Iyanla Vanzant
Iyanla Vanzant was born in the back of a taxi in Brooklyn in 1953 and survived a childhood of abuse, teenage pregnancy, a violently abusive marriage, and welfare before earning her law degree summa cum laude. She became a Yoruba priestess, wrote 17 books that have sold over 10 million copies, and spent nine seasons on OWN as the host of Iyanla: Fix My Life — going behind closed doors to help families confront trauma, addiction, and fractured relationships. Her signature teaching is spiritual hygiene: the daily practice of energetic and emotional cleansing.
iyanla.com/We are not broken — we are awakening to our Holy Wholeness.
The Woman Who Turned Broken Pieces Into Wholeness
Iyanla Vanzant was born Rhonda Eva Harris on September 13, 1953, in the back of a taxi in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was two. She was raised by relatives who abused her physically and sexually — including rape by an uncle at age nine. She became pregnant at 16. By 21, she had three children. At 18, she entered a violently abusive marriage; after nine years of broken bones and a suicide attempt, she fled in 1980 with her children and survived on welfare for eight years.
She enrolled at Medgar Evers College, graduated summa cum laude, then earned her law degree from CUNY Law School — also summa cum laude. She practiced as a public defender in Philadelphia. But the law wasn’t the calling. In 1983 she was initiated as a priestess in the Yoruba tradition and given the sacred name Iyanla, meaning “great mother.” Her first book, Tapping the Power Within (1992), launched a career that would produce 17 books translated into 23 languages with over 10 million copies sold and six #1 New York Times bestsellers. She became a regular on The Oprah Winfrey Show. After a decade-long estrangement, she and Oprah publicly reconciled in 2011, and Iyanla: Fix My Life launched on OWN shortly after — running for nine powerful seasons and winning four NAACP Image Awards.
After losing her daughter Gemmia to cancer on Christmas Day 2003 at age 34, and later her daughter Nisa in 2023 at age 41, Vanzant channeled grief into what she now calls “spiritual hygiene” — a daily practice of energetic and emotional cleansing. She hosts The R Spot podcast, continues to write and speak, and trains spiritual leaders through her Inner Visions Institute. Through all of it, her core message stays the same: you are not broken — you are awakening to the wholeness that was always there.
Where to Go From Here
Pair Iyanla Vanzant with Oprah Winfrey — their decades-long friendship and on-screen conversations are themselves a masterclass in healing and reconciliation. For the forgiveness-and-boundaries path from a clinical perspective, see Nedra Glover Tawwab. For the spiritual dimension, see Lisa Nichols. Browse the full Spirit & Consciousness library.
Self Growth Videos curates the world’s best self-improvement content into guided paths. Explore Spirit & Consciousness or the full teacher library.
Key Ideas from Iyanla Vanzant
Spiritual hygiene
Vanzant teaches that your spirit needs daily cleaning just like your body — through truth-telling, forgiveness, and conscious release.
Radical accountability
Healing begins when you stop blaming others and take full ownership of your part — not to punish yourself, but to reclaim your power.
Holy Wholeness
Her central message: you are not broken. You never were. The work is to awaken to the wholeness that was always there.
Books by Iyanla Vanzant
Acts of Faith
The book that launched her career: 365 daily meditations grounded in African American spiritual tradition.
In the Meantime
Finding yourself and the love you want — the breakthrough book about doing the inner work before you can build healthy relationships.
Peace from Broken Pieces
How to get through what you're going through — written after the devastating loss of her daughter Gemmia.
Spiritual Hygiene
A practical path for clean living, inner authority, and divine freedom — Vanzant's latest work.
Iyanla Vanzant resources
Start with her official hub and her foundational books.
Iyanla Vanzant FAQ
Quick answers for readers discovering Iyanla Vanzant through Self Growth Videos.
What is Iyanla Vanzant best known for?
She is best known as the host of Iyanla: Fix My Life on OWN (2012–2021), the author of 17 books including Acts of Faith and Peace from Broken Pieces, and one of the most influential spiritual life coaches in America.
What is 'spiritual hygiene'?
Spiritual hygiene is Vanzant's framework for daily energetic and emotional cleansing — practices that clear out old pain, resentment, and negative patterns so you can live from clarity rather than reaction. It is the foundation of her most recent book and her current teaching.
Where should I start with Iyanla Vanzant?
Start with Acts of Faith for daily meditations, In the Meantime for relationship healing, or Spiritual Hygiene (her most recent) for the daily practice framework she teaches now.
