SWIHA Blog

What has the power to monopolize your time, relationships and even your thoughts? You’re probably holding it in your hand right now.

The science of how an abundance of technology influences us as human beings is still in its infancy, so we actually know very little about the long-term hazards of a screen-to-screen existence. However, we can inuit that constantly monitoring our email and posting Facebook status updates is making us less productive, more disconnected from our real lives, and less satisfied with ourselves.

Dr. Paul Bernitt, a Board Certified Doctor of Holistic Health and founding member of Trivita Clinic of Integrative Medicine in Scottsdale, has worked in a wide variety of health care entities including long-term care, OB/GYN, children’s hospitals and family medicine since 1998.

“My life was all about how much I could get done,” he says, “raising my family, being active in my church and trying to ‘get ahead in life’.”

In a turn of fate, Dr. Bernitt fell ill. He was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and, at age thirty-six, was already experiencing atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries. The traditional allopathic doctors he spoke with told him that he would have to reduce sugars and carbohydrates from his diet, increase his physical activity and that he would need to take medications to help him manage his condition.

If you’re a part of SWIHA’s student and graduate Conscious Branding group on Facebook, you’ve surely picked up a few hints from this #bosslady during her informative (and fun!) live videos. Sharon Rose graduated from the Advanced Yoga Teacher and Healing Arts Practitioner program, and alongside building her own coaching business as The Soul Stylist, she serves as a Success Coach at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, supporting students and graduates embarking on the journey of entrepreneurship.

Today, Sharon Rose gives you her answers to some of the many questions that budding holistic business owners bring to SWIHA’s Success Center:

If you’ve ever been to our yoga studio and training facility, Spirit of Yoga, you’ve surely noticed our shelled friends sunbathing in the pond. Due to their wide-eyed, slow-and-steady nature, many consider turtles to be the wisest souls in the animal kingdom. When Katie Hembraugh first saw them, she took it as a sign to “come out of her shell” and pursue Yoga Teacher Training!

“I had developed a habit of not showing up and letting opportunities go by while hiding behind being not ready...[so] I landed at SWIHA because of the turtles!” laughs Katie, “Synchronicities are one way I see my life guided by my Great Attractor. I met Laura Mckinzie and saw the overflow of turtles living in the pond at Spirit of Yoga and the decision was made.”

According to ancient Chinese legend, Emperor Shen Nung was resting against a Camellia sinensis tree while waiting for his drinking water to boil. Suddenly, the wind picked up and caused the leaves of the tree to fall in to the steaming pot!

Instead of throwing out the water, Shen Nung decided to try the concoction. He described a warm feeling from the brew, as if the liquid was travelling to each part of his body, making a journey around his insides. He named the beverage ch’a, the Chinese character meaning “to investigate”. We now call it tea.

“I fall more in love with the work every day,” proclaims Linda Bennett, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and the Program Director for SWIHA’s Hypnotherapy programs, “I have been involved in this field for 25 years and I’ve seen incredible transformation occur through the use of this modality.”

“For me,” she explains, “it’s all about connecting the head and the heart. When the two are disconnected from each other, imbalances take place and there is illness of some sort.”

Living mindfully comes with many benefits, and none of them are limited to just adults! Mindfulness has the ability to provide children with simple tools to understand their nervous system, make healthier decisions and regulate their feelings.

By helping children to learn to focus on a single thing, such as a sound or their own breath, they can calm their mind and develop emotional fortitude. Consistent mindfulness practices for children leads to less impulsivity, refined concentration skills, and more awareness of how to respond thoughtfully to tough situations.

With incredible tenacity, Nyla Jones, a graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts’ Yoga & Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner programs, states: “In my mother’s death, she gave me life.”

At the tender age of twenty-four, Nyla stepped in to the role of family matriarch. Cancer had claimed her mother, placing Nyla as caretaker to her youngest siblings—her two-year-old brother and her three-year-old sister who was born with Down syndrome.

Instead of allowing herself to be consumed by anger and self-pity, Nyla felt that her mission was to become a vessel of compassion and help her family thrive—not despite the hardships—rather, inspired by them.

“When you truly believe in and love what you do,” says Cheryl Speen, SWIHA’s talented Reflexology and Toe Reading instructor, “you will excel in your life… through Reflexology and Toe Reading, I found out that my intuition is strong and alive and has helped me guide people to some profound healings.”

Toe Reading is a fascinating healing art using active listening, powerful, soul searching questions and deeply skilled insight to help people create change in in their lives. When you couple this with Reflexology, which is based on the principle that an image of the body is represented on the face, ears, hands and feet, you can truly treat the whole client—mind, body and spirit.

“If you see me walking around,” says Michael Anthony Suszczynski, a graduate of SWIHA’s Mind-Body Wellness program, “I can gladly give you ten miraculous stories.” The key word in that invitation is walking, because a debilitating back injury twenty years ago left Michael unable to do anything except crawl.

In an attempt to repair the damage to his back, Michael underwent a surgery followed by six months of intensive physical therapy – three hours a day, three days a week. Despite the attempts of the doctors, physical therapists and Michael’s own dedication to his health, his body was not responding in the way that they’d anticipated. He had no strength in his left leg and began to lose hope that he’d ever walk normally again.