Iyanla Vanzant brings spiritual teachings to Boston’s Boch Center

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

Celebrated spiritual teacher Iyanla Vanzant brings her wisdom to Boston on June 22 at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre. Vanzant’s “Acts of Faith Remix Tour” celebrates the 25th anniversary of her book, “Acts of Faith: Meditations for People of Color.” Since the spiritual resource was first published, Vanzant has becoming an Emmy-Award-winning television personality for her show “Iyanla: Fix My Life” and a New York Times bestselling writer, and has founded the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development.

One of the hallmarks of Vanzant’s work is its specific focus on the inner lives of people of color. “The same way that we inherit our eye structure and our hair structure, we inherit emotional and spiritual propensities that are very different for people of color than they are for the rest of the world,” she says.

Though Vanzant’s name is now synonymous with spiritual healing, she grew into that role from a challenging childhood. After a neglected and abusive upbringing and a period living as a teenage mother on welfare in New York City, Vanzant put herself through Medgar Evers College and then City University of New York Law School. She worked as a public defender for a number of years before channeling her own experiences overcoming obstacles into her practice as an ordained minister.

“The easiest way to get your life in balance, and that’s what this is all about, is to have a daily spiritual practice. We have a maintenance plan on our car, but do we have a spiritual maintenance plan for our minds?” says Vanzant. “That doesn’t mean that you won’t have upset or sadness or fear or anger or anything. It just means that you can recover quicker.”

According to Vanzant, this spiritual practice can utilize any number of tools to clean your energy and center your mind, including, among others, sound, meditation and cleansing with essential oils.

The world has changed significantly since Vanzant put pen to paper to create “Acts of Faith.” But, the teacher says, our basic human problems remain the same. “All life is about breakdown in relationships — your relationship with yourself, your relationship with the world, your relationships with others and your relationship with money,” says Vanzant.

During her tour appearance at the Boch Center, Vanzant intends to bring the wisdom from “Acts of Faith” to the stage in order to assist audience members in healing their emotional wounds and empowering their spirits.