THE INWARD OUTLOOK

A guide to achieving a life of authenticity and joy by shedding the limitations of one’s past.

In this second edition, Basha introduces herself in a chapter called “Origin Story.” She asserts that she has healed AIDS patients and people with Stage IV cancers through “transmutation.” She relates how a homeopath cured her of the nightmares that had plagued her since she was a little girl.  And she explains that her dissertation—she has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and organizational psychology—was inspired and shaped by the work of Sydney Banks, a psychospiritual thought leader. This is all useful information as it gives readers a clear understanding of the tradition in which she is working. At its core, Basha’s program is grounded in the belief that we create our own reality, an idea that has been around since the New Thought movement of the 19th century and situates this book among such self-help classics as The Power of Positive Thinking (1952)by Norman Vincent Peale, You Can Heal Your Life (1984)by Louise Hay, and The Secret (2006)by Rhonda Byrne. Basha does have her own system and insights. For example, she explains that “analytical thought” is “entirely made up of memory that is stored in the intellect as data.” It’s in “present moment thinking” that “we have access to wisdom, creativity, genius, and an ever-present quiet mind.” Living the now, she writes, allows us to recognize analytical thought as a necessary, but limited, tool. Similarly, choosing to eschew the outer world for a deeper connection with eternal truths, we return to a natural state of ease and happiness. Basha has a dense writing style that will be more accessible to readers already well-versed in “the law of attraction” than other readers. Similarly, her use of capitalization and italics will be familiar to consumers of New Age books and, perhaps, distracting to others. Worth noting: This updated edition ends with a workbook designed to help readers work through what they have just read.

An advanced contemporary iteration of psychospiritual self-help concepts.