This is an inviting book for anyone over the age of 50. That’s who the author is writing for, and for whom she offers an important, counter-cultural vision of beauty:

“Our lives need to be so exquisite that when someone looks at our face, they see our life. It doesn’t call for the acclaim of the world, just showing up every day, doing our best, allowing for setbacks, and bouncing back from each one, sometimes brilliantly. Every kind word, good deed, selfless act, and creative accomplishment contributes to beauty in later life. We are called upon to rise to our full height, claim our full selves, and remember who we are. We can’t expect other people, especially younger ones, to be of much help here. This is on us.”

That appears in chapter 19. The “Practice for the Path” at the end of that chapter (there is one at the end of all 40 chapters) begins, “Get to know, for real or by reputation, incredibly cool people who celebrate the age they are.”


Author Victoria Moran is now in her seventies, and beautifully so. I don’t say that because of the lovely photo of her on the cover of this book, but because of the warm wisdom she offers inside. Wisdom that makes it clear that beauty is about the whole person.


A quick YouTube search finds Moran as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show years ago, and on other TV shows and podcasts talking about healthy living and feeling good. She makes it clear here too that this is why she’s writing. When she writes about exercise, it is “exercise, physical and metaphysical” (chapter 5). When she writes about diet it is with a framework of “divine dining” (chapter 12). And beauty is always “inside and out.”


The advice in the book is similar to what you’d receive if you hired a low-impact personal trainer, life coach, physical therapist, and nutritionist in one — to visit you at home. (See the excerpt accompanying this review for an example.)


It is a book full of yoga and a yogi’s wisdom, but Moran’s intention is not to turn you into “a yoga person, unless you already are one,” but to use yoga and yoga’s sister science, ayurveda, “so you can start right away to apply select elements to rejuvenate your body and uplift your life.” She wants her readers to feel happier and more alive. I can’t imagine a better reason for a book — especially at the start of a new year.

Go Deeper:

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