Saying a simple "thank you" could be one of the most transformative things you can do. In fact, a major scientific study found that a daily gratitude practice such as keeping a journal of what you're thankful for can measurably improve our lives--we sleep better, have more energy, and best of all, feel happier. On Gratitude, gifted anthropologist and heart-centered teacher Angeles Arrien guides listeners to cultivate this power of deep appreciation through stories and practices from cultures and traditions spanning the world--Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, and more. An inspiring call to open our hearts, embrace gratitude, and change our lives--and the world....

Cultural anthropologist and award-winning author Angeles Arrien presents The Second Half of Life--a collection of teachings, reflections, and stories from around the world to open us to the challenges and deeper mysteries of "the great crossing" at midlife. Working with the images, poetry, metaphors, and other forms of symbolic language from diverse cultures, Arrien introduces us to the "Eight Gates of Initiation." By mastering their lessons and gifts, we harvest the meaning and purpose of our life, and come into our spiritual maturity. This popular seller is now available in paperback, with a foreword by John O'Donohue....

"The soul never thinks without an image," claimed Aristotle. Indeed, as Angeles Arrien displays in this reissued edition of Signs of Life, shapes have significant psychological and mythological meanings embedded in our minds. Understanding the messages they convey and our attraction to them opens up a door to the secret workings of our inner selves and to a fuller appreciation of the art itself. As in her widely popular The Tarot Handbook, Arrien applies her background as a cultural anthropologist to the import human beings attribute to shapes. Examining her results, she has developed an effective tool to determine the connection between a person's preferences for certain shapes and the same person's inner, subjective states. In the course of using Arrien's book, individuals, parents, teachers, and therapists will experience the universal processes of growth embodied in images and myths.

Life, we discover, is art, and through Arrien's fascinating journey in Signs of Life, we gain a new perception of the omnipresent patterns and symbols that surround us.

Illustrated throughout with drawings and photographs...