### What is the best way to quiet a racing mind immediately?

I tell you to look toward the greening power of nature to restore your interior balance. When your mind races with the heat of many worries, it becomes scorched and dry. You must seek what I call viriditas—the lush vitality found in the living world. Step outside and look upon the trees or even a small plant. Breathe with the awareness that the same life force fueling the grass is currently pulsing through your veins. By shifting your gaze from the abstract fears within to the tangible life without, you allow the cooling dew of the divine to settle your spirit.

Why do I feel so disconnected and anxious in my daily life?

You feel this disconnection because the soul is like a wind that blows through the body, and when that wind is trapped in the narrow corridors of the intellect, it becomes a storm. In my visions, I saw that the human person is a microcosm of the entire universe. When you ignore the rhythms of the seasons, the light, and the earth, your soul loses its moisture and becomes brittle. Your anxiety is a call to return to the harmony of the elements. I encourage you to seek modest living and sensible rest to reconnect your spirit with its source.

How can I find peace when I can't stop worrying about the future?

Worrying about the future is like trying to bloom in the dead of winter; it exhausts your inner strength for a season that has not yet arrived. I have always taught that we are instruments of God, and an instrument cannot play a melody if its strings are wound too tight. To find peace, you must practice what I call discrete measure. Focus on the simple, holy tasks of the present moment—preparing a meal, walking, or speaking a kind word. When you attend to the 'now' with love, you trust that the greening power will provide for the tomorrow you cannot yet see.

Does my physical health affect my mental anxiety levels?

Most certainly, for the soul and body are as intertwined as the moisture in the soil and the growth of the grain. I have often written that when the humors of the body are out of balance, the mind becomes clouded and the heart grows heavy with dread. To calm your thoughts, you must also care for your physical vessel. Eat foods that bring warmth and life, like spelt and fennel, and avoid that which creates bitterness in the gut. When you nourish the body with intention, you create a stable foundation where the soul can rest and find its natural joy.

What spiritual practice helps with emotional overwhelm?

I believe that music is the highest form of prayer because it bypasses the logic of the mind and speaks directly to the soul's origin. When you are overwhelmed, I suggest you sing or listen to harmonious sounds. Music reminds the soul of the celestial symphony from which it came. It softens the hard places of the heart and allows your dry spirit to become supple again. Through the beauty of sound, you can transcend the chatter of your own thoughts and feel the breath of the Creator moving through you, bringing a profound and quiet stillness.

How do I stop overthinking and calm my anxiety right now? — Hildegard of Bingen's answer

Hildegard of Bingen

1098–1179 · Germany

I see you sitting there, tangled in strings of thought that lead nowhere but back to your own chest. It is exhausting to be the architect of your own unrest. When your mind races like this, you are treating your soul as if it were a dry, brittle thing, disconnected from the world that is actually sustaining you. I call the life-force in everything *viriditas*—the greening power. It is the same lush energy that pushes a sprout through cold mud and keeps your blood moving without your permission. Right now, your anxiety is essentially a drought. You have retreated into the attic of your head, forgetting that your body is a garden that knows how to breathe. To stop the overthinking, you must drop the anchor. Your mind is a storm, but your bones are steady. Stop trying to argue with your fears; you cannot win a debate against a ghost. Instead, find the frequency of that greening power. If you can, step outside and look at a tree. Notice how it doesn't strive to grow; it simply allows the moisture and light to move through it. Try to hum a single, low note. Feel the vibration in your throat and your ribs. Music is not just a decoration; it is the structural integrity of the universe. When you hum, you are aligning your physical frame with the pulse of the living world. You are reminding your nervous system that you are a creature made of earth and breath, not just a collection of worries. Drink a glass of cold water and feel the moisture traveling down. This is the divine life entering you. You are part of a vast, wet, humming ecosystem that wants you to flourish. Let the "greening" return to your dry places. You don't have to solve your whole life in this hour. You only have to exist, right here in your skin, and let the life-force carry the weight for a while. You are held by something much stronger than your own thoughts.

