Diving Deep for True Healing

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”

---Carl Jung

As I prepare for my upcoming hip replacement next week, I've spent a lot of time connecting with my breath and reflecting on the deeper meaning of this experience. A recurring image in my mind is that of an iceberg—a powerful metaphor for the hidden, greater presence within us.

We know that our conscious awareness accounts for only about 5% of our mental activity, with the remaining 95% residing in the subconscious. This metaphor seems equally applicable to our physical bodies. When it comes to our health, much remains unseen and unknown, just like the submerged part of an iceberg.

Sometimes it takes pain to make us look more closely at what is beneath the surface. 

It took me three years to decide to undergo hip surgery. As a healer, I thought that if I did everything “right,” I could avoid it. On the surface, I was diligently practicing healthy habits. I did Pilates, which revealed that I had stored a significant amount of grief and pain in my pelvis following the loss of my daughter more than twenty years ago.

I was willing to look at these things and to embrace them. So why didn’t my hip heal?

The deeper I dove and the more I anchored myself in my pelvic floor, the more I realized how much was blocked there. I recognized that I had become somewhat dissociated from my lower body—frozen in a sense. My foundation felt stuck, my breath restricted. By allowing myself to connect with my breath and bring its flow throughout my body, I began to understand that there will always be unseen aspects of my health—aspects I can’t control or willfully fix—and that I couldn’t ignore this. 

I had to accept that some things are meant to fall apart and be reconstructed. Embracing this hip replacement as a positive step, I am now learning to trust the process, to pay attention to this part of my body with love and care.

We all face unknowns in our personal lives and in the broader world, especially in the political landscape. How do we trust that what’s hidden will ultimately support us and be a necessary part of our journey? How do we confront fear without letting it overwhelm us?

We can start by focusing on what we can see—the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. By meeting our own fears, strengthening our foundations, and deeply examining our beliefs, we can navigate the unknown with greater confidence. What lies beneath the surface, whether unresolved issues or unconscious resistance, is not something to wish away. It is there to serve as a necessary foundation to support us.

Diving deeper may mean asking:

Are we willing to confront the darkness and the things we’d rather ignore? What is our spiritual and emotional bottom? Are we heading for a crash, or are we merely trying to sail on by? Do we need to slow down and reassess our course?

For me, one of the biggest lessons from this journey is recognizing the care and attention I need to give to my foundation. By anchoring my breath into my pelvis every day, I can become more grounded in who I am meant to be. This process will help me become more of myself, not less, affirming that there is more to me than just my physical body.

My hip pain led me to a physical crash, but it also opened the door to deeper self-awareness and healing. By surrendering to the darkness and facing what lies there, I have found hope. 

There is always hope. The question is: will I allow myself to surrender and  meet it deep within myself?

“Man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

—Jacques Cousteau