Today we’d like to introduce you to Ria Ray.
Ria, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I used to be in the fashion industry in NYC and in 1997 my entire immediate family tragically and simultaneously died. That even marked the beginning of my true awakening into my truest self. I began my path into my personal healing and through that search into myself I found my gift and purpose. And my love of humanity. Through what felt like infinite trial and error, this process of healing birthed through me more and more every day and I was lead to work with others and help guide them into their soul, their kindest and vastest version of themselves. I believe that we are all callable of being self-loving and healing our self and that the best way to do that is to tap into your soul, your personal truth and breathe it back into yourself….every day. This practice of being alive and awake, living and loving artfully is an every moment choice and requirement…it’s a lifestyle. From the development of my healing and teaching, my fine art and product line emerged. I feel like we need reminders everywhere in our daily living to serve as spiritual talismans of who we are and way to remember what matters most to us…what we need to continue to cultivate in order to stay in deep states of love.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. My path has been extremely rocky and infinitely rewarding. It’s never easy to accept who we are. I wish it was but it’s just not. And as long as we are in conflict with our self, we will bring experiences into our world that challenge us to love our self. Perspective is everything so it is always up to us to allow the experience to help us love our self or not. That right there is the struggle. Can we allow every experience to assist us in growing our deepest truth and expand our awareness? I brought into my life an enormous amount of adversity. I certainly suffered from survivor’s guilt and a dysfunctional past so I wanted to experience pain. Over the years I have learned to forgive myself and practice self-compassion so the path is definitely smoother now. I have also found a way to stand in who I am that feels cozy and warm for me which has made all the difference. Most importantly I learned to stop apologizing for how deeply l love and I now enjoy my passion and my intensity without conflict. I guess I have in fact learned to love myself enough to enjoy and trust the process of this mysterious, exquisite cosmic space we are all a part of.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Ria Ray – what should we know?
I am a spiritual healer, teacher and artist. I help others find a way back into their truest self in order to help them heal themselves. My fine art are like spiritual landscapes that serve as soul portals and divine talismans of the most magical parts of humanity. The product line includes mantra candles, ties, cards, journals, body scrubs and body butter. My, book “Create. Humanity is Beauty.” is a book of poetry, mantras and messages that are meant to be an everyday way to connect back into yourself. My tag line is “all things connect”. It came to me like everything has in a very pure, organically divine way. I believe each moment is connected to the next and when we allow we can see the magic and serendipity in each moment…that to me is the perfection of being alive.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Persistence, humility, perseverance, endurance and a whole lot of love. Doing and being anything that is true and whole requires an enormous amount of resiliency. Your ability to bounce back and keep trusting and continuing to dive in head first is everything. Trusting especially when things appear to be going downhill is a true requirement. I definitely went through many moments of doubt but deep within me I knew why I existed and loved humanity so deeply that I wasn’t going to allow anything to stop me from setting all of my essence fully free. The point is you simply can’t give up and you can’t judge what progress is. I always felt the need for my success to be alignment with my soul. I wanted to experience what my soul needed not want my ego craved. That made all the difference in how I perceived myself. The bottom line is I practiced the art of letting go. I learned to live surrendered and trust timing. That’s what allowed me to find success. And when I say success I mean again, my soul’s mission and purpose and desire.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.riaray.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @riaraysee
- Twitter: @riarayspeak
Image Credit:
Anne Yarbrough Gillian Lefkowitz Chris Thompson
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