"Hello, Darkness..."

And why your shadow can be your old friend

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Dear Viking friends,

I am writing this at the airport reflecting on my past week in the far north, where the sun now sets by 4 pm and barely peeks out for a few hours each day, and thinking about the significance of darkness, light, and shadows. As darkness falls earlier and earlier and temperatures begin to drop, all of nature (and that includes us!) seems to draw inward for warmth, rest and reflection.

Only a few days ago I arrived at my friend’s cabin in the mountains of Norway in foggy, misty darkness. The following morning we awoke to a pristine snowy winter wonderland, a vast white blanket of velvety softness and trees covered in dusty crystals of snow. As soon as we finished breakfast, we dressed in warm layers and set out to soak up the quiet magic and the fresh mountain air.

Later, back at the cabin, I examined the pictures from the day. In one shot of the surrounding mountain ranges and forests, I noticed two shadows in the foreground. It looked like two figures greeting each other (in reality it was my friend and me). A line from a song immediately popped into my head, from “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel, about greeting darkness as an old friend.

Yet darkness and shadows are so often associated with the unknown, the hidden and oftentimes scary.

What if we could greet our own shadows like this when they appear on our journey? The concept of the shadow was developed by Carl Jung in the early 20th century, and shadow work has since come to mean the practice of exploring and integrating the hidden, repressed, or denied aspects of ourselves.

Indeed, this exploration of the darkest parts of ourselves is considered to be a nerve-wracking endeavor by many. Why are we so scared of these elusive and intangible shadows?

In nature, the dark is not scary. Animals hide, rest, and find refuge in it. Most seek a dark place to give birth. Bears retreat to their caves to hibernate. Like a baby in the womb or a planet spinning in outer space, darkness can be a safe, nurturing, and creative space, undisturbed by interfering elements.

We humans, however, tend to dread or avoid the shadows, the parts we’ve pushed into the unconscious because they’re uncomfortable, shameful, or don’t fit the image we want to present to the world.

In yoga nidra (for those not familiar, yoga nidra is a meditative state between being awake and asleep, accessed through deep relaxation with the eyes closed), we welcome our whole selves—the light and the dark—in order to release any stuck or suppressed parts. When we can accept ourselves fully and welcome it all to the surface, we can truly heal, release and move on.

On a physiological level, darkness is as important as light in the body’s processes. Our circadian rhythm depends on the natural cycle of light and dark to regulate sleep, mood, and overall wellbeing. When winter comes around, it’s time to tune in to the darkness by adapting our light sources to mimic the warm tones of natural light: fireplaces, candles, and lanterns. In other words, we are aligning with nature’s rhythm.

When we start looking at darkness and light like the yin and yang symbol, two essential halves of the day, or the year, or even the earth, it all suddenly begins to feel different. Reframing the dark and the shadows teaches us to welcome this contrast within and without.

So next time you meet one of your shadows on your path, perhaps instead of ignoring, denying, or suppressing it, reach out and welcome it like an old friend. It just might be exactly the one you were missing.

Enjoy the winter season!

Love, Ragnhild

P.S. Speaking of shadows and reflection—join Katie Bishop and myself for BREAK FREE, an online workshop on releasing stuck patterns and resetting for the new year with coaching, energy work, yoga nidra and more. Intro session November 29th, weekend workshop December 6th & 7th. All sessions recorded - join anytime! More info and registration: contact me at: www.thenewviking.io/contact

Also, for those of you who want to learn more about tuning into the Circadian rhythm - I highly recommend nutritional therapist and circadian health coach Camilla Fone’s wintering course: https://www.camillafone.com/wintering-online-course