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In Focus Shadow Work: Your Personal Guide
Uncover how the light and darkness within you coexist as In Focus Shadow Work guides you in embracing your shadow self to discover a happier you.
This comprehensive guide includes a beautifully designed, removable 16 × 24–inch poster featuring at-a-glance references for quick learning anytime.
Over the course of your life, you push difficult emotions and experiences aside, but they never truly leave you. These elements form your shadow self , the dark side of your personality that most people try to repress. Shadow work is a method of embracing and seeking to understand this darker aspect of yourself so that you can release the pain and trauma of the past and become a more healed and balanced person. Darkness and light exist in every person. Only by doing the hard work of acknowledging and understanding the darkness can you begin to heal, love and accept yourself, and truly grow.
The book
Once you have found self-love, self-acceptance, and genuine growth through understanding the dark and light that coexist in you , you will be able to guide others in this practice while living a truly authentic life. Take the first step with this essential modern guide to shadow work.
The In Focus series applies a modern approach to teaching the classic body, mind, and spirit subjects. Authored by experts in their respective fields, these beginner’s guides feature smartly designed visual material that clearly illustrates key topics within each subject. As a bonus, each book includes reference cards or a poster, held in an envelope inside the back cover, that gives you a quick, go-to guide containing the most important information on the subject.
This comprehensive guide includes a beautifully designed, removable 16 × 24–inch poster featuring at-a-glance references for quick learning anytime.
Over the course of your life, you push difficult emotions and experiences aside, but they never truly leave you. These elements form your shadow self , the dark side of your personality that most people try to repress. Shadow work is a method of embracing and seeking to understand this darker aspect of yourself so that you can release the pain and trauma of the past and become a more healed and balanced person. Darkness and light exist in every person. Only by doing the hard work of acknowledging and understanding the darkness can you begin to heal, love and accept yourself, and truly grow.
The book
Once you have found self-love, self-acceptance, and genuine growth through understanding the dark and light that coexist in you , you will be able to guide others in this practice while living a truly authentic life. Take the first step with this essential modern guide to shadow work.
The In Focus series applies a modern approach to teaching the classic body, mind, and spirit subjects. Authored by experts in their respective fields, these beginner’s guides feature smartly designed visual material that clearly illustrates key topics within each subject. As a bonus, each book includes reference cards or a poster, held in an envelope inside the back cover, that gives you a quick, go-to guide containing the most important information on the subject.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published July 2, 2024
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 11, 2024
4.5⭐️
We all have shadows, even Peter Pan. He was just looking in the wrong place!
👤Shadow work is about recognizing our repressed emotions (what the ego doesn’t want to see, the parts of ourselves we protect), and working through them to create an inner harmonious balance. Without that awareness, the “shadow” within us grows darker and more subconsciously consuming. The darkness is an energy zapper, and can lead to an overworked nervous system, which can lead to emotional and physical dis-eases.
“you can go through a lifetime of therapy and work painstakingly on improving yourself, but all of your efforts will be with your conscious mind. If you ever deal with your shadow, your life will still be driven by your subconscious.”
📖This book offers a great introduction to the topic, how our nervous response system can cultivate lifelong issues, and thought-provoking exercises that are easy enough to try at home.
It’s a very quick read with topics like:
—What is a shadow (triggers, ego, projection)
—Methods to reveal your shadow
—Parts of our shadow (false, disowned and lost self)
—Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious mind
—Ancestral DNA trauma
—Effects of trauma on the nervous system
—Healing the Inner Child
—The cyclical patterns of healing
—4 restorative yoga poses
—Nervous system response hacks
—Journal prompts
🧘🏼♀️Chapter 4 was very insightful for me. After reading this, I have a new respect for meditation, sleep and dream journals. I gained a slightly deeper understanding when putting all of the consciousness aspects into perspective.
✌🏼The “lost” part of myself speaks to me deeply as well. I kept the little hippie part of myself locked away for decades, so that I wouldn’t be judged by my peers. The past few years I have FULLY embraced my inner hippie self, and it feels SO good. 🥰
✈️ I also learned that I may have more “flight” tendencies than I realized. Workaholic and burned-out adrenals is screaming at me 😆
QUOTES:
“Chronic fight-or-flight responses will cause a person to distract themselves from inner turmoil.”
