Shadow Alchemy
What if the dark wasn’t something to be feared, but rather integrated?
We’ve been taught to fear the dark, but the dark is a regenerative, sacred space.
We’ve all done it. We’ve said the thing we didn’t mean to or want to say, we’ve cycled through the same patterns even though we see them. We’ve watched ourselves react, shut down, sabotage, or lash out — and felt the frustration of change feeling inaccessible after the fact.
And it’s not for lack of awareness, effort, or desire to shift toward a more sustainable version of ourselves. It’s because parts of us are still carrying old stories, old wounds, old strategies for survival are operating beneath the surface, driving our behavior in ways we don’t always consciously choose— and they don't loosen their grip just because we understand them.
Awareness and understanding is the first step in shadow work. Shadow Alchemy invites us deeper and further.
It’s not just about seeing the shadow — it’s about transforming our relationship to it. It's about metabolizing the stuck energy, rewriting the internal contracts we made long ago, and reclaiming the parts and power we left behind in order to survive.
Shadow Alchemy invites us not only to name our hidden parts, but to work with them — to integrate them into our being for lasting change and grounded embodiment.
What Is Shadow Alchemy?
Shadow Alchemy is a deeper, more embodied evolution of shadow work.
It is a trauma-informed, body-based approach to shadow work. It invites not just awareness, but deep transformation—through somatic integration, archetypal exploration, and nervous system regulation.
Most people hear “shadow work” and think it’s just about journaling your triggers or uncovering childhood wounds. And yes, those are important—but Shadow Alchemy takes it further. It’s not just about seeing your shadow. It’s about working with it, listening to it, integrating it into your body and your life so that it stops running the show from behind the scenes.
In simple terms:
Shadow work is awareness.
Shadow alchemy is transformation—the art of working with fire, pressure, and the power to transmute.
Rooted in depth psychology and trauma-informed somatic healing, Shadow Alchemy is the process of turning what was once repressed—shame, fear, anger, grief—into embodied power, agency, and wholeness. It asks you to meet the parts of yourself you’ve been taught to hide, not to fix them, but to remember them as vital aspects of your wholeness.
If there’s one thing I’d want you to know about your shadow, it’s this:
Your shadow isn’t some dark demonic force. It’s the place where parts of you were exiled—your anger, your need, your voice, your magic. Not because they were wrong, but because at some point, they weren’t safe to express. Shadow Alchemy isn’t about blaming those parts or endlessly analyzing them. It’s about reclaiming them— creating space for them. Updating the survival patterns, yes—but also retrieving the power, truth, wisdom and vitality that got buried with them.
Shadow Alchemy invites you to go deeper than insight.
It asks you to listen with your body, to engage with the parts of you that don’t speak in words, to honor the wisdom held in your triggers, projections, and patterns.
Why Shadow Work Matters
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”—Carl Jung
We all carry a shadow—whether we are aware of it or not.
What Is the Shadow?
Your shadow is made up of the parts of you that were hidden in order to belong: Your rage. Your sensuality. Your sadness. Your desire. Your brilliance.
The parts you were told were too much, not enough, or unsafe.
But these parts don’t disappear. They simply go underground—expressing themselves through:
Emotional reactivity
Defense mechanisms
Projections onto others
Sabotaging patterns in relationships
And unless we meet them consciously, they will continue to shape our lives from the shadows.
The Purpose of Shadow Work
Shadow alchemy is how we begin to choose something new.
It helps us:
Reclaim agency
Deepen intimacy with self and others
Recognize and interrupt old emotional patterns
Return to authenticity
This isn’t about striving to be more palatable, productive, or “better.”
It’s about becoming more whole. More honest. More alive.
Shadow work is a trauma-informed, somatic process of emotional integration and self-remembrance.
Shadow work is rooted in depth psychology—it invites us into integration: the process of becoming whole by reclaiming what was once fragmented. It also calls us into embodiment—out of the head and into our honesty. Into the truth of our inner experience.
This is the work of returning to yourself. It is the path of radical self-remembrance, self-reclamation—where nothing is left exiled from your sacred belonging.
You want to move forward. You’ve committed to showing up, dug deep into your shadows and patterns, and made the decisions that you’re ready for change—but somehow, the same patterns keep pulling you back.
✓ You sabotage your own progress, even when you don’t want to. No matter how much you try to change, something unseen keeps running the show.
