Shadow Work

When we run from our demons, they chase us to hell. When we face them, they guide us to heaven.

That line sums it up for me.

Shadow work is the process of facing the parts of ourselves we’ve been hiding, denying, or running from. It’s the practice of shining light into the darkest corners of our psyche… the ones full of shame, guilt, lies, secrets, stuffed emotions, regrets, unprocessed trauma, and everything we plan on taking to the grave.

These are the parts we exile from our conscious mind. But they don’t go away. They show up in addiction. In compulsive behaviors. In the way we lie, numb out, overwork, self-sabotage, lash out, or withdraw. They manifest physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And until we face them, they rule our lives.

If you’re working with sacred medicines like Kambo, Ayahuasca, Iboga, or Bufo, shadow work isn’t optional. It’s essential. Because these plant and animal allies don’t just show you the light… they show you what’s in the way of it.

So let’s dig in.

Shadow work is the process of exploring your unconscious mind to identify the hidden parts of yourself that are causing harm, chaos, and misalignment. The term comes from Carl Jung, who defined the “shadow” as the rejected, repressed, or shameful parts of the psyche that we try to avoid.

But let me be clear… the shadow isn’t evil.

It’s wounded.

It’s the inner child. The exile. The religious “devil” archetype. The serpent. The liar. The manipulator. The victim. All the same thing, presenting from the same place: pain that hasn’t been met with love.

And that’s why shadow work matters.

It gives you the chance to bring those parts back into the fold.

If it feels heavy, shameful, or hidden… it probably lives in the shadow. Here are a few examples:

• Lies – These are the stories we create to shield ourselves from judgment, rejection, or vulnerability. Sometimes they’re obvious, like a flat-out denial. Other times they’re more subtle: exaggerations, omissions, or curated personas we adopt to keep others at arm’s length. But every lie, no matter how small, puts a wedge between who we truly are and the image we project. Lies disconnect us from authenticity and keep our nervous system on alert, waiting to be exposed. When we lie, even to ourselves, we abandon our truth, and that abandonment creates fragmentation. Healing starts when we choose truth over appearance, alignment over approval. 
• Secrets – These are the shame-bound stories we swear we’ll never share. The behaviors, desires, or traumas that feel so unacceptable, so dark, that we bury them deep in the vault of our subconscious. But secrecy is not safety, it’s suffocation. Holding secrets keeps us disconnected from ourselves and others. It erodes our integrity, blocks intimacy, and fuels the very isolation that feeds our shadow. Healing starts with exposure. Not public confession, but intentional release in sacred space. When we shine light on our secrets, we don’t just unburden ourselves… we liberate the parts of us that have been trapped in silence. 
• Resentments – We hold onto resentments because they give us a false sense of control. They protect us from the vulnerability of grief, of loss, of powerlessness. But what we’re really doing is armoring our hearts in bitterness. Resentment keeps the pain alive. It rewinds the story on repeat in our minds, keeping us stuck in the past and disconnected from the present. It drains our emotional energy and distorts our perception. Often, underneath resentment is unexpressed grief… a sadness we haven’t allowed ourselves to feel. True healing begins when we let go of the need to be right and embrace the deeper hurt that needs to be felt, witnessed, and released. 

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” – Desmond Tutu

• Stuffed emotions – These are the feelings we were never allowed to express, or never learned how to. Anger, sadness, fear, shame… when these emotions are suppressed instead of processed, they don’t disappear. They go inward. They become tension in the body, disease in the organs, or reactivity in relationships. Many of us grew up in environments where emotions were unsafe, inconvenient, or invalidated. So we learned to bury them. But what we stuff down eventually leaks out, usually at the worst times. Shadow work invites us to feel what we’ve avoided. To cry the tears we never cried. To rage in safe containers. To give language and movement to the emotions frozen inside. Emotions are not the enemy. Unfelt emotions are. When we finally feel them, we free ourselves. 
• Unprocessed trauma – These are the events, memories, or emotional wounds that remain frozen in our nervous system because they were too overwhelming to feel at the time. Sometimes we consciously bury them. Other times, we don’t even realize we’ve been carrying them until something… a ceremony, a trigger, a dream… pulls it to the surface. Trauma doesn’t disappear just because we ignore it. It lodges itself in the body, distorts our perception of safety, and shapes how we relate to the world. When trauma remains unprocessed, it becomes part of the shadow, influencing our reactions and choices in ways we don’t understand. True healing invites us to witness these traumas with compassion, curiosity, and support. 

