The 4 Steps to

Shadow Work
Mini Book
Inner Work ~ Past Trauma
Healing ~ Emotional Wounds

Spiritual Wellness

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 WELCOME
Hey friend!
Welcome to the Mini Book 4 Steps to Shadow Work!

We are diving into what you need to know about shadow

work, inner work, & healing past trauma. There is so
much information you can easily get lost. You may have
recently experienced a breakdown moment and you are
ready to turn it into a breakthrough. You no longer want
to be defined by your past and you’re ready to emerge
as the divine being you came here to be.

Let’s get one thing straight about shadow work. This is

YOUR journey. This means you can gain as much
information, knowledge, and guidance you want from
outside sources, but ultimately it comes down to the
wisdom you already carry. You will always be your
greatest source of information for healing because
healing is the process of learning about yourself. The
uncovering and unbecoming leads you to understanding
who you are and who you came here to be. Your inner
spirit always has the answers you are looking for, you
simply need to know what questions to ask and how to
listen.

As a Spiritual Mentor & Author, Psychic and Intuitive

Guide I focus my work on helping people uncover the
voice of their soul so they can live in alignment with
their soul path and purpose. In this minibook I will be
sharing the main 4 steps for shadow work so you can
better understand the healing process. Learning from
your past trauma and healing through inner work can be
challenging. I hope this information gives you more
clarity on how you can lead yourself on your spiritual
journey.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.2 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 WELCOME
As with everything on this journey, it’s easier when you
have a support team to lean on. I would love to have
you join my FREE community on Facebook, Shifting
Forward. I’m always sharing more tips, guidance, and
support with the community. If you want to connect
with more like-minded souls then this is the space for
you!

I can’t wait to connect with you in Shifting Forward!

If you are already part of Shifting Forward, and you

want to take the next step in community to feel
supported, safe, and empowered on your spiritual
journey, then my Meditation Membership for Soul
Alignment is the space for you! You can join on my
website for only $33/month.

Now let’s get into SHADOW WORK!

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.3 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 WHAT IS SHADOW WORK
Shadow work is the process of uncovering what you are
carrying beneath your pain, anger, frustration, stress,
worry, fear etc. It’s about looking at the shadow within
you. The shadows are the difficult emotions, heavy
thoughts, challenging beliefs, and fear based
behaviours or patterns.

It can be hard to look at these areas because they are

your triggers. When you are triggered your ego is
telling you that something is not safe and puts you into
the fight, flight, freeze or fawn reactions. This type of
reaction is important when your safety is at risk, but
don’t forget that feeling uncomfortable and being safe
are two different things. The emotional triggers you
experience were created from a past experience or
generational belief that has been instilled in you. When
you are triggered today by a situation, you can
determine your level of safety and respond accordingly,
rather than react out of fear.

The more aware you become with these triggers you are
able to heal these emotional or mental wounds, thus
putting you back in control over your experience
through life.

By doing the shadow work and taking the time to better

understand yourself you can live more easily from your
light rather than living out of fear.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.4 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 STEPS OF SHADOW WORK
Understanding the different steps of shadow work gives
you the knowledge to support yourself on your spiritual
journey. We can easily get lost in what we need “to do”
in order to get what we want.

Take the rest of this Mini Book as guidance for your

healing process. As with everything in life, take what
resonates and leave the rest. You never want to push or
pressure yourself into something you aren’t ready for,
but stepping out of your comfort zone is necessary for
growth. Like I mentioned earlier, safety does not equal
comfort. You can be safe and feel uncomfortable, so
through the process always check in with yourself to
determine your own safety.

STEP ONE - AWARENESS

If you don’t know there is a problem then how will you
solve it?

You first need to be aware of your shadow or the pain

you are carrying. Taking the time to journal through
some self reflection prompts will help you in better
understanding where the shadow is and how you are
affected by your emotions and thoughts.

When you’re taking time for this reflection make sure

you are not stuck in the emotion or thought. Awareness
comes when you take a step back from your experience
and you can clearly state “I’m feeling ______. This
doesn’t feel good.”; “I’m worrying about _____.”; “I’m
stuck in this challenge/experience.”

