In the midst of such drastic change and uncertainty in life, spiritual guidance is as crucial for our mental health as food is for our bodies. On the 159th episode of the podcast Touré Show, writer, music journalist and cultural critic, Touré invites one of the best spiritual teachers the world has known, Iyanla Vanzant, who through her spiritual teachings, saves people.
This particular podcast spanning one hour and eleven minutes is easily one of the best shows Touré has held. The moving, refreshing and revitalizing conversation he holds with Iyanla Vanzant makes every minute spent listening in, worth it.
More than an interview, it is a spiritually awakening session with lessons from the African American, seminary- trained and ordained spiritual teacher, who is also a Yoruba Priestess culturally.
In this episode, Iyanla talks about the pandemic and the baggage that each of us brought into it, helps the audience to pinpoint the source of the fears they have about the pandemic, she talks about mental health in the African
American community and how culture has shaped the approach that African Americans have towards this subject and the show hits a climax during the final quarter of the show when she therapizes Touré regarding a personal issue of his and talks about her own spiritual triumph over the painful experiences she recently underwent.
In the first quarter of the show, Iyanla speaks to her upcoming show, “Fear Not”. She responds to Touré’s question on ” How do we not fear?” when she advises that the best strategy to combat fear especially in these times of a pandemic is first, to acknowledge the source of our fear, secondly, to try and work past that fear and last but not the least, to practice breathing exercises. Iyanla emphasizes that we must be aware of our vulnerability while we’re alive and thus stand in strength and faith in the face of it.
Touré quizzes her about what her prescription would be to the African American community that is particularly hard hit by this pandemic due to the nature of their socioeconomic status spanning decades. Her answer is that as a community, it is time to take up a new level of responsibility for our lives, apply a joint community approach to making our standards of life better. Iyanla and Touré then speak to the status of mental health and stigma in the black community.
Understanding from a first-hand experience that mental wellness is highly stigmatized in the black community culturally, she advises that it is time to view admitting mental awareness and pursuing therapy for it, not as there being ” something wrong” with a person but as “getting it right with oneself.”
Iyanla Vanzant has gained huge following all over the United States and all around the world for her prowess in being a spiritual teacher. In her vocation, and she tells Touré, despite the diversity of her audience, she remains true to her culture, identity and training.
She believes that, “Religion without culture is empty.” Iyanla goes ahead and shares several spiritual nuggets of wisdom that speak to Touré’s experience with holding grudges and facing a challenge in forgiving. It is at this point that that Iyanla touches the hearts of the audience and almost leaves Touré at a loss for words because what she says speaks to each one of us. She talks about people coming into our lives for a reason,
a season or a lifetime. She says that in every relationship/interaction we are either learning, teaching or are the objects through which a lesson is being taught. She goes on to give the secret of healing and challenges us to ask ourselves what lessons an experience is teaching us. In addition to the teachings she gives, Iyanla reveals her top 4 go-to books responsible for her spiritual awareness and the first one is a book that might surprise you, because you probably have it already.
Lastly, Iyanla shares her painful experiences in the recent past, how they shook her world, how she learnt to surrender and the next step she took in her life to acknowledge, mark and heal these experiences. Formidable and powerful as she is in her teachings, Iyanla Vanzant is not immune to pain, but she is a conqueror all the same, and we love her for it. This is a podcast that everyone should listen to. It is just that uplifting.
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