Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant has authored seventeen books which have been translated into twenty-three languages and has been a New York Times #1 bestselling author six times. Her award-winning unscripted series “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” became the No. 1 reality show on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. She graciously shared her latest work with the OMTimes Community.
An Interview with Iyanla Vanzant: Awakening a Million Souls
Interview by Sandie Sedgbeer
Following the recent eclipse, astrologers say we can expect a tsunami of awakening. While this can only be a good thing for humanity, awakening can also be a somewhat destabilizing or challenging process for those who have no idea who to trust or where to go for the best tools and information to guide them on their journey of self-discovery.
One person who has had the prescience to address this rapidly growing need for a safe space that offers a selection of tools, techniques, modalities, processes, interviews, and information for the spiritually hungry seeker is one of America’s most celebrated new thought spiritual teachers and inspirational public speakers—the Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant. An internationally best-selling author and much-loved host and executive producer of the critically acclaimed award-winning TV series “Iyanla Fix My Life,” Iyanla Vanzant met with Sandie Sedgbeer for two on- and off-air conversations in which she shared her latest challenge to awaken one million people, and to talk about a subject that has now become a stand-alone program helping men understand and gain insights and solutions to depression and anxiety based on the actor Courtney B. Vance’s seminal book, The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power.
To watch the full interview of Iyanla Vanzant by Sandie Sedgbeer, click the video below, or listen to the player.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Iyanla, welcome, and thank you for joining us. Awakening One Million? I’m curious to know whether this new endeavor was a slow-burning idea or if there was one defining moment when you said to yourself, ‘That’s it! We can’t go on like this. It’s time to start waking people up and providing the tools we all need to expand our consciousness?’
IYANLA VANZANT: It was really divine guidance. I mean, I didn’t wake up over my coffee one morning and just say, ‘Oh, let me go wake up 100 million people.’ It was through prayer and meditation, that I got that as my directive for this next season of life.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: You know, when these directives come— the few times they’ve come for me—and I’ve looked at the picture that seems impossible, and you think, ‘No way! I don’t want to undertake that!’
IYANLA VANZANT: Well, I was a little more severe than you. I said, “I am not doing that. I am not doing that. “ And then when it comes by the third time, I’ve learned how to be obedient. Because if you’re not obedient, then you get to sacrifice some other part of your life. But when I sat and thought about it, I meant what a divine opportunity to participate in the awakening—the self-acceptance, the self-awareness—in celebration, the love of one million people and getting them to participate in their own process of evolution, healing, and growth. And it’s really very exciting.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: You regard the recent eclipse as the divine reset. We’ve all gone back to factory settings. So, what are those settings?
IYANLA VANZANT: Yes, I’ve been telling my students it’s a factory reset. And for many of us that means we have the inspiration and drive to learn some new things that will replace the things that we’re letting go of, and really awaken to a new way of being and doing.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Did you notice many changes in the run-up to this event?
IYANLA VANZANT: I’m seeing many people waking up. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. And when the student is really ready, the teacher disappears, and the student becomes their own teacher.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Yes. Tell me more about Awaken One Million. What kind of website will it be? What will it offer?
IYANLA VANZANT: Something for everybody! When we talk about awakening one million, everybody is in a different place. And what are the tools? What are the resources? What are the books? Who are the teachers that we can introduce and support at every level? So, awakening one million—we’re offering a year-long program, a year-long process that, hopefully, will take you into the next, five, ten, fifteen years of your life. But wherever you are on your spiritual path, your path of healing, growth, self-discovery, we have something for you at four levels.
Level1-Awake is free, but there are things you can pay for if you want. This is the basic level for those who are looking to do things like establish a daily spiritual practice, that’s basic. Or if you want to know more about spirituality, what’s the first book to read? Who is a good teacher to go to? Etc.
We offer resources, practices, processes, prayers… I’ve made some recordings, so if you like my voice, I can guide you through the basics.
Level 2-Awaken is for those who have done some work, and know there’s more. Now you really want to dig in, embody everything you’ve learned, and make the work a more integrated process, not something separate from the rest of your life. You want to deepen your spiritual practice and develop a more intimate relationship with the source of your understanding—Buddha, Jesus, etc., develop an inner authority.