“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.” – Peter Levine

• Unspoken truths – Authenticity we hide from others, either out of fear, shame, or survival. These are the moments we silence ourselves, suppress our needs, or pretend to be someone we’re not just to feel safe or accepted. Over time, these buried truths become part of our shadow… until we bring them to light. 
• Denial – This is the part of us that refuses to acknowledge our true desires, needs, or identity. Whether it’s a calling we’re afraid to follow, a truth we’re not ready to admit, or a version of ourselves we’re terrified to meet, denial keeps us numb. It’s not always conscious. Sometimes, it’s a survival mechanism rooted in early conditioning or fear of rejection. But once we see the truth, we can’t unsee it. Denial dissolves, and in its place comes clarity, opportunity, and the first real chance we have to live in full alignment. 

We all have a shadow. No one is exempt. The only question is whether or not we’re willing to face it.

Because if we don’t… it will eat us alive.

Unintegrated shadow doesn’t sit quietly in a corner. It hijacks your life:

• Addictive behaviors (drugs, porn, food, gambling) 
• Compulsive lying or secrecy 
• Explosive anger or chronic irritability 
• Deep shame, self-hatred, or constant guilt 
• Defensiveness and avoidance of vulnerability 
• People-pleasing or perfectionism to mask unworthiness 
• Projection (seeing in others what you deny in yourself) 
• Imaginary conversations with past memories… replaying scenarios to create a better ending that soothes our pain but never truly heals it 

These are symptoms, not flaws. And behind every one of them is a part of you that needs healing, not punishment.

Shadow work isn’t just about fixing what’s broken. It’s about reclaiming what’s been buried.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung

When we face the parts of ourselves we’ve disowned, we don’t become someone new… we become more whole. More honest. More alive. The weight of shame, guilt, and fear begins to lift. We feel lighter. Clearer. Less reactive. More grounded in who we really are.

That’s the point of all of this: to walk through the fire of truth and come out the other side less burdened by the past.

Kambo is a potent ally in this process. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s honest.

This powerful secretion from the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog doesn’t let you hide. It pulls shadow to the surface… physically, emotionally, energetically… so it can be released. It purges the poison, not just from the body, but from the stories we carry. The lies. The secrets. The emotional debris.

Kambo doesn’t care about your ego’s comfort. It cares about your soul’s liberation.

Many people report that Kambo brings forward old memories, feelings they didn’t know were stuck, or insights into how past trauma is still shaping their decisions. And in that vulnerable space, healing becomes possible.

IFS, or Internal Family Systems, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, offers one of the most compassionate maps for shadow work.

In IFS, our psyche is made up of different “parts”—each with its own perspective, emotion, and agenda. Some parts carry pain (exiles). Others manage life (managers). And some jump in to protect us when things get triggered (firefighters).

“There are no bad parts.” – Dr. Richard Schwartz, No Bad Parts

Even the most destructive behaviors come from parts of us trying to help in the only way they know how. Shadow work through IFS is about listening to these parts, not silencing them. Building trust, not forcing change.

The shadow is often made up of exiles… inner children frozen in time, carrying shame, fear, or grief. Once we recognize them, we can’t unsee them. And we can’t abandon them again. This is the beginning of reparenting. Of reintegration. Of becoming the adult they needed all along.

Not all inner children are traumatized by abuse. Some were simply never seen. Never validated. Their needs were too big, too inconvenient, or just misunderstood. They learned to cope by hiding.

Shadow work is the path back to those younger selves… not to relive the pain, but to liberate it.

Once we become aware of the child within, we are given a choice: ignore it and perpetuate the suffering, or embrace it and become more whole. This awareness is an invitation… a call to grow into the most authentic version of ourselves.

When we say yes to that invitation, we begin to live with less armor and more honesty. We feel lighter. We suffer less. We show up more fully.

Shadow work isn’t a one-time event. It’s a lifelong relationship with the truth.

It takes courage to face the parts of yourself you’ve tried to bury. But the reward is authenticity. Peace. And the freedom to stop pretending.

You don’t have to carry the weight anymore.

You don’t have to run.

Because when you face your shadow, you don’t just survive… you heal.

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell

Ready to take the next step with Kambo?
Reach out to Support@KamboCoach.com to ask questions, explore upcoming ceremonies, and get the guidance you need… so you can clear what’s been holding you back and finally move forward, lighter and more free.

Let me know if you want a version tailored for a specific offering, like private sessions, group ceremonies, or integration coaching.