Conscious Aging

“What a small gem of a book! Sparkling with a rare spiritual wisdom served up with honesty and common sense, it is the perfect companion piece to my own Falling Upward.”
—Richard Rohr, author of The Universal Christ

“In Conscious Aging, Cynthia Bourgeault brings forth a unique and much-needed vision. She shares her profound and deeply lived understanding of our spiritual traditions in a step-by-step exploration of the transformational possibilities in aging. I found the book to be hopeful and reassuring while being entirely practical and exhibiting no touch of naivete. It is a sober investigation into the possibilities available in the later stages of life, and as such, is a worthy read for us at any stage of our life journey. Cynthia takes us into a kind and realistic realization of aging as the emergence of our deepest spiritual nature, and as the culmination of a life. I found it personally moving and helpful and have embarked on using the lessons in this book in my own journey. Highly recommended.”
—Russ Hudson, author of The Enneagram: Nine Gateways to Presence and co-author of The Wisdom of the Enneagram

“Cynthia Bourgeault’s Conscious Aging is a field guide to conscious living by one of the few people I know who embodies this art. Her distillation of wisdom from a variety of traditions into ten guidelines for conscious aging, along with questions for reflection to personalize them and spiritual practices to bring them into your daily life, makes this book both insightful and practical. Only the aging should read this book, which, of course, means you.”
—Rami Shapiro, author of Holy Rascals: Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries

“This book affected me deeply; and I feel sure you’ll find it by turns provocative, inspiring, and rewarding. It’s a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Mortality. Cynthia offers essential teachings about how to be present in our lives more gracefully as we age. She reminds us that in our society today, aging is seen from a mostly outward perspective as a fitness campaign waged against tired bones and weary flesh. Yet it’s what is inside us as we age—our attitudes, our inclinations—that truly matters.”
—Lee van Laer, former senior editor, Parabola