Level 3-Awakening, where you’ve now got to be serving the world. You’ve got to be out there doing something. I don’t care if you want to host a book club, or if you save animals, or work in the environment. So many people walk around with a wealth of knowledge and they don’t know how to share that, so we want to support them in teacher training, sharing. And sometimes the directive or the sharing isn’t just about writing. Sometimes, it’s just about living your life every day, the way you approach people, how you speak to them and deal with them, so that you are a demonstration and they see you and they just want some of what you have. So maybe you can take them to lunch, or maybe you can start a study group. Maybe you go into an elderly home or hospital. It doesn’t have to be something big that gets you a million followers on social media. It’s just how do I integrate, practice, and demonstrate what I know and who I am in a way that serves and supports other people.
And then there’s Level 4, which is the Master level where, as a master, you possess exceptional expertise and insight, and it’s now your turn to inspire and guide others on their journeys.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Are you collaborating with other spiritual teachers?
IYANLA VANZANT: Anyone and everyone. Because, I don’t have it all. And I’m not for everybody. But there are other teachers who do. Spiritual people in politics, economics, religion, education, and health, and we can bring them all together. You know, I’m looking at my relationship with myself, my relationship with others, and my relationship with the world. How do I awaken and celebrate and serve, grow,and heal in all of those four areas of God, Self, others, and the world? There are teachers who are masterful in all of these areas. Some people will vibrate toward books, others toward music, and others toward physical activity via yoga or exercise. Some are looking for nutrition. You know, when you wake up, when you love yourself in a different way, you want to eat a certain way, and you want to know about that. So, yeah, I’m really excited about other teachers and other perspectives.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: How do you see your role in this? Will you be presenting events? Conducting interviews? Or will you just be managing it?
IYANLA VANZANT: I’m the midwife. I come, I coach, I remind you to breathe. I’m not there to have the baby; I’m there to support the person and the baby. The baby is the process, the program.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: This is an enormous undertaking and a great deal of work. Does that not daunt you?
IYANLA VANZANT: I am blessed with an incredible team. I have the vision, but they find the way to execute it. And that’s those divine relationships. So many of us in the world today who are waking up to things we want to do, we think we have to do it all alone. But we don’t.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: So, the website comprises a program at a level that’s completely free, and other levels if I want to engage, and I can start cherry-picking the pathways and things that interest me.
IYANLA VANZANT: One of the things that everybody can do is to pick a principle. You pick a letter, and it’s going to give you a universal principle and a definition. Maybe all you want to do is learn how to incorporate that principle into your life. Whether it’s trust, forgiveness, non-judgmental acceptance, celebration, or victory, whatever it is, everybody can get that.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Tell me about your “Creating a Living Vision” program.
IYANLA VANZANT: One thing that keeps people from manifesting their vision is the unfinished business. so, what’s your unfinished business? Did you get a divorce? Did you finish the degree? Did you forgive your mother or whatever it is? And that’s really where I find a lot of people get stuck in that unfinished business because, you know, you can’t rise if you’ve got so much weight holding you down.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: You re-wrote the 12 Steps of AA? Why?
IYANLA VANZANT: Yes. The beauty of waking up is self-awareness, so this is awakening to yourself. We’ve taken the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and transcribed them into everyday principles for everyday living. Where are you in your personal growth, development, healing, learning, etc? Are you step one? Step four? Step nine? Step ten? And how do you apply that? We’re not going to tell you that, but you can look at the various levels and see whether you’re at level one, two, or three—Awake, Awakening, or Awakened— and say, “Okay, this is where I am. I’m interested in this or that.” Maybe you want to work one step a week or one step a month and go through the year. It all depends on where you are and how you want to approach your learning. But everything is laid out for you, and you get to choose. I don’t want to tell you how to choose because choice is power.
You can do any level you want. At any time. There will be workshops, classes, some live, some pre-recorded, you can self-study over the course of six, eight, or twelve weeks.