These are some conscious thoughts you may find

yourself thinking or stating out loud.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.5 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 AWARENESS CONTINUED
It’s at this moment that you have become aware of how
you are experiencing the moment. You are no longer
living passively or on auto-pilot. You are present to
your emotions & thoughts, recognizing how you feel.

There are different stages of awareness that you will

notice throughout your journey. The cycle of shadow
work is constant, as you flow from one step to the next.
Every time you move through this cycle your awareness
strengthens and you begin to recognize the patterns or
repetitive cycles you experience. Knowing your
patterns puts you in divine consciousness because you
can be proactive when a challenge or difficulty pops
up.

The Stages of Awareness

Problem
You have become aware of the problem you are
experiencing. This could be the emotion you are having;
the thought that is not supporting you; the belief that
is blocking you from the growth you desire; the stress
and overwhelm you are carrying; the pain you are
experiencing from your past; or even the habits and
behaviours that are creating resistance in your life.

Behaviour/Control
Your next level of awareness comes when you see how
you directly impact your experience. Often we can see
how everything out of our control is affecting how we
feel. Stepping back into your power and recognizing
your own behaviours allows you to take accountability
for your life. When you understand what you have
control over, you become the co-creator of your life.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.6 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 AWARENESS CONTINUED
Solution/Clarity
After you have accepted your part in the challenge or
difficulty it becomes easier to receive a solution. You
are the wisdom you’ve been looking for, so when you
recognize where your control lies you begin to see the
clarity on how you can behave moving forward. Rather
than only being aware of the problem, you’ve evolved
to being able to recognize the clarity and solution you
desire.

Empowered/Aligned
The last level of awareness puts you in divine
connection with your soul. When you trust the clarity
that has come forward you feel empowered in the life
you are creating and experiencing. You better
understand what it takes to come back into alignment.
You move from feeling lost to instead having purpose
with each action you take.

You’ll notice in the awareness process that it takes

time to shift from one step to the next. Do not rush
yourself, for this is the journey we are here to take.
Before you rush yourself through awareness, meet
yourself wherever you are. You are in the phase you are
meant to be in at this moment. Acceptance for where
you are can create a beautiful vibration to carry you
forward. Pressure, judgment and resistance makes
everything more challenging.

Guess what?! You aren’t alone in the pressure,

judgment and resistance you feel. We are all human
and we all move through these. As you become aware
you’ll notice where you hold pressure, judgment and
resistance for yourself. When this comes forward, see it
and choose to release it.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.7 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 AWARENESS CONTINUED
You will move through the release step numerous times
as your awareness strengthens over time. There are
always more thoughts, emotions, beliefs, behaviours
and habits that need to be released.

STEP TWO - RELEASING

Before we begin the releasing process it’s important to
understand that everything is energy and energy is
constantly flowing within and around us. For instance
you are made up of energy and the food you eat is made
of energy, so when you eat something that energy
moves into your body. You take on the energy of the
apple, or the hamburger. It’s the same for the Moon, she
is made of energy, while we can’t see her energy
physically move into us we can certainly feel the
effects of the Moon’s energy. The Moon has such a
strong energetic pull that she controls the tides of the
oceans, and she also influences our emotions. If we can
take on the energy of the Moon, it’s important to know
that we can also take on the energy of another human.
You’ll notice that when your one friend (family,
coworker, neighbor etc.) shares their troubles with you,
through complaints, frustration, gossip, or drama, you
always leave feeling drained. Your friend has taken
your uplifting energy and leaves the conversation
feeling great, while they have left you with their
draining energy. Our own thoughts, emotions, and
decisions are made of energy too, which means that we
can carry heavy energy from a past experience if we are
holding onto pain.

Energy is constantly flowing within and around us, but

sometimes that energy attaches onto us.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.8 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 RELEASING CONTINUED
There is no need to carry this energy through the rest
of our lives because it’s only going to weigh us down
and keep us in the past. Even when our thoughts are
focused on the future we can carry heavy energy,
especially when we are worried or anxious about
something.

Releasing is the process of choosing to let go of the

energetic attachment you’ve been carrying. All these
different energies are influencing you and pulling you
away from your spirit, your true essence. You came here
to be someone specific, and you are in a space of
wanting to know who that person is. You want to live
out your soul purpose, and you want to find the path
that is meant for you.

