The Way of the Empath: How Compassion, Empathy, and Intuition Can Heal Your World

Reiki master Clayton (Making Marks) presents a kindhearted guide to “empathic living” that encourages attunement to the psychic states and feelings of others. Empaths, according to Clayton, are people who sense and influence emotions, “generate positive feelings in others,” and “encourage healing” through compassion and creativity. An empath can enhance their abilities through practice, and to do so the author recommends exercises for improving sensitivity, such as freestyle drawing, imagining what others were like when they were newborns, and journaling about dreams and sense perceptions. Clayton attributes supernatural qualities to empaths, discussing the potential for them to encounter ghosts and “portals to other realms” and suggesting they can communicate telepathically if they focus on the energy of the person they wish to reach and then send them “the essence of yourself.” The absence of supporting evidence and sources means that readers have to take Clayton at her word, a proposition that some might be reluctant to accept due to the eccentric nature of the material. For those willing to follow Clayton down the rabbit hole, this mind-bending volume will delight. Agent: Lisa Hagan, Lisa Hagan Literary. (Apr.)