SWIHA Blog

When Pam Field moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1999, she was determined to do one thing: bring science to the art of massage. While she already has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and had taught at a massage therapy school in Kansas City, Missouri, for 17 years, she was on the hunt for a new school—one that could help build on her current knowledge base to further refine her technique and teach her new information.

“When I found SWIHA, I was delighted at the quality and diversity of classes that it offered,” she discloses. “The school was forwarding-thinking when it came to health education.” As it would turn out, SWIHA had an equal appreciation for what Pam brought to the massage table, and she was asked to come on board as an instructor. Now, after 33 years of work and study, Pam teaches the Myofascial Energetic Massage program at SWIHA—and she’s still focused more than ever on making the myofascial approach as effective as possible. “I believe I can make my intent more appropriate in the executing of technique,” she says. “Intent causes the energy to flow toward the goal of the work.”  

We all know what the classic American breakfast looks like: eggs fried sunny side-up, a pile of crispy bacon, a side of hash browns, and white toast smothered in butter or jam. For those with extra big appetites, a plate of pancakes drowning in goopy syrup might just be served alongside it. Toss in a cup (or two!) of cream- or milk-laden, super sweetened coffee, and the meal is made complete. 

Many people discover the healing arts after being sparked by something deeply personal; Valeria Neiman, a graduate of SWIHA’s Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner program, is a shining example of igniting this passion and turning it into her profession.

Seeking Answers

Sixteen years ago, Valeria found herself in the role of caretaker for her then-partner. He suffered from several different ailments and traditional medicine wasn’t producing many answers. After watching him undergo countless failed treatments, Valeria realized there was something vital that Western Medicine had been ignoring: the mind-body-spirit connection. This revelation motivated her to investigate alternative healing methods.

In the 1990s, Victoria Boutenko and her family found themselves in deteriorating health. Victoria was coping with the same heart arrhythmia which had killed her father, as well as severely swollen legs and mounting obesity. Igor, her husband, was suffering from progressive hyperthyroidism, chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and facing down a prognosis that he would die within a matter of months if his thyroid gland was not removed. Their children, Valya and Sergai, were respectively born with asthma and juvenile type 1 diabetes.

“After crying through an entire night, I decided that we had to take different action if we wanted get different results,” to Victoria explains on her website. “That was when we started to try various healing modalities and eventually arrived at the idea of becoming raw foodists…

Everyone remembers their first love. For Audrey Washington, that love was massage therapy.

In 2007, with eleven years of massage and entrepreneurial experience under her belt, Audrey moved to Phoenix, Arizona, from Detroit, Michigan, to start her own massage business, ALW Massage Therapy. Once in Phoenix, she found that she preferred to hire graduates of SWIHA’s Massage Program to work as Licensed Massage Therapists on her staff. Although she was not yet formally acquainted with the school, she could tell that the curriculum taught there was strong. “They had more knowledge of anatomy, as well as the ability to do energy work and follow their intuition when working with clients,” she says. “I trusted the school and how they trained their LMTs.”

Avocadoes: you know them, you love them, and you devour them all the time… probably in the form of guacamole! Indeed, avocadoes are all the rage in the United States, an epicurean trend which has led to the American consumption of over 4 billion avocados a year. The vast majority of these come directly from 30,000 avocado orchards covering 275,000 acres in Mexico, which is the top exporter of the fruit to American vendors.

Creamy, sweet, and utterly delicious, avocados offer a distinct flavor of their own while still managing to be mild enough to compliment other food combinations. They’re also one of the best-loved superfoods known to the western world. Packed with vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and healthy fats, they can work wonders for your blood sugar, cholesterol, digestive system, and nutrient absorption. 

In 2003, Jason Zelich and his future wife, Kerri, were living out what some might describe as a dreamlike existence in Paris, France. Surrounded by glorious architecture, ample art, and a foodie’s paradise, they were both pursuing successful careers in the international fashion industry. Yet, this lifestyle still wasn’t quite as satisfying as either of them had hoped it would be—at least not in the long-term. With a passion for holistic wellness and a desire to bring people together, both started dreaming of something new…

Together, Kerri and Jason decided to make the move to Tempe, Arizona to fulfill Kerri’s dream to study therapeutic massage and energy work at SWIHA. She graduated with her degree—as well as certifications as a Master Massage and Bodywork Practitioner, a Registered Polarity Practitioner, and a Cranial-Sacral Practitioner—a mere two years later. Motivated by Kerri’s commitment to promoting health and vitality, as well as his own background in the world of sports injuries, Jason followed suit shortly thereafter and enrolled in SWIHA’s 750 Hour Massage Therapy Program.

“If I just could hear someone tell me that I’m beautiful, everything would be okay…wouldn’t it?” “Why does no one want to be around me?” “When will someone make me feel special?”

Crystal Valentina Price knows that personal growth is a lifelong game—and, often, that game involves some pain. “They say that all suffering has a noble purpose,” she explains, “and it wasn’t until I was completely exhausted of being the victim of my own story that I truly stepped up into owning my story and creating my own reality.”

For Crystal, this process of letting go intersected with a new aspect of her identity: parenthood.  “When I became a mother, I felt like I had lost a sense of who I was and was really yearning to rediscover my sense of Self,” she reflects. Through her yoga practice and yoga teacher training, she was able to do just that: “I have realized through this practice that all we have to do is show up! Energetically holding space for ourselves and others has the power to heal!”

Many of us will agree that one of the best parts of Winter is getting to cozy up to a nice bowl of soup on a chilly evening. So, it’s too bad that it is far too hot to enjoy such a dinner on a summer night, right? Wrong!

A Lighter, Cooler Soup—And Diet!

If you have a craving for soup, yet don’t want to overheat or overindulge, look no further than The Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan: A 3-Week Kickstart Guide to Eat and Live Your Best. This tome—which is part instructional guide on the merits of becoming a vegan and part cookbook—was penned by Heather Nicholds Rhn, a Certified Holistic Nutritionist whose self-described mission is to help “newly minted vegans (or veg-curious) fully nourish their bodies so they have the energy to enjoy their lives.”