Well the reason why you are so lost in finding yourself,

is because you are needing to uncover yourself instead.
You are buried deep within years of conditioning, past
pain, generational beliefs, fears, doubts, and stress. We
are all here to come back to our spirits and to learn to
create a life in harmony with our soul path. As you
become aware of your experiences, your pain, your
limiting beliefs, you then get to decide if you want to
hold onto this energy or release it.

You can never release your spirit, for that is who you
are and you will always shine through to guide your
human.

When you take the time to recognize what energy is in

your space that you don’t want to stay connected to
you have the power to release it. Similar to the
awareness step, releasing takes time and is a process.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.9 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 RELEASING CONTINUED
We have layers of emotions, thoughts, habits, and
behaviours to work through, so carry grace as you lead
yourself through the process.

Here are some examples of what could be released on

your journey:

A Thought
“I am never going to achieve my dreams.”
“I am always the one to clean the house. Why can’t
anyone else clean the house? Nobody ever notices
either. I do all this work and it’s never appreciated.”

A Belief
“I’m not good enough to receive what I want.”
“It takes hard work and a lot of time to become rich.”
“I have to follow societal norms to be successful.”

An Emotion
Anger; Resentment; Bitterness; Stress; Frustration;
Disappointment
Peace; Joy; Contentment; Grateful
Success; Satisfaction; Excitement

An Experience
A past relationship where you were verbally and
emotionally abused.
A teacher/boss/peer that told you, you would never be
good enough to achieve your dreams.
A partner ended the relationship with you because of
values or characteristics you carry.

A Perspective
When you see a particular situation from only one
viewpoint and that specific view limits you.
©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.10 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 RELEASING CONTINUED
As I mentioned earlier, there is always more releasing
to be done and this is heavy, hard work. Make sure you
support yourself through this process and take your
time. The daily stresses, emotions and thoughts can be
released through meditation or other practices. The
deeper beliefs, perspectives, experiences and pains can
take a lot of energy to be released. It’s important you
have a support system through this process.

Every single step you will learn more about yourself,

your patterns, and the deep wounds you carry. As you
learn you move into the next step of shadow work.

STEP THREE - LEARNING

I always tell my clients that when you are in the
emotion you will not be able to understand anything
with clarity nor certainty, you especially won’t
understand why you are feeling the way you do. The
first step after awareness is release because once you
are no longer carrying the energy it becomes easier to
see clearly.

You move through most life experiences to learn

something and the more you learn and grow the more
blessings flow into your life. The type of blessings I am
speaking about are fulfillment, bliss, unconditional
love, success, harmony and alignment. You receive
these blessings as you learn about yourself and how
you experience life.

What exactly are you learning through all of this? Well,

that is up to you and your path. We are all here to learn
different lessons, and we all learn differently. You are
here to better understand yourself so you can create a
life that feels good to you.
©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.11 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 LEARNING CONTINUED
Once you have released the attachment to the energy
you’ve been carrying it becomes easier to learn with
grace rather than resentment.

When you become aware of your past pain and past

experiences you uncover dots all over the map. It’s
really hard to connect all of these dots because of your
own biases. The dots equal your awareness of
something; releasing is the process of clearing out your
biases and preconditioned emotions or thoughts; once
the path is clear via releasing you can better see how
the dots connect, thus guiding you to the lesson.

There are so many different things we are here to learn

and it’s important to remember that you always have
the answer within. As a soul you know everything there
is to know, it’s your human that forgets. In the process
of learning you are guiding yourself to understand how
the voice of your soul speaks to you. The lesson will
come through as clear guidance, an innate
understanding, and a calm knowing. It will all simply
make sense.

In the learning process you may find it helpful to ask

for advice or guidance from someone else. This is
completely natural, especially because it seems like
the easier option, to ask someone else for their opinion
on what we need to do. It’s important that whenever
you do ask for someone else’s advice you do not blindly
follow their word. Take some time with their
perspective and ask yourself if it resonates with you,
ask yourself if it feels like a good decision for you.
Someone else may have great advice, but it might lead
you out of alignment from your soul path.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.12 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 LEARNING CONTINUED
You are on a journey of better understanding yourself
as a soul, and you have a direct channel to connect if
you are committed to uncovering the path.

