Undercurrents and undertows are a lot like what Jung called our ‘shadows’. They are aspects of ourselves that are there, part of us, largely unseen, very powerful and frequently misunderstood.

These could be thoughts, behaviours or things that merely move us in ways we don’t like.

Much of the time, people want to eliminate these aspects of themselves from their lives.

There are a good many people who can’t enjoy the beach because they’re afraid of being pulled out to sea by the undertow.

The mere threat of encountering these fearful currents is enough to keep a lot of people out of the water.

And we don't want anything to do with these undercurrents because we perceive them as a threat. They are a threat. They threaten our relationships. They threaten us with experiences we don’t want to ‘enjoy’ again because they aren’t that much fun. 

With more knowledge of how they work, when we can pinpoint how our undercurrents move us, do we remove the threat?  Think you have a shady thing that you do, or a shitty way you are in the world or a way you've been shitty to other people, or you've been shity to yourself. Do you see the pattern the same way? Pick one pattern. Now instead of trying to resist a pattern, imagine how you could move through it more quickly. It’s a structure in your life. It’s likely coming back. 

Frequently we spend so much time resisting our undertow, our patterns, that we spend time in shock, disbelief, shame or protest as we go through them. But have you  ever watched yourself going through your undertow patterns? Have you just let go, gone  with it and noticed what was happening? 

When you're in that habitual pattern that you don't like instead of noticing how it's coming on and all that that's great and trying to avoid it, what would happen if you just went with it for a while and got curious about your own undertow? Might there be a different way out? How could you break a cycle of undertow behaviour more quickly by not resisting?