Sandra Ingerman is one of the founding members and faculty staff from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in the US. She is also a psychotherapist. This book seemed to be more along the lines of a new age self-help book with psychoterapy and counseling techniques blended with shamanic or indigenous themes. Not saying that it may not help some, but it still seemed to be a mish-mash of cultures sold as a band-aid for those who find themselves in the middle of the economic cross-fire we see today.

Maybe a future re-read may change my thoughts... ( )

How to Thrive in Changing Times by Sandra Ingerman is a book about positive thinking. Using stories, meditations, and guided activities the author strives to help you find peace in your daily life when things change or become overwhelming. A big focus of the book is on finding things to be thankful for and developing a grateful approach to life.

Ingerman’s premise is that by changing how you think about a problem, your perception of the problem changes as well. Once your perception has changed, this then affects your future actions and behaviors, and thus your future reality.

If you are looking for a book that helps you reframe difficulties and find quiet moments of gratitude and mindfulness, then you should check out this book. A great book! ( )

Though I love the topic covered in this book I found I had a hard time getting through it. I never was able to get past the feeling that I needed to devote time to this reading and as a result have been unable to finish this book.

I have picked this book up at least a dozen times hoping I would see the worth of it. I read 'Imagine" in the Introduction and was disgusted by the ‘everything is great and wonderful’ premise. I did not like the book at all. It was the same old-same old of loving and caring and sharing and all will simply work out in the end. I couldn't swallow it. It may be my stage of life, but it seemed so trite to me.

After I finally got over that introduction, I did read the book but only to do this review. It turns out it’s not a bad book. The best thing that Ingerman does to redeem the book is to include the Practice paragraphs. A self help book using the elements is certainly like many others I have read.

I think Ingerman will lose many reader with the 'Imagine' piece in the beginning. Other than that black mark, the book is worth a look. ( )

When I signed up to review this book, I expected that it would help the reader become resilient. But as I read, I quickly realized I was mistaken. Yet I was not disappointed, because as the book's subtitle suggests, it aims to offer "simple tools to create true health, wealth, peace, and joy for yourself and the earth."

I enjoyed several sections. Her discussion on page 40 of "words as seeds" was perhaps my favorite part of this book -- a moving revelation to me.

On page 97, she implies that it's been scientifically proven that gratitude can help the immune system. It's inspiring, although there are no references to any supporting studies.

The "Gratitude Walk" on page 102 involves appreciating the beauty in nature and being thankful for it. It occurred to me that my love of nature photography is my way of appreciating the beauty in nature.

She discusses the practice of transfiguration (transmuting environmental pollution) at the beginning of chapter 7 (pages 134 to 138). She describes experiments in which her group lowered the ph of a toxic base solution, but again cites no references. In another experiment, she describes how the auric field of a peach was improved. Photos of the auric field were produced with a gas discharge visualization (GDV) camera and can be seen on a website.

The book's small size belies its lengthy content. It does this with smaller margins and small font size for the "Practice" text. As well, there's no bibliography or index and a simple one-page Table of Contents.

If read with motivation and an open mind, this will strike you as a inspiring gem of a book. ( )