One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth (Hardcover)

by Iyanla Vanzant (Author) "I can imagine that I am not alone when I say I have spent the majority of my life being angry with God..." (more)
Key Phrases: Working Definition, Holy Spirit, Divine Mind (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Ordained minister and "spiritual life counselor" Iyanla Vanzant doesn't know the exact moment when her soul opened up "and the spirit of the divine entered [her] body." But she will always remember the key insight that opened the door to her soul and simultaneously locked the door to her insanity: "If you know who walks beside you, you can never be afraid." This is the premise from which Vanzant has launched her enormously successful 40-day, spiritual self-help program. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up is designed as day-by-day journal/workbook to help readers believe in a divine presence while pondering daily spiritual lessons such as simplicity, peace, compassion, and nonjudgement.

The charismatic Vanzant (whom Oprah Winfrey considers to be one of the world's most admirable spiritual leaders) has a gift for humble, tell-it-like-it-is talk. She is also a wise and warm soul, eager to help others trust in love and find a relationship with God in order to get on with their lives. Readers especially like her daily list of inspirations titled "Let Me Remember." For example, under day 23, "When You Feel Angry," she uses the list to remind readers: "All things work to bring me healing"; "Forgiveness will provide relief and release"; and "Love will heal anything that is not an expression of love." --Gail Hudson

Review
Tavis Smiley Host of BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley Everyday I read Iyanla Vanzant's inspired work, my sould just opens up! And so will yours if you heed her advice on how to achieve a greater sense of self-awareness and self-assurance. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (January 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684841347
• ISBN-13: 978-0965270892
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,228 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This book has been very powerful for me, and is effortless to incorporate into even a busy life. There are so many good books on spirituality, but this one is unique because it breaks down many universal spiritual principles into concise daily readings, with sections on "Honoring Yourself," "Honoring Others," "Honoring the Process," "Honoring Your Feelings," and more. Within each section, each day has one spiritual principle you read about, and has a short space for you to write your own take about what you've read. It also has a space to reflect at the end of the day any experiences you've had relating to that principle (don't worry, it's not a huge journal-type project - all the writing takes me less than 5 minutes a day, and adds immensely to the power of the program). Because my time is so tight in the morning, I do the reading the night before. (The readings are short - most only 3 pages.) I'm about halfway through the 40 days, and my soul is opening up, and I find myself looking forward to my nightly reading, as an inspiring and relaxing ritual. I'm sure you'll also find many of the readings to speak directly to issues you're having now, and others will validate things you've already become aware of, and yet others will be on tap when you are struggling with different things. It is a brilliantly concise book, and one with all its tools clearly laid out so it can be referred to again and again long after the 40 days are past. (I really encourage you to go through it one chapter at a time as she mentions, because each principle will sink in much more than if you attempt to read it as a chapter book.)

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a Disappointment, It's Even Helping This Old White Lady, April 16, 2000

By	"alabasterwoman" (Shasta, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Hardly a "disappointment". This book is excellent. And I'm happy to say, it is for ALL women (and men for that matter), and has even helped this old White lady along for the past several weeks to see things differently, to expand more spiritually. True, Vanzant doesn't address YOU or YOUR problems... Instead, she leaves that up to YOU. No one can know you better than yourself; no one can tell you how to reshape your life better than you... I don't like strangers telling me how to "fix" myself, so I appreciate the fact that Vanzant never does this in her book. I also appreciate the fact that Vanzant doesn't force her religious views on her readers. Instead, she shows respect for everyone's individual beliefs while giving readers "permission" to explore their OWN spirituality and the way they view the world. The chapter on Trust, for example, got me thinking and prompted me to progress to a new, better, higher level of understanding about what "Trust" means TO ME. Psychologists call it "reframing" -- seeing things from a different perspective so you gain a greater understanding of whatever the "things" are. Vanzant "reframes" a lot of things, helping readers to see issues like Creativity, Trust, and Personal Divinity from different angles. I recommend this book to EVERYONE who wants to explore their own souls and gain a greater appreciation of themselves and their relatioship to their Spiritual nature. You have to do the work yourself, but this is an excellent tool to help you do just that.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent spiritual workbook and guide for Soul searchers, February 11, 2000

By	ELEANOR E PIERCE (Amsterdam, Holland) - See all my reviews

This book is a wonderful workbook style guide to those of us looking to make changes in our lives. If you are someone who has reached a point in your life where you want and need to make life changes, get this book! Iyanla Vanzant has a wonderful sense of humor that everyone can relate to. She write as she speaks and her vocabulary is familiar and funny. Her advice is direct no BS advice/encouragement to get going with these changes. She answers the questions, "OK, now what do I do?" This book is simple and managable for those of us who love to say "I have no time to find myself." This workbook is simple and fun. You will make time for Iyanla's humor and words of wisdom. Put this book on your kitchen table in the morning and take it to bed with you at night. Once you get into the routine of waking up and going to sleep with this book you will look forward to your time with Iyanla and more importantly with yourself. And before you know it, Your soul will just open up! Love it when that happens!