We missed this book when it first came out but recently were talking with a friend who had been using it with a small group of friends for the past year for regular discussions. We decided to check out what she has found so useful, and we're glad we did.

Rachel Cowan is a rabbi and director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and Linda Thal is a Jewish educator and founding codirector of the Yedidya Center for Jewish Spiritual Direction. Drawing from what they have learned from overseeing Wise Aging groups for meditation study, sharing stories, and insights on their spiritual journeys, the authors provide a spiritual perspective on this adventurous stage of life.

The spiritual practices of Torah study, prayer, mindfulness, meditation, tikun midot (the development of ethical character traits), yoga, and singing are offered as antidotes to ageism and the fears that this stage of life will be characterized by our becoming invisible, irrelevant, and vulnerable. Cowan and Thal are intent upon accentuating aging as an opportunity for growth, discovery, and meaning.

The challenge of living in the present can be fortified by mindfulness meditation, blessing practice, and journaling. With the perspective of distance, elders can reframe the stories which have shaped them and begin work on a life review. According to the authors, aging bears many gifts, including the chance to befriend our bodies and to cultivate nourishing relationships.

In thematically rich chapters, Cowan and Thal write cogently about forgiveness and reconciliation, cultivating spiritual qualities for well-being (gratitude, generosity, patience, joy, and equanimity), living with loss and finding light, conscious dying, and legacy and stewardship.

Along the way, the authors offer insights, tips, and exercises on letting go of what we no longer need, somatic knowing, living in an interdependent world, dealing with criticism from others, having joy carry us through hard times, facing death, and understanding one's legacy.

Wise Aging is a deeply spiritual and eminently practical resource for handling both the blessings and the setbacks of aging.