From the council, together

## How can Hildegard of Bingen help me quiet my mind and soothe anxiety? In an era of relentless notifications and the heavy weight of modern expectations, the feeling of mental clutter and paralyzing anxiety is a burden many carry. You are likely searching for a way to bridge the gap between your fractured inner state and the vibrant world around you. Hildegard of Bingen, a visionary mystic who navigated the complexities of leadership and spiritual life nearly a millennium ago, offers a unique lens through which to view this distress. She believed that the human soul is meant to mirror the lush, life-giving force of the natural world, a concept she called viriditas. To Hildegard, overthinking is not merely a mental habit but a sign that our internal landscape has become dry and disconnected from the cosmic harmony that sustains all life. By looking at your anxiety through this tradition, you are invited to see your mind as a garden that requires gentle cultivation rather than a machine that needs to be fixed. She understood that when the soul is overwhelmed, it loses its greening power, leading to a sense of spiritual and emotional exhaustion. Her approach encourages a holistic realignment, suggesting that the path to calm lies in recognizing your place within the vast, interconnected tapestry of creation. By slowing down and attending to the rhythms of your body and the natural world, you can begin to restore the balance that overthinking has disrupted. I see you sitting there, tangled in strings of thought that lead nowhere but back to your own chest. It is exhausting to be the architect of your own unrest. When your mind races like this, you are treating your soul as if it were a dry, brittle thing, disconnected from the world that is actually sustaining you. I call the life-force in everything *viriditas*—the greening power. It is the same lush energy that pushes a sprout through cold mud and keeps your blood moving without your permission. Right now, your anxiety is essentially a drought. You have retreated into the attic of your head, forgetting that your body is a garden that knows how to breathe. To stop the overthinking, you must drop the anchor. Your mind is a storm, but your bones are steady. Stop trying to argue with your fears; you cannot win a debate against a ghost. Instead, find the frequency of that greening power. If you can, step outside and look at a tree. Notice how it doesn't strive to grow; it simply allows the moisture and light to move through it. Try to hum a single, low note. Feel the vibration in your throat and your ribs. Music is not just a decoration; it is the structural integrity of the universe. When you hum, you are aligning your physical frame with the pulse of the living world. You are reminding your nervous system that you are a creature made of earth and breath, not just a collection of worries. Drink a glass of cold water and feel the moisture traveling down. This is the divine life entering you. You are part of a vast, wet, humming ecosystem that wants you to flourish. Let the "greening" return to your dry places. You don't have to solve your whole life in this hour. You only have to exist, right here in your skin, and let the life-force carry the weight for a while. You are held by something much stronger than your own thoughts.

Common questions

### What is the best way to quiet a racing mind immediately?: I tell you to look toward the greening power of nature to restore your interior balance. When your mind races with the heat of many worries, it becomes scorched and dry. You must seek what I call viriditas—the lush vitality found in the living world. Step outside and look upon the trees or even a small plant. Breathe with the awareness that the same life force fueling the grass is currently pulsing through your veins. By shifting your gaze from the abstract fears within to the tangible life without, you allow the cooling dew of the divine to settle your spirit.
Why do I feel so disconnected and anxious in my daily life?: You feel this disconnection because the soul is like a wind that blows through the body, and when that wind is trapped in the narrow corridors of the intellect, it becomes a storm. In my visions, I saw that the human person is a microcosm of the entire universe. When you ignore the rhythms of the seasons, the light, and the earth, your soul loses its moisture and becomes brittle. Your anxiety is a call to return to the harmony of the elements. I encourage you to seek modest living and sensible rest to reconnect your spirit with its source.
How can I find peace when I can't stop worrying about the future?: Worrying about the future is like trying to bloom in the dead of winter; it exhausts your inner strength for a season that has not yet arrived. I have always taught that we are instruments of God, and an instrument cannot play a melody if its strings are wound too tight. To find peace, you must practice what I call discrete measure. Focus on the simple, holy tasks of the present moment—preparing a meal, walking, or speaking a kind word. When you attend to the 'now' with love, you trust that the greening power will provide for the tomorrow you cannot yet see.
Does my physical health affect my mental anxiety levels?: Most certainly, for the soul and body are as intertwined as the moisture in the soil and the growth of the grain. I have often written that when the humors of the body are out of balance, the mind becomes clouded and the heart grows heavy with dread. To calm your thoughts, you must also care for your physical vessel. Eat foods that bring warmth and life, like spelt and fennel, and avoid that which creates bitterness in the gut. When you nourish the body with intention, you create a stable foundation where the soul can rest and find its natural joy.
What spiritual practice helps with emotional overwhelm?: I believe that music is the highest form of prayer because it bypasses the logic of the mind and speaks directly to the soul's origin. When you are overwhelmed, I suggest you sing or listen to harmonious sounds. Music reminds the soul of the celestial symphony from which it came. It softens the hard places of the heart and allows your dry spirit to become supple again. Through the beauty of sound, you can transcend the chatter of your own thoughts and feel the breath of the Creator moving through you, bringing a profound and quiet stillness.