✓ Small things set you off in big ways. An unexpected comment, a certain tone of voice, or a situation that shouldn’t feel this overwhelming—but suddenly, you’re deep in an emotional reaction you can’t control.
✓ You feel stuck—like something is holding you back, but you can’t see what. You’ve analyzed it, journaled about it, tried to push through… but it’s like running in place.
✓ You don’t always feel like yourself. Maybe you’re constantly adjusting to fit in, avoiding conflict, or playing a role that doesn’t feel fully you.
✓ You’re frequently anxious or overwhelmed, but you don’t know why. It’s as if your body is carrying stress from something you can’t quite name.
✓ You struggle with boundaries and people-pleasing. You put others’ needs ahead of your own, then feel exhausted, resentful, and unsure why you keep repeating the pattern.
✓ You keep attracting the same kinds of relationships—ones that drain or hurt you. You recognize the red flags, but something in you keeps pulling toward the familiar.
✓ You avoid taking risks or speaking your truth, afraid of being judged or misunderstood. So you hold back, shrink, and stay safe—when deep down, you know you’re meant for more.
Is Shadow Work Right For You?
Hey, I’m Taren. Let’s walk together.
Shadow Alchemy is an integral part of what I offer as a guide.
The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” —Joseph Campbell
This process is born of my own healing, where old identities collapsed, belief systems unraveled, and the parts of me I had long exiled demanded to be met. This isn’t a path of perfect clarity. It typically comes through grief, disillusionment, and the process of rewiring.
What I’ve learned on this journey is that shadow work cannot happen only in the mind. We cannot think our way into wholeness. To truly integrate what has been hidden, we must involve the body, the nervous system, and the unconscious. We must learn to listen. To be patient. To breathe, and repair what has been ruptured within our own internal systems. We must descend in order to reclaim.
This is the foundation of Shadow Alchemy: a trauma-informed, somatic approach to shadow work. It is a process designed to bring you into honest relationship with the parts of yourself you’ve been taught to abandon—so that instead of controlling your life from the shadows, they can be brought consciously integrated into the whole.
Our work together will incorporate:
Somatic therapy practices that support nervous system regulation and embodied safety
Depth psychological principles to explore the deeper patterns beneath your inner conflict—the symbolic and emotional roots that often stem from old stories, roles, or wounds.
Ritual and mythic storytelling help us relate to your shadow not as something wrong with you, but as something meaningful—something that has a purpose and a story to tell.
And my own lived experience—because I’ve walked this path, and we are in this together.
Shadow Alchemy is about reclaiming the parts of us that have been exiled, forgotten or rejected—and allowing them to alchemize into embodied truth.
The Four Pillars
of Shadow Alchemy
🜂
Integration
Transform wounds into wisdom, pain into power, fear into fuel. This is the phase of alchemy and transmutation. Fire clears, catalyzes, and reshapes.
🜃
Embodiment
Walk through life fully in your power, unburdened and whole. This is the phase of lived change. Earth grounds and centers your in it.
🜄
Understanding
Understand how your shadow serves you (and how to reclaim that energy).This is the phase of compassion and context. Water lets things move so they can shift.
🜁
Awareness
Identify the hidden forces running the show. This is the phase of observation and naming. You can’t transform what you’re not willing to look at.
How Shadow Alchemy Support Healing:
You’ve journaled, reflected, and searched for answers. Yet the same cycles persist—because awareness alone doesn’t create transformation. Your conscious mind wants to change, but your subconscious mind is wired for survival.
95% of your behavior is driven by unconscious patterns. Your brain isn’t working against you—it’s just trying to keep you safe, repeating what feels familiar.
Suppressed emotions don’t just disappear—they get stored in the body. The amygdala (your brain’s fear center) and hippocampus (which processes memory) hold onto unresolved experiences, shaping your reactions before you even realize it.
Your nervous system wires itself around protection. If something once felt unsafe—even unconsciously—your body learned how to protect you, even if that protection is keeping you stuck.
This is why understanding your patterns isn’t enough. You can analyze them all day, but if your nervous system and subconscious are still wired for the old story, you’ll keep reliving it.
So how do you break free? Not by trying harder. Not by forcing yourself to “just be different.” But by working directly with your nervous system and subconscious mind to rewrite the pattern at its root.
That’s where Shadow Alchemy comes in.
Shadow work and shadow integration have the power to help you understand your unconscious mind and unlock deeper healing. Discover how these practices, utilizing your brains natural neuroplasticity, can rewire emotional patterns and lead to lasting personal growth.