Mindful Aging

Great book for those of us approaching 50! It's a good roadmap to have a more fulfilling life.

It helps that the author of Mindful Aging, therapist Andrea Brandt, is in the same demographic as that of her audience. Even were that not the case, however, Brandt provides thoughtful advice on how to travel through our later years. Baby-boomers now in their 60s and 70s have a different notion of aging from that of their parents. For many, this "Third Stage" of life is a time of renewal rather than rest. Brandt understands this, and first offers a conceptual framework for what's possible, followed by a road map on how to move toward what her readers are passionate about and what sustains us in our later years. Mindful Aging is both thought-provoking and useful, and inspirational and practical.

This book is a great resource for living a fulfilled and meaningful life. I believe no matter how old we are, it is always a good time to work on personal relationships, health, and meaningful activities by contemplating our goals and aspirations. In her book Mindful Aging Dr. Brandt offers a lot of exercises to do just that. Her exercises help us to gain a positive perspective of life, to explore what is important in our lives and makes us happy, and to let go of psychological obstacles that hold us back from fulfilling our dreams. The questions Dr. Brandt asks in her exercises, especially the questions I have never thought of myself, make me slow down and think about what is important to me in my own life. I now want to start a journal to find answers to those questions.
The only chapter I do not fully agree with in this book is the chapter about spirituality. Not every person relies on spirituality to face his or her own mortality. Trying to remedy a lack of spirituality or working on spirituality in the face of death might put unnecessary stress and suffering on some people who are dying, whether they believe in life after death or not. I also think that when we die, we should be allowed to live through all the emotions of anger, pain, loss, and grieve that might overcome us instead of holding these emotions back and staying calm and graceful just for the sake of the people around us. How to prepare for or work through those emotions and finally let go was not addressed in this book.

In many ways this is one of those important books everyone should read. It's not without its issues though.

The positives are that it is packed full of useful information and examples. The most useful parts though are the exercises at the end of each chapter. These are fundamental to getting the most out of the book - they are wonderful opportunities to challenge old thinking patterns and adopt more healthy ways to live.

The positive of so much information though also turns out to be a downside - there's literally so much that the book merely skates over the surface of many subjects and has little depth to them. Take how to practice mindfulness as an example - there really is little to help the reader to get started with any degree of confidence to know what they are doing.

To the author's credit though, points are referenced to further reading throughout the entirety of the book and there is a very comprehensive resources section at the back.

In truth, the book only touches occasionally on the issues related to ageing (for example it doesn't talk about loneliness or dealing with health in any great detail, and it seems to assume that the reader will be living a reasonably comfortable, wonderful life!!). Although targeted at 50's and over, nevertheless the messages apply to people of all ages.

Which brings me on to one final very minor gripe - it's clearly written for an American audience, so it is a little over the top for European (OK - British) tastes. But it's certainly nothing which should put off a potential reader, and worth putting up with simply because it could be one of those books which is not only a great read but more importantly actually has the potential to change people's lives for the better.

Mindful Aging is a book full of positive thoughts, idea, and plans of action to make the latter part of one's life just as enjoyable as younger days.

I really enjoyed Brandt's ideas and writing style. It was intimate and was like talking to a friend. She takes obvious things such as taking care of your physical health and combines them with additional actions. This book paints aging in a positive light in a world that wants older people to disappear.

This has been a year of change for me (healthy eating plan, starting meditation, seriously contemplating a move to another state) so I jumped at the chance to read an arc of this new self-help book written expressly for people over the age of 50 when I found an arc was available for request on NetGalley. It sounded like it might have something important to add to the changes I have been making in my own life.

The word 'mindful' in the title especially caught my eye as I have been working on mindfulness in my daily meditation practice with the Headspace app (which I highly recommend.) Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment--living fully in that moment and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Andrea Brandt has developed her strategies for mindful aging around a mindset she calls 'realistic positivity.'

Some hard topics she tackles: negative thinking, regrets, breaking bad habits, letting go of what no longer serves you, coping with loss, illness and pain, and embracing your mortality.

And on the positive side: empowering self-talk, creating a vision, living your dreams, having gratitude, being inspired by amazing role models, making essential connections with others, having sex at any age, enhancing your body, engaging your mind, expressing your creativity, stepping into the unknown, and developing your spiritual side.

Brandt uses the personal life stories of inspiring people she has known to fully illustrate each topic and then she ends the chapter with strategies and worksheet exercises to help the reader delve deeply into their own life situation, hopefully enabling some positive changes.

This is a book I believe I will come back to again and again for inspiration, taking more time with the exercises and being reminded to live in the present moment: "that the real purpose of life is to really live."

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me access to an arc of this inspiring new book.