Have you ever noticed that when your inner world feels peaceful and calm, you can meet life’s outer challenges with more strength and grace?
When your inner well’s full, you feel a certain steadiness in life. This gives you strength for all that comes your way.
And yet, are there days when it’s hard to find that sense of being grounded and calm within?
Some days can be harder than others. We experience troubles in the world, in our country, in our communities, even with our families and friends. Sometimes it all feels like too much.
We must find the strength to move forward. But how?
St. Hildegard of Bingen can offer us inspiration in a moment like this as she knew this experience well. She lived in a tumultuous time and yet she remained a remarkably grounded woman. She was a visionary mystic, composer, writer, healer and also an abbess who led others with great compassion.
How was she able to do this?
She drew her outer strength from an inner wellspring.
Her life wasn’t easy. St. Hildegard suffered from chronic illness and faced opposition to her visions and teachings. Yet she created an outpouring of beauty—music, poetry, theological writings, healing remedies, and more.
Through regular prayer, ritual, contemplation, and song, she kept her inner life vibrant. This inner harmony gave her the strength and clarity to lead, create, and inspire. She understood that when we tend to our inner life, we awaken the power to shape our outer one.
While St. Hildegard lived a long time ago, we can still take inspiration from her today to find our own inner harmony.
In the midst of troubling times in our lives, we can turn to these four simple ways to find peace:
- Create a simple morning ritual
Start your day with a moment of intention. Light a candle, say a prayer, or breathe deeply holding an intention for the day.
- Cultivate gratitude
St. Hildegard taught that cultivating virtues like gratitude, hope, and compassion strengthens the soul and supports physical healing. Offer words of gratitude to those you encounter during the day or write in a gratitude journal in the evening.
- Let music or chant be a bridge
Music was a form of healing prayer for St. Hildegard. Her own compositions were inspired by divine visions. Listening to sacred music, chanting, or even humming can harmonize your nervous system and open your connection to the Divine.
- Return to silence
Make space each week, even just a few minutes, to unplug and listen inwardly. This inner stillness becomes fertile ground for insight, renewal, and guidance.
When you create time for practices that center you whether they are prayer, reflection, song, or silence, you nourish the wellspring within. From that place, your creativity flows more freely. Your decisions become clearer. And your life begins to reflect the beauty and wisdom of your inner world.
St. Hildegard’s life can remind us that true strength doesn’t come from pushing harder, but it comes from living in harmony within.
Want to explore more? I invite you to check out my online program, Healing with Hildegard. Inspired by Hildegard’s teachings, you’ll explore spiritual practices, guided meditations, and creative tools to support your well-being, in body, mind, and spirit. Find out more here
