Bringing the Shadow to Life: Joseph Kao, John Dupuy, and iAwake’s new release, Shadow, The Light and the Darkness

In this lively, intriguing, and informative conversation, iAwake’s CEO John Dupuy and hypnotherapist and brainwave entrainment master Joseph Kao illuminate what the shadow is and the best way of helping people hone in on…where’s the shadow in me? Both the dark parts and the gifts and strengths? Joe Kao explains that the easiest and most effective way to discover what is hidden is in the mirror of other people, which method he has incorporated in his guided meditation on iAwake’s latest release: Shadow, The Light and the Darkness. Joe has carefully crafted his guidance to put us in a deeply relaxed state where profound changes happen more easily, and created the ideal brainwave entrainment stimulus for evoking insights, personal change, and releasing rigidity and blocks (deep theta with bursts of gamma) to accompany the meditation. Enjoy this rich and warm discussion and Joe's eloquence on the subject of shadow, Shakespeare, and brainwave entrainment. Recorded April 11, 2025.

Topics & Time Stamps

• Introducing hypnotherapist, brainwave entrainment developer, and Shakespearean actor Joseph Kao, creator of Shadow: The Light and the Darkness (00:26)
• Shakespeare is full-spectrum humanity: the light and the darkness (04:17)
• What is the shadow? (05:08)
• Shadow is not only the dark hidden parts but also the hidden gifts (06:57)
• Joe’s disproportionate response to a colleague: an illustrative story (10:07)
• Inculcating inquiry mode into your life (17:01)
• Vocal guidance + brainwave entrainment helps you get into a very deep place where shadow work becomes more effective (17:35)
• Joe’s brainwave entrainment is designed first and foremost to foster deep relaxation (18:42)
• In a deep state, profound changes happen more easily than they would if attempting the same thing in a conscious, waking state (21:28)
• Traditionally, rhythmic stimulus has always been used to evoke states conducive to insights, personal change, and releasing blocks (22:00)
• Deep theta waves with bursts of gamma waves in the background is the combination most associated with having epiphanies (23:39)
• Using Shadow: The Light and the Darkness in your interior work (24:43)
• Using the mirror of other people provides the method and the tools (26:53)

Resources

• Joseph Kao’s website: Solution-Focused Therapy and Hypnotherapy
• Shadow, The Light and the Darkness — Uncovering the Hidden Places in Our Souls
• Joe Kao's guided, brainwave entrainment enhanced tracks on the iAwake website
• A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series on the Deep Transformation podcast 
• William Burroughs’ Dream Machine
• Walt Whitman, “Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself.” From his poem "Song of Myself"

Joseph Kao, creator of the very popular Profound Releasing, Profound Renewal, Sound Asleep, Journey to the Center of the Self, and Journey to the Depths of the Soul, and now Shadow, The Light and the Darkness, is a hypnotherapist and a solution-focused therapist with a private practice in Cambridge, UK. Joe works as a teacher and a developer of psychotherapy training courses, and has been the head scriptwriter for over 800 professional hypnotherapy recordings. Joseph has practiced meditation since the late 1990s, and he's used brainwave entrainment as a core part of his practice throughout this time. He is a father of two, a keen cold-water swimmer, and he is currently exploring how theater and improv intersect with psychotherapy and personal development. Learn more about Joseph at https://joekao.com/.

John Dupuy is the CEO of iAwake Technologies, co-host of the podcast Deep Transformation: Self-Society-Spirit, author of Integral Recovery, and travels internationally to teach and inspire on the subjects of Integral Transformative Practice and the use of brainwave entrainment technology to deepen one's meditation practice and in the treatment of addiction, depression, and PTSD.

This blog was created by Heidi Mitchell, John Dupuy's longtime assistant and project manager/editor of the Deep Transformation: Self-Society-Spirit podcast. John introduced Heidi to Integral practice and sound tech-enhanced meditation in 2007. Heidi is also a freelance editor of nonfiction books, blogs, and websites. She can be reached at www.heidimitchelleditor.com.