THE DIVINE WITHIN

A guide to connecting with one’s internal wisdom to foster spiritual and emotional transformation.

Batty-Capps—a “licensed marriage and family therapist, yoga therapist, reiki master, intuitive spiritual guide, and channeler”—uses both her professional expertise and her personal experiences with profound trauma to guide readers toward healing in this work, which the author divides into three parts. Part One explores the power of one’s “inner compass” and describes the experience of sensing “a slight separation from your body sensations, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts, and yet you are fully in your body with what is present.” Part Two focuses on identifying and overcoming old wounds that significantly affect one’s ability to become a fully realized individual. Part Three touches on various topics regarding relationships with others on a philosophical level, with the author reflecting on such broad topics as justice and social hierarchies. Throughout the book’s wide-ranging discussions, Batty-Capps incorporates a wide swath of religious and spiritual practices—from Christianity and Judaism to Hinduism and Buddhism—to help make sense of the individual and humanity as a whole. Having experienced significant emotional and mental health problems (including a later-in-life diagnosis of PTSD due to repressed memories of sexual abuse, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia), the author approaches healing from a trauma-centric perspective and with the utmost care. She emphasizes that a particular meditation, for example, is not designed to help heal “exiles” (the word she uses to describe “parts that hold wounds and are out of conscious awareness”), and counsels that, in the event that exiles do arise during the meditation, readers should contact a mental health professional. Despite repeated plugs for her YouTube channel, websites, and recorded meditations on Spotify, which quickly chafe, the author approaches her topics with a keen sense of awareness and support for trauma-laden individuals. Presenting the material via a competent and compassionate narrative voice, Batty-Capps creates a bubble of comfort and safety in which readers can confidently explore different holistic approaches to wellness.

A unique approach to mental health that blends the spiritual and scientific in a whole-body wellness plan.