In A Woman's Book of Life Joan Borysenko covers seven-year stages in women's development beginning with the early childhood period of ages 1-7 through ages 77-84 and beyond. The author, who is co-founder and former director of the Mind/Body clinic at Harvard Medical School, believes that all women share "a worldview where relationship is the crucible in which autonomy, creativity, compassion and wisdom are forged." Borysenko also is convinced that women's spirituality enables them to see the interconnections between people, nature, and things. From age 42 on, middle-aged women do all they can as "Guardians" by trying to "keep the circle of life whole."

The last chapters in the book are the most enlightening with soul-stirring material on "mindful menopause," feminine power and social action, the unfolding of a new integral culture, spiritual eldering, life review, and death "as the final phase of our growth." The fullness and richness of the feminine life cycle can be savored by those who learn "the ability to relate to both self and others with true intimacy."