea with lavender, rose, chamomile and or hibiscus.
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  SPEAKER_01: You can use the oils to anoint the candle,
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: create a self-love sigil,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: or just sit in a cozy chair and drink the tea while focusing on loving yourself.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever feels the best way to focus on yourself in an intentional, positive way.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to dive out of the witchy realm for a second and suggest something sort
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: of out of left field,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I actually think some video games can help with this as well.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: I play a video game that has a really beautiful metaphor for shadow work
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  SPEAKER_00: where there's a curse on the land,
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  SPEAKER_00: And the only way it is lifted is if two parts of a boy are reunited.
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  SPEAKER_00: One part is sort of light and the other one is seen as more dark.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they are initially reluctant to get back together again, but you can convince them to.
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  SPEAKER_00: And if you can convince them to,
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  SPEAKER_00: the curse lifts and then those two halves become close and really beneficial
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: to each other.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Huh, that's pretty cool.
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  SPEAKER_01: It kind of like when I was visioning this,
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was picturing like an upper torso and a bottom torso.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: The upper torso is like floating and the bottom torso is floating and they kind
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: of reunite that way.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I was writing this part of the script,
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I actually thought someone is going to think that it's like a left half and
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: a right half.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it's also really funny if you think of it as the top half and the bottom half.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: However, yeah, I'm totally thinking top and bottom.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: In the game, they're two like separate boys.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh, kind of like Peter Pan, like the shadow self in the.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Peter Pan is also maybe a good metaphor for this.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: This would be.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, well, anyways,
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: I think searching out games,
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: movies or shows with those kinds of messages is a really positive way
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: to support your shadow work.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the best way to do shadow work is to slowly integrate all of the pieces if you can.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And again, don't be afraid to start slow and go at your own pace.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't for anyone else or on anyone else's timeline.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you never have to show or tell anyone about the work that you're doing.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Unless, of course,
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: you decide to ask a therapist or other similar professional for help if
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: that feels right for you.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I love my therapist, especially for stuff like this.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I recommend it if you can.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: You can also look up tons of other ways to do shadow work.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: There are journals with shadow work prompts you can buy if you want to.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a shadow work information
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: in lots of books.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've been reading the book Psychic Witch by Matt Oren,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: which is a fabulous book,
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: and I'll probably mention it a bunch in some upcoming episodes.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: But he has a short but very good section on the shadow self in there.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there also may be specific exercise in there for particular things you could be working on.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Communication comes to mind.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Shadow work sounds scary to a lot of people,
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: but it can be such a beautiful way to practice loving yourself.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's another one of those things that is so important to do,
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: but none of us are practicing it enough.
• 10:51
  [music]
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Before we leave today, we're going to pull a card.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Today we were called to use the Squid Cake Marseille Tarot by Jess Roller.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: As a friendly reminder, please take what resonates with you and leave the rest.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, mythlings.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get a Chappie Chappie on.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Chappie Chappie on.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Chappie Chappie on.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the cutest decks that you have in the shop.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It is a really cute Marseille deck.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like pastel and has just like, yeah, like almost like, I
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: don't know.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: That card really wanted to come out.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: We just have a card now.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hold on.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let me put the rest of this deck down.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't ready.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: We've got the two of coins, which is really beautifully illustrated.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's got like almost like almost like a infinity.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: And there's seedlings growing out of either side.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's one growing up and one growing down.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's really, really cute.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's in the pastel colors and.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see what this artist has to say about this card, if I can find it.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Hold, please.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: When you're faced with options,
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: it's best to narrow them down so you're not overwhelmed and thrown off kilter.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: When too many things are on the table, it's hard to focus and know which way is up.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: You can move forward until you've made some decisions.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: In taking some off the table,
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: you can easily create better harmony and balance when you add some support into
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: the mix.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the keywords here are duality, balance, options.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: You always got your options, girl.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's the problem.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm indecisive.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's hard to make that decision.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's what this card is talking about, paring it down.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sometimes you just pull your pendulum out.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or ask Lauren to do it for you.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's also true.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I got your back.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll make sure to post this magical card on our socials,
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Mystic Spiral Podcast on Instagram,
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Facebook, and we can also be found over onSubstack and YouTube
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: as well.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for walking with us through the shadows today,
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: and we hope you get comfy with your own shadows as well.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you do some shadow work and do want to let us know about it,
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: we would love to hear from you as you grow.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if you try out my therapist's meta meditation suggestion,
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: definitely drop us a comment or an email.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Next time on the Mystic Spiral,
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: we are really excited to answer some of your questions in our first Q&A episode.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Until then, mythlings, keep listening and keep your magic soft and steady.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Bye for now.
• 14:05
  [music]