The Little Coaching Dictionary: Shadow

For the French version, click here

When speaking to a life coach or a neuro-programming (NLP) therapist, you can be puzzled by the terminology used. We offer here a series that will allow you to get familiar with this language and even demystify it.

In spiritual or awareness coaching, and in well-being magazines (yoga, meditation, zen or other forms flirting with spirituality), the term 'shadow' appears regularly, but what does it really mean in this context?

The shadow part, or dark side, is the part of us that we would rather not see or that we dislike in ourselves. It is the part that we would prefer to hide from the rest of the world and sometimes even from ourselves. This is what keeps us in a victim state of mind; we blame others or life in general for our misery.

Looking at your shadow is starting to work on yourself and detect when we can change our behaviour and when we can detach ourselves from patterns that became counterproductive to your mental, emotional or spiritual well-being.