“Pain creates edges for us to exist within”
“Pain stretches you into a new version of yourself, expanding your capability to hold energy and direct it toward your will.”
“When you are pointing a finger in blame, notice you still have three fingers pointed back at you.”
🎀 This book ties in nicely with some other books I’ve come across that I highly recommend checking out. I’ve put them in my “self improvement“ section on GR, where you can see my reviews.
👏🏼 Overall, I got a lot more out of this book than I thought I would, honestly. I’m not new to the topics, but I still learned some interesting info. I think this book is worth owning a physical copy to refer back to for journal promptimg and future reference.
A huge thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing and Stephanie Kirby for providing me with a complimentary ARC to review.
We all have shadows, even Peter Pan. He was just looking in the wrong place!
👤Shadow work is about recognizing our repressed emotions (what the ego doesn’t want to see, the parts of ourselves we protect), and working through them to create an inner harmonious balance. Without that awareness, the “shadow” within us grows darker and more subconsciously consuming. The darkness is an energy zapper, and can lead to an overworked nervous system, which can lead to emotional and physical dis-eases.
“you can go through a lifetime of therapy and work painstakingly on improving yourself, but all of your efforts will be with your conscious mind. If you ever deal with your shadow, your life will still be driven by your subconscious.”
📖This book offers a great introduction to the topic, how our nervous response system can cultivate lifelong issues, and thought-provoking exercises that are easy enough to try at home.
It’s a very quick read with topics like:
—What is a shadow (triggers, ego, projection)
—Methods to reveal your shadow
—Parts of our shadow (false, disowned and lost self)
—Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious mind
—Ancestral DNA trauma
—Effects of trauma on the nervous system
—Healing the Inner Child
—The cyclical patterns of healing
—4 restorative yoga poses
—Nervous system response hacks
—Journal prompts
🧘🏼♀️Chapter 4 was very insightful for me. After reading this, I have a new respect for meditation, sleep and dream journals. I gained a slightly deeper understanding when putting all of the consciousness aspects into perspective.
✌🏼The “lost” part of myself speaks to me deeply as well. I kept the little hippie part of myself locked away for decades, so that I wouldn’t be judged by my peers. The past few years I have FULLY embraced my inner hippie self, and it feels SO good. 🥰
✈️ I also learned that I may have more “flight” tendencies than I realized. Workaholic and burned-out adrenals is screaming at me 😆
QUOTES:
“Chronic fight-or-flight responses will cause a person to distract themselves from inner turmoil.”
“Pain creates edges for us to exist within”
“Pain stretches you into a new version of yourself, expanding your capability to hold energy and direct it toward your will.”
“When you are pointing a finger in blame, notice you still have three fingers pointed back at you.”
🎀 This book ties in nicely with some other books I’ve come across that I highly recommend checking out. I’ve put them in my “self improvement“ section on GR, where you can see my reviews.
👏🏼 Overall, I got a lot more out of this book than I thought I would, honestly. I’m not new to the topics, but I still learned some interesting info. I think this book is worth owning a physical copy to refer back to for journal promptimg and future reference.
A huge thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing and Stephanie Kirby for providing me with a complimentary ARC to review.
May 31, 2024
tl;dr: This book was a bit slow to start, but once it gets going, it gets going. This is more of a starting point or introduction for shadow work, and in that sense, I think it delivers. Though if you're familiar with psychology and the concept of shadow work, this won't bring anything new to the table, but may still be enjoyable.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Not tl;dr
I think this book offers a nice introduction into shadow work. It's a practice that's been made much more mainstream thanks to Pagan and metaphysical communities, but it is a concept first discussed in psychology. So don't feel turned off by this book if you're not a spiritual person (or a non-Pagan). Working with your shadow is all about looking within and analyzing who you really are, which is a practice anyone can (and everyone should!) partake in.
That said, this book does seem to be aimed at a younger audience. Probably teens and early 20s (YA). Just something to keep in mind if you were to want to read this book. As the book went on, it felt less age-specific though, which was nice. Either way, this is still a book teen+ could easily read and get something out of.
