In the late 1960s the world was on fire with transformation. A whole generation of young people was questioning the society—and reality—that they had been given. Young people were expanding their minds through a variety of pursuits: drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Others were seeking a different kind of transformation, turning inward, seeking wisdom and enlightenment from the saints and sages of the East.

Victoria “Moo” Briddell was at the center of this first “West-to-East” wave. She and her husband traveled to India in 1970 and took up residence at a traditional ashram in the Himalayas, living and studying in an austere monastic atmosphere among some of the most revered saints on earth, including His Holiness Swami Chidananda. Looking Out from Within tells her story. It’s a first person account of this rare time in human history, before everyone did yoga and Deepak Chopra was a household name. It’s an intimate portrait of what it was like to be a Westerner encountering for the first time the ancient wisdom, raw beauty and spiritual depth of this exotic land.