There’s one program called “From the Ground Up” for people who know that their foundation—physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual—is not solid. That’s a six-week, self-directed program. You spend a week building your physical foundation, your money, your relationships, home, or career. You’ll spend a week doing your mental foundation. What are your thoughts? How are you thinking? What do you need to do to reprogram your mind, your emotional foundation? What are some of the things you’re still holding on to that need to be cleansed? What is your spiritual foundation? That’s a self-directed study that you can do at any level because all levels are open to everyone. Some programs and processes have a price. Others don’t. Again, you get to choose.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: The words “Awake, Awakening, Awakened, and Awoke” have become so loaded, their meanings so tarnished of late. Have you had any kickbacks from that?
IYANLA VANZANT: Not really, because I have a clear intention. And we have an intention for the definition of each of those words. And, you know, Sandie, one of the things that we have to heal ourselves of is allowing other people to tell us what to think. There’s a very powerful statement that those who control the words and images control the minds of the people. The people who control the words and images tell us that “woke” and “awakening” and the woke community are bad. They’ve made being “woke” something bad and nasty. And that’s not it at all. We don’t have to embrace that. We can restructure it. It’s to be awake to the truth of their being, to the process of life and the universe, to be awake to their unique signature, their genius, their purpose and their frequency. We can restructure it. Which we have done. So I didn’t have to invent a word.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: I am intrigued by another new project for men that you’ve launched, which began as a virtual book club for men, and is now available as a stand-alone program based on the book The Invisible Ache—Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power by the actor Courtney B. Vance. Which, of course, isn’t just about black men, or even men in general, but all of us, too.
IYANLA VANZANT: Yes. Courtney B. Vance is Angela Bassett’s husband. His book, The Invisible Ache, has set men on their heels because. Nobody knew that even at the height of his career, he was suffering almost catatonic depression. The rate of depression and suicide among men, particularly men of color, is skyrocketing. So, I hosted a five-week book club to walk men through The Invisible Ache. And you know we could take that and broaden it to everybody. We’ve all got an invisible ache.
Some people don’t have a language for it, but it’s there… you know, something isn’t quite right. But because you can’t speak it, or see it, you ignore it. You deny or diminish it and then you have breast cancer or prostate cancer.
Too many of our sons, brothers, fathers, and friends are suffering silently with anxiety, depression, and the echoes of the traumas that haven’t been put into words. Yet it is time to give them and their experience a voice.
So the Invisible Ache program is a conversation about the interior lives of men that is designed to support them in finding strength, not shame, in seeking the light that will neutralize the feeling of being lost.
The stats are hard-hitting: a sharp rise in mental health issues post-pandemic, with too few seeking the help they deserve and require. Perhaps it’s the weight of appearing strong, the fear of admitting vulnerability, or the absence of a space where such truths can be held with the respect they are due. The Invisible Ache Virtual Book Club and the program are our commitment to bridging the gap and filling the space.
We need to become awake to a new level of relationship where there’s no more power over/power under. This inequality in relationships… we have got to be able to meet everybody eye to eye, soul to soul, spirit to spirit so that we can build our relationships, whether it’s love or family or business—whatever—in a new way.
We’ve got to wake up to a new way to be together. We cannot continue like we are.
We are calling men not just to be a participant in a book club—but part of a pivotal national movement and taking a major step toward embracing and embody self-care. With stories brought to life by Courtney B. Vance and clinical insights by Dr Robin L. Smith.
So we invite anyone… if you know a mean between the ages of 18 and 65 seeking a deeper understanding of his mental wellness—what it is, how you find it, keep it and expand it, this process can provide the answers he is seeking. These answers are especially vital for men who have navigated a world that often asks them to shoulder more than their visible burdens and to keep quiet about it.
As you probably know, healing can no longer be a solo adventure—it’s a collective quest. Women tend to gather, to share, and to heal together. It’s time to encourage men to do the same. Yes, Courtney B. Vance is a black man. Yes, the book shares the experiences of black men. And we believe that all men, regardless of their nationality can benefit from the process and the insights. The facilitators have walked this path. They’ve felt the pain, the loss, and they’ve emerged with stories that inspire and motivate. This isn’t about prescribing answers; it’s about starting the kind of dialogue that leads to life-changing introspection and genuine change.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Iyanla Vanzant. Thank you.
Iyanla Vanzant’s new Awaken One Million portal website launches in July 2024. For more information about Iyanla’s books, podcasts, audios, events, and transmutation newsletter, visit https://www.Iyanla.com
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