In my opinion, the best time for shadow work is any time you have available to do it. As long as you’re taking time afterward to reflect on what you’ve experienced and decompress, it shouldn’t have too big of an effect on you. Yes, there will be difficult moments and hard realizations, but the purpose of working with your shadow is to recognize them and either integrate them, work with them, or overcome them.
Shadow work is also not something that is done in one sitting. Yes, you can sit down and actively work through some shadows through meditation, journal prompts, and self-reflection. However, shadow work is also done constantly as you move through life. When something happens that triggers a certain emotion or response during your daily life, shadow work means recognizing it, taking note of what happened, figuring out the cause, and reflecting on how this shadow shows up for you. You can also take that further during a shadow work routine to journal about it or think your way through it.
Here’s an example from my own life: I made a TikTok video that may ruffle some feathers (has nothing to do with witchcraft or paganism). Now, I am fighting the urge to constantly check my notifications for replies, messages, etc. I recognize this as two shadows: one is the need for validation and two is the fear of rejection. By recognizing these shadows as I sit here, I can work through those emotions and remind myself and my shadows that I deserve to exist, I deserve to have an opinion, and I can’t make everyone happy.
To sum it all up (because I tend to just ramble on lol) I say do it whenever you feel the need or desire. If you want to make a routine, such as exploring a journal prompt every full moon, that’s awesome! If you only want to do it once a week, that’s cool, too. There aren’t any rules about doing shadow work, and shadow work is something that will happen for the rest of your life since our subconscious is constantly changing and adapting to our environment.