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Down With My Demons: The Shadow Work Path
Down With My Demons is a podcast for people who are ready to stop spiritually bypassing, turn toward their pain, and build a more honest relationship with themselves.
Together, we explore shadow work: all the parts of us we’ve hidden, exiled, or learned to be ashamed of. Through storytelling, depth psychology, trauma-informed insight, and intimate conversations with guests, we look at the raw, uncomfortable material of being human: grief, rage, desire, shame, longing, burnout, and everything in between.
This is a space where:
- No parts are bad parts – every emotion and pattern is seen as meaningful and workable.
- We connect dots between your personal story and larger systems (family, culture, capitalism, patriarchy, colonization).
- Nervous system + soul work meet – we talk about the brain, body, and psyche, and how to actually integrate change instead of just talking about it.
- Big topics are named out loud – complex trauma, addiction, pleasure, power, money, sex, spirituality, and the collective grief of living in uncertain times.
I’m Chloe Lionheart – a doctoral candidate in clinical depth psychology, therapist, researcher, and longtime befriender of my own shadows. I don’t come as a guru, but as a fellow human who’s been cracked open and is still learning. Expect real talk, tenderness, and basking in raw humanness.
If you’re:
- tired of self-help that skips over the hard parts,
- craving language for what you feel but can’t quite name,
- longing for companionship on the path of becoming…
…then this show is for you.
Come sit by the fire, bring your demons, and let’s find out what they’ve been trying to tell you about the life you actually deserve to live.
Down With My Demons: The Shadow Work Path
The Grip of Dopamine
This week we are unpacking Dopamine! This is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days and this episode is devoted to the continued exploration of understanding how our brains and bodies work in conscious and unconscious ways. Inside, we learn about what dopamine is, where it is, what it does, and how that might play out in our lives. Part of the shadow work experience is first learning to be aware of ourselves and our many systems, before we can take further steps. Once we are more cognizant of ourselves, next comes learning to show ourselves compassion for our humanness and starting on the path of making necessary shifts. Please like, subscribed, leave a review, and SHARE! I hope you enjoy the episode and look forward to being with you in there. Till next time...
https://www.downwithmydemons.com/
To connect with Chloe Lionheart:
Email: chloe@downwithmydemons.com
Resources:
Adrenal Glands: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23005-adrenal-gland
Body-Mind Centering: https://www.bodymindcentering.com/
-Great book on Body-Mind Centering by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
"Sensing, Feeling, and Action: The Experiential Anatomy of Body-Mind Centering"
https://bonniebainbridgecohen.com/collections/books
Chakras: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/7-chakras-for-beginners
Kundalini Energy: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/the-science-of-kundalini#:~:text=Kundalini%20is%20a%20potential%20power,species'%20evolution%20toward%20greater%20consciousness.
Dan Siegel: "Dopamine and Teenage Logic" Article
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/dopamine-and-teenage-logic/282895/
More info:
Scientific Article:
"The relationship between childhood trauma, dopamine release and dexamphetamine-induced positive psychotic symptoms" -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6848217/
Poem by Khalil Gibran "On Pleasure" from his book "The Prophet"
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148570/on-pleasure
The Prophet (Free E-Book): https://www.kahlilgibran.com/images/The%20Prophet%20Ebook%20by%20Kahlil%20Gibran.pdf
Exercise Questions:
...When feeling the pull of dopamine...
1. What do I want right now?
2. What do I need right now?
3. What is going to make me feel my best in hours or days from now?
4. What happened throughout my day that's playing a role in how I feel right now?
5. Will I be able to show myself kindness after I feed this desire?