I did struggle a bit with the start, as while the introduction was nice, it did feel a bit repetitive, and I worried the whole book would be like that. Thankfully some variety was added the more you go, and there was clearly effort and love put in.
I loved the idea of the author really encouraging you to use a journal alongside this book, with lots of questions and activities to follow (and I mean LOTS lol). I will say that I wish things were organized a bit differently. Right off the bat we're instructed to make a playlist of songs that represent our shadow, but the book had yet to really give us insights as to what our shadow is, how to get to know it, etc., in order to correlate that to music. They touched on jealousy/envy, but that was pretty much it. But the shadow is a LOT more than that, which they discuss /after/. And I think if they put the music activity later in the book, after we had more chances to answer questions and introspect about ourselves, that'd give us more opportunity to know what songs to choose and engage with.
There are lots of illustrations throughout the book, and while they did add some nice visual elements and things to let your eyes rest on, some felt a bit out of place. And one graphic with a chart explaining the different parts of the brain had the exact same image, just different colors? At first I assumed the colors correlated to highlighting the areas of the brain being referenced, but, no. I feel like that was an easy missed opportunity.
The good outweighs the bad for sure though, with this book. There are dozens and dozens of questions to help you dive into your psyche and be introspective. Seriously, this book is packed with questions. And I definitely appreciated a list in the back with the main questions asked again, so you can both review them to see how you might've changed as you've read through this book, and also to easily find them again if needed.
There is also a list of books and resources to check out in the back too, for further research and learning. The author was also very clear that this book is the START of a journey, and gave some helpful questions to check in with yourself to make sure you keep up your self-care.
All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book and am grateful I had the opportunity. If you're curious about shadow work, I say this is a good place to start! :)
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Not tl;dr
According to Jung, the less you are aware of what lies within your shadow, the denser and darker it is.
I think this book offers a nice introduction into shadow work. It's a practice that's been made much more mainstream thanks to Pagan and metaphysical communities, but it is a concept first discussed in psychology. So don't feel turned off by this book if you're not a spiritual person (or a non-Pagan). Working with your shadow is all about looking within and analyzing who you really are, which is a practice anyone can (and everyone should!) partake in.
That said, this book does seem to be aimed at a younger audience. Probably teens and early 20s (YA). Just something to keep in mind if you were to want to read this book. As the book went on, it felt less age-specific though, which was nice. Either way, this is still a book teen+ could easily read and get something out of.
I did struggle a bit with the start, as while the introduction was nice, it did feel a bit repetitive, and I worried the whole book would be like that. Thankfully some variety was added the more you go, and there was clearly effort and love put in.
Imagine you're suppressing essential aspects of your personality because your ego thinks they are undesirable and unacceptable.
I loved the idea of the author really encouraging you to use a journal alongside this book, with lots of questions and activities to follow (and I mean LOTS lol). I will say that I wish things were organized a bit differently. Right off the bat we're instructed to make a playlist of songs that represent our shadow, but the book had yet to really give us insights as to what our shadow is, how to get to know it, etc., in order to correlate that to music. They touched on jealousy/envy, but that was pretty much it. But the shadow is a LOT more than that, which they discuss /after/. And I think if they put the music activity later in the book, after we had more chances to answer questions and introspect about ourselves, that'd give us more opportunity to know what songs to choose and engage with.
There are lots of illustrations throughout the book, and while they did add some nice visual elements and things to let your eyes rest on, some felt a bit out of place. And one graphic with a chart explaining the different parts of the brain had the exact same image, just different colors? At first I assumed the colors correlated to highlighting the areas of the brain being referenced, but, no. I feel like that was an easy missed opportunity.
Pain creates edges for us to exist within. Love is borderless, but pain indeed has boundaries.
The good outweighs the bad for sure though, with this book. There are dozens and dozens of questions to help you dive into your psyche and be introspective. Seriously, this book is packed with questions. And I definitely appreciated a list in the back with the main questions asked again, so you can both review them to see how you might've changed as you've read through this book, and also to easily find them again if needed.
There is also a list of books and resources to check out in the back too, for further research and learning. The author was also very clear that this book is the START of a journey, and gave some helpful questions to check in with yourself to make sure you keep up your self-care.
