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Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power & Creativity of Your Dark Side By David Richo ( Shambhala )
Release Date: 1999-05-11
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $19.95
Price: $13.57 Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
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Product Description
Our "shadow" is the collection of negative or undesirable traits we keep hidden—the things we don't like about ourselves or are afraid to admit: egotist, non-"PC" proclivities, forbidden sexual desires. But it also includes our positive, untapped potential—qualities we may admire in others but disavow in ourselves. Befriending the shadow makes fear an ally and enables us to live more authentically. It also automatically improves our interpersonal relationships, because we are freed from the need to project our own negativity onto others, and we become more acutely aware when theirs is projected onto us. David Richo looks for where the shadow manifests in personal life, family interaction, religion, relationship, and the world around is. He shows how to use the gentle practice of mindfulness to work with our shadow side, and he provides numerous exercises for going deeper. He is remarkably skillful at making the shadow concept not only easy to understand, but supremely practical for enhancing the quality of our lives.
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Amazon.com Review
"Our scared and arrogant ego has an enormous capacity not to know itself," says Esalen Institute psychotherapist David Richo. The shadow self, the dark side of the personality, is hidden in the psyche. Others often see it, but we do not. As Jung says, "The shadow is the negative side of the personality, the sum of all those unpleasant qualities we like to hide, together with the insufficiently developed functions and the contents of the personal unconscious....[The shadow] also displays a number of good qualities such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights, creative impulses, etc." Richo has written an enormously useful book in which he introduces the reader to the conscious persona and the subconscious shadow. Unlike other practitioners, he includes conscious but negatively perceived traits in his definition of the dark side, plus undiscovered or unused positive traits. By helping the reader to befriend the shadow self instead of projecting it onto others in dysfunctional or destructive ways, the author performs a profound service, freeing emotional and creative resources through which we can manifest brighter, healthier lives. --P. Randall Cohan
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a very helpful beginning for assisting with personal awareness
My partner and I are planning to use this to become more aware of our sneaky dark--hidden sides. It a good begginers approach to learning more about what a shadow part of us is. Thanks for this opportunity to let others know about it.
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The Big First Step ( wkrapek )
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2MYI4ASBHLWR8 Threads, Knots, Tapestries: How A Tribal Connection Is Revealed Through Dreams And Synchronicities
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One of the BEST books I have ever read !!! ( brookfielddoug )
This book is excellent. I have read many self-improvement type books; most of them are written well but are superficial, or are deep and insightful, but are not written well at all. This book by Richio is the exception - it is well written AND very deep and insightful. The book is about recognizing the "shadow" element in us, bringing it to light, and then "befriending" it; that is, coming in terms with it and figuring out how to live a purposeful life despite our shortcomings. The perspective of the author is that of a Jungian psychologist with a slight Buddhist tinge. His analysis and explanations of why we act the way we do are right on target and I learned much from reading this book. The author has included several exercises at the end of each chapter, and almost all of them are very good and by going through them I learned many things about myself I did not know. While working through this book I kept a notebook, and wrote down several quotes from the book and wrote out all the exercises; altogether I wrote out about 250 pages! I found it best to go through this book very slowly, and don't rush through the exercises. I HIGHLY recommend this excellent and extremely insightful book, and I am very interested in reading more books by this author. If you are interested in doing your own self examination, buy this book now...you will gain many insights into your self, your hidden self, and the motivations which underlie your day to day behavior.
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Great book on applied Jungian theory!
This is an excellent book for self-exploration and self-development. It provides a thorough explanation of the concept of the shadow in Jungian theory and introduces us to various practical exercises to explore our own shadow. Though I'm not really a Jungian, this was a very interesting book that gave me lots to think about. If you'd like a more simplistic but nevertheless absolutely excellent explanation of the psyche, try reading "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is an amazing book that explains almost everything you wondered about in a concise and down to earth way! Five stars may not be enough for this one.
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Rough start, then it gets going.... ( garanzsl )
This book is typical of David Richo's work: pretty good. His writing is very very scholarly and intellectual. I often wish he'd step out of his head more often and more frequently share how what he's saying directly can effect me as a person. (For application of work presented here the reader might also want to read Susan Campbell's "Getting Real", as that would give you the skills to own your anger in the moment, for example). As a therapist, I often find that some clients know a lot about whats going wrong, but they need skill building to go along with the insight. He starts applying the shadow material, and the book really gets going, only at about page 150. I felt there was too much background material on how the shadow works, which leaves me afraid to offer this book to a client; Its boring in the beginning. All in all, its a really great expository work on Jungian theory and the Shadow, and he does a great job applying Shadow concepts to real life. I love how he frames projections, and I think this is one of the better works on understanding how projection works in our lives. From a theoretical perspective I learned a lot about the shadow and applications to other cultures and sometimes my own life. After reading this book I felt intellectually overwhelmed, tired, and smarter. Fundamentally a great scholarly work, even though not really a true self-help book.
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