The next step in shadow work of course leads us to

giving and receiving support.

STEP FOUR - SUPPORT

Every single step of the way through healing and doing
the shadow work, you are gaining more wisdom about
yourself. When you understand who you are and how
you are influenced by your environment you can better
support yourself.

For instance, if you know you get a headache when you

don’t drink enough water you will most likely choose to
drink more water and for back-up you will have advil in
your medicine cabinet. This is you supporting yourself
because you’ve learned how your energy is impacted by
a lack of water.

After the learning phase of shadow work you can

determine where you need to create a boundary to
support yourself, or change a behaviour and habit, or
maybe even shift how you show up in a relationship.

Growth is about learning to be proactive in life, rather

than constantly living in fear and needing to react out
of safety. Supporting yourself is the process of knowing
your needs and wants and providing it all so you can
thrive in life. If you know a certain situation makes you
feel a specific way and you do not want to feel that
way, then you can support yourself to not enter into
that situation.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.13 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 SUPPORT CONTINUED
If you know you have a specific desire then you can
show up every day and work towards creating that
desire in your life.

When you feel supported it becomes easier to trust

yourself and the path you are headed down. You may
not know where the path will lead, but you do know you
have the strength to get through. You are constantly
learning about yourself so you can feel supported in
creating soul alignment.

The journey of shadow work flows as such: you start

with being aware of the problem; you release the
energetic attachment to the problem; you learn the
lesson the problem has brought forward; and you
support yourself as you shift forward in order to not be
led back to the same problem.

Each step of awareness brings insight to a new lesson,

or the same lesson that you are being reminded to
implement. As humans we are forgetful and lazy. These
are normal human traits, so there is no need to judge or
criticize yourself if you are learning the same lesson
over and over. It takes time for us to actually integrate
the lesson into habitual behavior. Every single time you
are aware is a good sign, so start with where your
awareness is and move through the steps to shift
forward. The process of shadow work will help you heal
and lead you back to soul alignment.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.14 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 DOING THE WORK
Important reminders, that I have probably already
mentioned, and are worth mentioning again!

It’s not always easy work, yet it’s worth it! You want to
experience fulfillment and satisfaction on your soul
path. You want to know you are making a difference and
following your soul purpose. It’s through the shadow
work that you lead yourself back to your inner spirit
and create a fulfilling life.

The more present and aware you are moment to moment

means you can bring more peace and love into each
experience. When you are present you see the choice in
front of you, fear vs peace, and it becomes a lot easier
to let peace lead the way when you are connected to
spirit.

Your growth journey is going to be magnificent,

challenging, rewarding, draining, and fulfilling. Don’t
get stuck in the difficult phases all on your own. It’s
important when you are doing this type of work that you
have a support team to lean on. If you need a space to
feel safe and supported then please join my free
community on facebook, Shifting Forward.

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.15 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 GETTING STARTED
If you are ready to start supporting yourself through
these steps today then make sure to pick up a copy of
the Releasing Guidebook. It’s a Spiritual EBook that is
formatted to guide and support you in the process of
releasing anything and everything. Not only will you
learn how to release through many rituals and
practices, this guidebook will also support you in
determining what needs to be released right now.

For only $11.11 this guidebook is the perfect tool for

your spiritual journey. Through self discovery and
gaining more knowledge and wisdom on releasing you
can create soul alignment.

Remember, life is a journey. Allow yourself to heal,

grow, learn and expand through this journey!

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.16 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com
 CONCLUSION & THANK YOU
I hope this Mini Book on the 4 Steps to Shadow Work has brought
some insight and guidance into your life. The more knowledge we
have, the easier it becomes to show up and support ourselves
through life.

This is meant to be another tool to guide you in the process so

you don't feel like a fish out of water. Come back to this Mini
Book as often as you need to remind yourself of the process of
Shadow Work.

I can't wait to connect with you again in the near future! If you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

I am here to guide and support you on your spiritual journey

wherever I can.

Until next time, sending love & light to you,

Sydney Smith
Founder of Adventuring with Poseidon Wellness
www.adventuringwithposeidon.com

©️S y d n e y S m i t h , A d v e n t u r i n g w i t h P o s e i d o n W e l l n e s s
p.17 www.adventuringwithposeidon.com