All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book and am grateful I had the opportunity. If you're curious about shadow work, I say this is a good place to start! :)
May 18, 2024
Shadow work has always intrigued me, so when I saw In Focus Shadow Work by Stephanie Kirby available, I had to request it. I've always wanted to explore shadow work but wasn't sure where to start. This book, in my opinion, is an excellent starting point and serves as a great foundational guide for those seeking to learn, work through, and become more knowledgeable in the practice.
The book is a practical guide to shadow work, filled with calls to action and thought-provoking topics. I recommend grabbing a journal to fully take advantage of what this book offers.
Overall, there's a lot to unpack here, but it is well worth the read. Each section is easy to understand, and I anticipate revisiting this book often. I can't wait to get a physical copy to add to my ever-growing library.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Wellfleet Press for gifting me the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The book is a practical guide to shadow work, filled with calls to action and thought-provoking topics. I recommend grabbing a journal to fully take advantage of what this book offers.
Overall, there's a lot to unpack here, but it is well worth the read. Each section is easy to understand, and I anticipate revisiting this book often. I can't wait to get a physical copy to add to my ever-growing library.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Wellfleet Press for gifting me the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 28, 2024
I value this book. It's in equal parts informative and questioning. Beautifully illustrated, it gets you take a good luck at yourself, including the aspects of yourself you'd prefer were not there. There are lots of points to consider provided and action steps you can take to understand yourself better, treat yourself better, and to be and feel more authentic. It's a good book for anyone who's been through trauma. There's a handy collection of journal prompts and further reading references at the end.
There were some yoga poses presented which, to me, didn't feel relevant. And I felt that it was a shame that the book didn't include room to write your responses to the prompts and questions, since I feel this is the key element to carrying out shadow work.
There were some yoga poses presented which, to me, didn't feel relevant. And I felt that it was a shame that the book didn't include room to write your responses to the prompts and questions, since I feel this is the key element to carrying out shadow work.
November 28, 2025
Some parts were interesting, I like the journal prompts and exploratory questions. The artistic design of the book is nice.
Overall though, I felt it was lacking on actual shadow information. It seemed more like a trauma review or psychology work book you'd get from a therapist.
When one of the earlier suggestions in the book, for reprograming your brain against your trauma, it essentially said remember the trauma, now think of a nice way it could have happened, now anytime you think of the trauma just remember the fake nice version instead. Ummmm what? I couldn't really take much of it seriously after that, but I did finish it.
Overall though, I felt it was lacking on actual shadow information. It seemed more like a trauma review or psychology work book you'd get from a therapist.
When one of the earlier suggestions in the book, for reprograming your brain against your trauma, it essentially said remember the trauma, now think of a nice way it could have happened, now anytime you think of the trauma just remember the fake nice version instead. Ummmm what? I couldn't really take much of it seriously after that, but I did finish it.
July 19, 2024
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is great and concise on an interesting concept. I was apprehensive going in as I hadn’t heard much about shadow work and thinking about the shadow self didn’t feel right to me. However the book does contain some really good stuff like the yoga section and the journaling prompts throughout. I appreciated how well Kirby handled the concept of triggers and approaching them and the illustrations are awesome.
April 23, 2024
This is another book I read to the end to get a feel for it.
Pictures are really pretty, paragraphs set out so it’s easy to reads d understand. It does go into depth of a lot of parts which is good so you understand what you have to do and why.
I will be going back over the book to the notes, ready to bring this work into my own life.
———
Thank you Beth Alley for this ARC
Pictures are really pretty, paragraphs set out so it’s easy to reads d understand. It does go into depth of a lot of parts which is good so you understand what you have to do and why.
I will be going back over the book to the notes, ready to bring this work into my own life.
———
Thank you Beth Alley for this ARC
May 6, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book. It really opened my eyes on various topics. Shadow Work is something I think everyone should take time to learn about and utilize in their day to day life.
October 29, 2024
I found this to be very helpful and informative. Will recommend to others.
April 29, 2024
I have always been intrigued but also somewhat daunted by 'shadow work' this book is not only beautiful - but it's easy to follow, and feels very gentle and a good way in.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews