About Ricia

Elevated Self was born out of a passion to help others help themselves. The name and initial idea was created by me, Ricia Leslie since being transformed by my 3 years of study at Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development (www.innervisionsworldwide.com) in the USA.

This meant travelling from London to Washington and back one weekend each month, in order to be taught by renowned author Iyanla Vanzant (www.iyanla.com).  In doing so, I became the first international graduate of the Inner Visions Spiritual Life Coach Certification Program.  An even more significant achievement, as out of a class of 48, I was one of just 16 students who actually qualified from that inaugural class.

It was there that my personal growth and development accelerated. I became aware of certain patterns and behaviours in my life that I had previously been oblivious to.

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DEPRESSION

I came to realise that my life was a reflection of my choices. I am happy that I now have a new perspective. No longer the hopelessness I had felt from being in an unhappy relationship where I felt obliged to remain due to financial constraints and more so due to the limiting belief that “I had to stay for the sake of the children”.

Before I’d started Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development, I had already contemplated suicide, that’s how futile my life seemed back then.  One of the first things I learnt at the Institute was the need to take responsibility for how my life was playing out.  I had to acknowledge that I had ignored the signs that may have led me to make different choices.

I now totally accept every experience I have had in my life, as without those less than favourable experiences, I would never have made the journey to Inner Visions and would not have developed the skills necessary to support others through their own healing and development process with such empathy. I took responsibility for how my life looked and the choices I had made that had contributed to my dissatisfaction and depression.

What transpired was a completely new outlook on what was possible. Even though the financial constraints seemed daunting, I did it anyway.

After taking on the learning, healing and growing I see my life from a completely different perspective, but remain acutely aware of where I was coming from.  Afraid to stay in a bad relationship and afraid to leave, afraid to be on my own, to take care of all the bills single-handedly and to be branded by my then 13-year old son as the evil one who had driven his father away.

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As it turned out, as hard as it seemed, I made it through every mortgage payment, every one of my son’s suspensions from school, and every decision I felt I didn’t have the capacity to make.  I have been rewarded with a sense of freedom and good humour that had been absent for many years. My spirit was literally reborn.

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My commitment to self-directed learning is as keen today as it was at the start of my journey, and is the foundation of my ten plus years of coaching experience, which is greatly enhanced by the additional tools of EFT and Matrix Reimprinting. 

Read some client testimonials here.

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BIRTHING THE INNER WARRIOR

I have complete understanding of the fear of going it alone, but I now know the rewards of pushing through the comfort zone wall and it feels good.

I can’t help but wonder, how many other women stay put for years, like I had, because of the fear.  I am certain that I have the tools to support other people to push past that wall of fear.

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GOLDEN HANDSHAKE EMPLOYEE

I also see that “staying put” is not exclusive to personal relationships.  I have witnessed it in the work place too, and even coined the phrase, “Golden Handshake Employee”, for those workers that remain in work they hate, year in, year out, because of the security it seems to give, when they clearly have talents elsewhere.

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REDUNDANCY CULTURE

In the UK we seemed to go through a period for a few years when down-sizing and redundancy were another fact of life.  It was around this time that I realised that when pushed by redundancy or some other game changing event, possibilities seemed to open up for those who used the game change to pursue what their heart longed for.

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THE ONLY WAY IS UP!

I have the practical evidence to the theory of my studies, that when you live in alignment and pursue your unique personal mission, there can be no failure.

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GET TO WORK!

My spiritual and personal development journey gave birth to Elevated Self. If you do the work, you will get the reward. Go within. Change is an inside job. I know I can be the support required for those who are willing to take that journey inside themselves and transform their lives, by doing what they truly desire.