Look at your family tree

Another starter exercise to dip your toes into shadow work would be to analyzing your family tree.

Make a family tree of your two sets of grandparents, all of your aunts and uncles, and your parents because they're the generations above you whose attributes—good and bad—might be in you. This practice is all about getting honest enough to say, "I love my family, but one of my uncles drinks too much," for example.

The next step is to really look at all those qualities that exist within your family, and ask if any of those things are in you.