Tapping the Power Within by Iyanla Vanzant

Author:Iyanla Vanzant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Hay House, Inc.
Published: 2012-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

PRAYER

One of my spiritual teachers once told me, “When you get tired of struggling, you stop. Then things change.” I had become fed up with struggling, suffering, and feeling bad. I was truly ready to find out why my life wasn’t working. I was extremely talented, but working bored me. I was making money hand over fist, yet I was still broke! All my relationships ended violently and painfully. I had friends who weren’t progressing, talents I wasn’t using. I was in debt, brokenhearted, depressed, and angry. Both of my parents were deceased, so I couldn’t turn to them. I was forced, by the luck of the draw, to take a hard, long look at myself!

One of my students recommended that I participate in a Native American purification ceremony called a “sweat.” At the time I had no idea what it was, but she assured me it would help me get in touch with myself. So, off I went to the woods to look at myself and get purified!

A sweat is a process of detoxifying the body, mind, and spirit. You are taught how to connect and commune with the earth. Rocks that have been heated on a sacred fire are placed in a pit. The pit is located inside a sacred tent structure, a lodge, which is built to resemble the womb. There were about 20 women “sweating” this day. We filed, in one by one, and took a seat on the cold, bare earth. When the structure is sealed off, it is pitch-dark and airtight. Water is then placed on the rocks and steam rises, creating a sauna-like effect in the tent. Sitting with your feet toward the pit of rocks, you pray and sing, allowing the earth to absorb the toxins you are releasing.

My prayer was to release everything that was making my life unhappy. I closed my eyes and began praying. I estimate that it was about 120 degrees in the tent. The heat had a drugging effect. The louder people prayed and sang, the lighter my head became. My eyes were closed, but I could see myself. I saw myself exactly as I was dressed, sitting on the earth with hundreds of worms crawling on me. I jumped, and my eyes flew open. I looked down at my hands and legs. There were no worms. I closed my eyes again. This time, I was myself as a little girl. It was then that the memories began to flood my mind. The abuse. The neglect. The rape. The tears. The loneliness. Scene after scene. I could feel the pain of those past experiences. I was crying, but I couldn’t get my eyes open! The scenes kept coming. The tears were flowing. It was my turn to pray aloud.

After my prayer, everybody was crying. The heat was rising. Somebody wanted to leave, so we prayed for her. When we began singing the healing songs, a cool breeze entered the lodge. I was finally able to open my eyes.

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