Universal Remedies: Simple Ways to Care for Body, Mind & Spirit Every Day
Hildegard's WayShare
What if some of the most valuable remedies were also the simplest?
A prayer in the morning. A nourishing meal. A handful of herbs. Fresh air and a walk. A moment of silence. Time with someone we love.
Nearly 900 years ago, St. Hildegard of Bingen understood something we are only beginning to appreciate again:
The human person cannot be divided.
Body, mind, and spirit are intimately connected. What nourishes the body can influence the mind. What occupies the mind can affect the body. Our emotions, relationships, work, rest, prayer, and spiritual life are not separate from our well-being.
They are intertwined.
For Hildegard, caring for health was not simply about reaching for a remedy after something went wrong. It was about living in a way that continually supports the whole person.
And many of those daily remedies are remarkably simple.
1. Begin With God: The First Remedy of the Day
Everything that comes to us can take on a different meaning when we begin the day with prayer.
When we open our souls to God's grace, we make room for His presence and action in the ordinary circumstances of our day.
Before looking at the phone, opening the computer, or beginning the day's long list of responsibilities, give the first moments to God.
And remember your Guardian Angel, given by our loving Father to accompany you on the journey.
I am not alone. God is with me.
2. Nourish What Has Been Entrusted to You
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, entrusted to our care.
So don't simply eat—nourish.
Choose wholesome ingredients. Cook at home when possible. Visit your local farmers' market. Grow a few vegetables or herbs.
And remember that homemade food contains something that will never appear on a Nutrition Facts panel:
Love.
We don't have to wait for health challenges to begin nourishing our bodies well. Good food, together with the traditional herbs and preparations found in Hildegard's writings and later Hildegardian practice, can become part of an everyday rhythm of care.
3. Sivesan: Sive Sana, Sive Infirma
Whether healthy or ill.
Those few words capture beautifully the idea of caring for the body not only when illness appears, but also while we are well.
Sivesan brings together just four ingredients:
Fennel Seeds · Galangal · Diptam · Hawkweed
Hildegardian practitioners such as Dr. Gottfried Hertzka, Dr. Walkowska, and others have traditionally recommended this blend in connection with digestion, metabolism, circulation, general vitality, and periods of convalescence.
Caring for our health does not have to begin with illness.
4. Parsley-Wine: A Simple Tradition for the Heart
Some Hildegardian preparations are surprisingly simple. Parsley-wine is one of them.
Parsley. Wine. Honey. A little vinegar.
These are ordinary ingredients, and the preparation takes only a short time to make at home.
Within the European Hildegardian tradition, parsley-wine has long been valued as a supportive tonic associated with the heart and circulation.
Dr. Gottfried Hertzka, the physician who helped bring Hildegard's medical writings back to wider attention, considered it an important preparation and reportedly kept it on hand while visiting his patients.
It is a wonderful example of something we encounter again and again in Hildegard's teachings: some of the most treasured preparations begin with very ordinary things.
Watch How to Make Parsley-Wine
5. Pear Honey with Bearwort: Better Than Gold
Sanare est purgare.
Healing means cleansing.
Healthy nourishment is important, but so is the body's ability to properly process and release what it no longer needs.
Today we also understand much more about the extraordinary microbial communities living in the intestines, digestive tract, mouth, and on the skin—and their important relationship with the body.
Hildegard placed great emphasis on restoring order when the body became burdened. Her famous pear-honey preparation with bearwort became one of the most treasured preparations in the Hildegardian tradition.
Hildegard spoke of this preparation in extraordinary terms, describing it as more valuable than the purest gold and emphasizing its cleansing character.
Perhaps there is also a broader lesson here: nourishment is not only about what we put into the body. Healthy rhythms also involve digestion, elimination, movement, rest, and allowing the body to do the work God designed it to do.
Learn More About the Bearwort Mixture
6. Don't Forget the Remedies That Cost Nothing
Not every remedy comes in a package.
Go outside. Walk. Breathe deeply. Work in the garden. Let your body move and allow your mind to step away from screens, noise, and constant stimulation.
And make room for quiet, too.
Read a book. Sit outside. Talk with someone you love. Spend time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Sometimes we need movement. Sometimes we need stillness. Wisdom is knowing when we need each.
These things may seem almost too ordinary to call remedies. Perhaps that is precisely why we so easily overlook them.
The Wisdom of Mensura: Everything in Its Proper Measure
Another beautiful principle for everyday life comes from the Benedictine tradition: mensura—measure.
Slowing down does not mean abandoning our responsibilities. Families need us. Work needs to be done. People depend upon us.
The art is learning:
What deserves our attention, when, and how much?
Because not everything that feels urgent is important—and not everything important announces itself loudly.
Right measure.
Right order.
Right priorities.
Like individual notes in a symphony, work, rest, nourishment, movement, family, silence, and prayer each have their place.
Together, they can create a beautiful harmony—a life that gives Gloria to our Father in Heaven.
The Greatest Healer
After everything we can do for ourselves, there is something more important still:
God is the ultimate source of healing.
Jesus can heal in an instant. He can do what no herb, food, exercise, preparation, physician, or human effort could ever accomplish.
But perhaps in His Providence, He gave us St. Hildegard to remind us of something beautiful:
Don't wait until the body breaks down before beginning to care for it.
Nourish rather than merely consume. Work faithfully without allowing busyness to consume you. Rest when rest is needed. Move. Spend time in nature. Pray. Love the people God has placed around you. And discern what truly matters.
Above all, remember that body, mind, and spirit belong together.
Small daily acts of care.
Faithfulness to the work entrusted to us.
A life lived in measure.
A heart open to grace.
And trust in the One who is the Master of all healing.
May your day be filled with viriditas—the greening vitality of God's creation.