SWIHA Blog

For over two decades, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts has held the belief that healing takes place within mind, body and spirit. After all, it makes intuitive sense when you consider that we are multifaceted beings with many different energetic components.

We’re thrilled to finally see allopathic medicine and modern neuroscience embrace holistic modalities and confirm what we’ve felt all along: that we must treat the full being for true transformation to occur.  From major corporations employing nutrition advisors and life coaches, to chiropractors partnering with energy workers, we see traditional and modern healing coming together and igniting major change!

Healers are highly sensitive, which is why they’re so drawn to dedicating their lives to helping others! 

However, if you’ve been spending a lot of energy focused on the healing of others, you may be pushing through warnings from your own system that something is off.

Signs that you may need to pause and do some S.O.U.L C.A.R.E include:

• Your personal to-do list is a mile long
• You haven’t been sleeping or eating well
• Your schedule is not a reflection of your priorities
• You’ve had limited alone time lately
• Your body is inexplicably ill or in pain
• Your physical space is cluttered and disorganized
• Your emotions have begun calling the shots
• You feel like you’re operating on auto-pilot

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts began twenty-six years ago as a humble massage school in Arizona. However, the vision of KC Miller, founder and Chief Spiritual Advisor, was always one of a worldwide shift in the holistic health industry. That’s why we are so passionate about offering online programs that allow anyone to take our classes from the comfort of their home, favorite coffee shop, library, or anywhere else with wifi connectivity!

Dana Greenwood, Instructional Designer, says “What makes our online programs unique is the same thing that makes SWIHA unique. SWIHA actually walks its talk!

Are you looking to minimize exposure to environmental toxins, find effective alternatives to chemical-filled cleaners, and surround yourself with natural scents instead of synthetic fragrances? Essential oils will be, well...essential to your quest!

Essential oils are extracted from plants, capturing its scent and flavor or “essence”. These oils are obtained through various methods such as distillation or cold pressing, taking care to consider the chemical makeup of the plant and produce only a pure end-product.

Our bodies are filled with electrical and chemical impulses that keep our brain and body in constant communication. Most of the time, we actively decipher the information and can quickly interpret it. A common example of this is when we accidentally touch a hot surface, our body moves itself away without a conscious thought to do so.

The month of October lends itself inherently to the theme of Potential.  It’s a month of transition: days grow shorter, the air cools, and trees shed their leaves in anticipation of a winter nap. It’s the pause before a new chapter, where we reflect on lessons learned while planning for the future.

Ancient Gaels celebrated this mid-point between the autumnal and winter equinoxes with the festival Samhain, meaning “summer’s end”. It marked their harvest time and honored the birth-death-rebirth cycle of Mother Nature through celebrations and rituals. Samhain was eventually incorporated in to Christian culture to take place at the end of October proceeding All Hallows day (November 1^st). We now know it as Halloween!

In case you’ve never read the bio at the end of these blogs: Hi, my name is Taylor! I serve at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts as a marketing specialist or (as I like to title myself) “Creator of Copy, Bringer of Blogs”. You’ve never seen me write in the first person on the SWIHA blog before, so this is a special feature that warrants the change in voice!

As an ongoing entrepreneurial support piece for our students and graduates, SWIHA’s Success Coach, Sharon Rose, hosts bi-weekly webinars talking all things business. Sharon brings her fabulous energy, her honesty, and her personal experience with her own thriving venture, The Soul Stylist.

You know the phrase “sick to my stomach”? There’s more truth to that than you may think!

Researchers estimate that up to 85% of our body’s immune response is attributed to our digestive system. More than five hundred species of bacteria live in our gut, referred to as “gut flora”. In fact, the amount of bacteria in our gut out-numbers the body’s cell count by ten times.

Though we’ve just begun to discover the intricate relationship between our bodies and bacteria, it’s known that these creatures play essential roles in homeostasis. Friendly bacteria are responsible for things such as nutrient absorption, mucosal barrier function, upkeep of lymphoid tissue, and optimal functioning of our immune system.

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts is unique in countless ways. Spend a few minutes browsing our classes and programs, and you’ll see everything from crystal healing to raw food cooking and even canine massage! You’ll find no other accredited college quite like us.

Understandably, a common question we receive is: What can I do when I graduate?
The only truthful response is: What do you WANT to do?

Mindfulness is an ability we all possess. Just like a muscle, the more often that we choose to utilize it, the greater the ability grows. At its most basic definition, living mindfully is making the choice to be fully present in each moment. By bringing awareness to what you’re directly experiencing (sounds, scents, sensations) you can reduce ruminative thinking, improve your memory, and find a greater appreciation for both positive and negative experiences.

Meditation is a tool for becoming more mindful. It is an exploration of our internal landscape, where we unleash our natural curiosities and suspend our judgement. Often times, we’re not even aware of how busy our brains are, so by making the time to “check-in” and observe our thoughts, we can learn to better problem-solve and discover the root cause of our daily stressors and discomforts.