Spiritual Coach Wants People To Get In Alignment With Their Spirit

Spiritual Coach Rita Ricks is the author of “Permission Granted! A Journal of Spiritual Epiphanies” and “#JUSTFORTODAY.” Photo provided by Publicity for Good.
Spiritual Coach Rita Ricks is the author of “Permission Granted! A Journal of Spiritual Epiphanies” and “#JUSTFORTODAY.” Photo provided by Publicity for Good.

Spiritual Coach Wants People To Get In Alignment With Their Spirit

By Tia Carol Jones

Rita Ricks has been a spiritual business coach since the mid 2000’s. She started out as a teacher, then a trainer and decided she wanted to spend more one-on-one time with people. Ricks has written a book called #Just for Today.

In 2005, Ricks became a life coach. She felt she should be going deeper with her clients. She wanted her practice to be more mind, body and spirit. She attended Richmond Hill, an Ecumenical Retreat Center in Richmond, Va. She said the two-year program she participated in there, the School of Spiritual Direction, was the most amazing two years of her life. Now, she is helping Black women using the tools she learned during that program.

Part of the program included 6 times where Ricks was required to have 24-hours of silence. During those silent times, she took notes of the things that were coming to her mind – ideas and even a workshop. At her final silence, she was able to let go and purge herself. She surrendered.

“I went into RUAH as a life coach, I came out as a spiritual coach .. those people who are spiritual will understand,” she said.

As a spiritual coach, Ricks works with people’s mind, body and spirit. She wants people to be in total alignment with their spirit. That means eating well, exercising well, listening to things that nourish the mind. She tells everybody there are three things they should do every morning: Journal, Read Something Motivational and 20 Minutes of Silence.

Ricks said journaling allows a person to purge what was in their head from the previous day. She starts with what she calls a “Dear God” letter. In the letter, she talks about what she is grateful for, or she is praying for someone. Once she closes the journal, she lets it go, because she knows she gave it to God. Then, she finds something motivational to read. Her book, #JustforToday, has 365 actions people can take everyday to keep people thinking about being positive. Then, she sets her alarm for 20-minutes in silent meditation.

She said at first, there will be thoughts that come to mind, but with more practice, the more present people become. She said it can enable people to hear God all through the day.

“Most of us are out of alignment because we’re too busy dealing with the world. We’re too busy listening to what’s going on in the news, we’re listening to other people, we’re following other people’s advice, we’re not making our own decisions, we aren’t creating our own lives. We’re just going through life,” she said.

She said by following her three steps in the morning, before grabbing the cell phone or turning on the television, people can get into alignment. She believes the solution is in silence.

Rick’s clients love silent mediation. Every second Tuesday, Ricks is a silent meditation day. She does a motivational piece, then prayer, then they go into silence, without any distractions.

“Listening to the silence is about sitting down and being intentional about listening. You have to be intentional about the listening. The more you practice, the more you will just hear amazing things,” she said. She added that people who want to do alignment work need a coach to hold them accountable, the same way people need a coach to keep them accountable in their fitness journey.

Ricks said women have barriers. Things they might have heard when they were younger, things that happened to them when they were younger, that they still carry with them. Those things are keeping them from moving forward. Those barriers can show up as overeating, being angry, depression, heavily drinking.

Ricks shows women how to remove the barriers that prevent them from creating the life they were born to live. She said, once people are intentional about being in alignment and willing to do the work, they can create a legacy that is intentional and one they are in control of.

As a spiritual coach, Ricks looks at the past to see how someone got to where they are, but she wants to move the person forward. She asks, “where is it that you want to go, where do you want to be, who do you want to be?” Then, she starts making plans with her clients, they start making goals and she holds them accountable for what they write.

People can participate in the Seekers Circle by going to the website, ritaricks.com. She wants people to stay connected.


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