At Mind Body Boot Camp in Barking last Saturday, we discussed the quote “What you Resist Persists”, by Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung.

Have you ever found that no matter what you do, the very thing you want to change about yourself just does not seem to change?  The more you try to change the more it basically ‘persists’.

The reason this happens is that you are actually focusing on what you don’t want instead of focusing on what you do want.

This quote relates to Jung’s research into what he called, The Shadow. He found that patients who resisted aspects of themselves would have those aspects persist, or actually enlarge.

This would draw much energy into the cycle of resistance – problem – more resistance – more problems.

This resistance typically begins with shame.

Resisting means hiding, denying, or covering up aspects of yourself you feel ashamed of. The solution is to truly embrace the part of yourself you are resisting and accept that no one is perfect.

To start solving areas of your life where you may be denying yourself success with your goals, ask yourself the following questions.

• What area of your life are you resisting about yourself?
• Where in your life do you think you are supposed to be perfect?
• What area of your life do you tend beat yourself up about?
• Consider what you are hiding about yourself or something that you feel ashamed of?
• How would it feel to accept this part of you?
• Write down what it is that you do want instead of what you don’t want, for example “I want to be healthy and fit into my size 10 clothing” rather than “I don’t want to be fat” or “I want to be in control of my eating” rather than “I don’t want to keep shoving food into my mouth when I do not need it”.

Acknowledgement is the first step to loving every part of you completely, even your shadow.