🌿 Spotlight on Mental Health – Week 3 Shadow Work: Reclaiming Yourself After Survival Mode

A Mental Health Awareness Month Reflection from Green Magick Apothecary

For most of my life, I lived in survival mode.

From feeling unsafe as a child to unconsciously repeating unsafe patterns as an adult, chaos became my normal.
Calm felt foreign.
Crisis was familiar.
And when life got quiet, anxiety would creep in—because at least panic made sense.

When I began my healing journey, I thought the goal was to “get back” to who I used to be.
But the truth is, that version of me never really had the chance to fully exist.

That’s where shadow work came in.

🌑 What is Shadow Work?

Shadow work is the practice of gently exploring the parts of yourself you’ve buried—the fears, insecurities, memories, and behaviors you’ve hidden away to survive.

It’s not about self-judgment.
It’s about understanding yourself with compassion.
It’s about integrating those hidden parts so they no longer control you from the dark.

For me, shadow work became the bridge between surviving and truly healing.

🌿 My Shadow Work Tools: Therapy, Nature, & Self-Study

My path wasn’t a straight line.
Healing came through therapy, facing my trauma with support.
Through education, learning to understand my mind, my body, my patterns.

One of the most impactful resources I found was Dr. Nicole LePera’s How To Do The Work.
Her holistic approach—addressing the mind, nervous system, and emotional patterns—helped me see myself clearly, without shame.

If you’re curious about starting shadow work, she also offers a free Shadow Work Journal you can download here:
👉 https://theholisticpsychologist.com/shadow-work/

Disclaimer:
We don’t know Dr. Nicole personally, and we’re not paid to share her work.
But we don’t believe in gatekeeping good information.
She offers these resources because she believes in healing for all.
So do we.

🍃 Nature as My Shadow Work Ally

Alongside the inner work, nature became my mirror.

Tending to plants.
Feeling earth beneath my hands.
Noticing how nature embraces shadow—the coolness of the forest floor, the unseen roots, the cycles of decay and renewal.

The plants didn’t judge my shadows.
The earth reminded me I could root myself, even in the dark.

This connection became my most sacred form of shadow work.

🌿 Healing is Not a Return. It’s a Becoming.

Here’s the truth:
Healing from trauma isn’t about going back to who you were before.
For many of us, that version of ourselves never had the chance to fully be.

Healing is a becoming.
It’s about becoming someone who feels safe.
Someone who trusts themselves.
Someone who can exist beyond survival.

This is why I do what I do.
Because shadow work isn’t just inner work—it’s herbal, it’s earthly, it’s embodied.
It’s where the true magick begins.