SWIHA Blog

Why Urban Farmer, Mecca Bey, Combines her Love for Nutrition with Coaching

Posted by Jade Marvin on 3/9/23 4:00 PM

My life before SWIHA was and is purpose-driven, which is why SWIHA was always on my path. I had been seeing advertisements for SWIHA about two years prior to me actually reaching out to sign up, I even had SWIHA send me a catalog of the courses. It wasn't until I started really wanting to know more about the food I grow that I said ‘Okay let me really look into this school.’ I chose my program of study because I wanted to have more education and knowledge about food and how it affects our bodies and our communities. I'm passionate about this modality because food is and has always been our future for how we see the world. It either brings us together or breaks us apart.”

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Topics: Holistic Nutrition, holistic entrepreneur, Great Graduate, SWIHA, Urban Farming, Arizona, Tempe, Holistic Nutrition Coach, Health & Wellness Coach, Holistic Health and Wellness Coach, Holistic Nutrition Specialist

The Importance of Supporting Local Farms

Posted by Alexa Young on 2/7/23 4:00 PM

Farmers' Markets, Community Supported Agriculture, and purchasing from local farms have become an upward trend in the last few years, and rightfully so. As a Holistic Nutritionist and Wellness Coach, if I could recommend ONE diet change before anything else, it would be to eat locally. Not only is it better for your health to eat local, organic, and pesticide-free foods, it is also better for the environment. You have a larger variety of seasonal foods to choose from, it aids your local economy and puts money back into small businesses and farms, it strengthens community connections, and of course, the food is just fresher and tastes better!

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Holistic Nutrition, holistic entrepreneur, Great Graduate, SWIHA, Urban Farming, Farmers Market, Arizona, Tempe, Wellness Coach, Holistic Healh and Wellness Coach, Microbiome, Support Local, Eat Locally

Anna Palechek’s Journey from ‘Just Existing’ to ‘Living Purposefully”

Posted by Anna Palechek on 1/11/23 8:00 AM

I was overweight, mentally drained and an emotional eater (and drinker). My own traumas and dramas became my triggers. After five years of struggling through starvation and rationalizing my circumstances—I realized it was all due to my own insecurities and bad decisions. Choices that I made while my self-worth was lacking, oh who am I kidding, it was non-existent. I was not living purposefully; I was just existing. At the time I had no idea there was a place called Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA).

All my life, I had compared myself to others. I compared my life to how others were living, and I believed that I was not living life as I should have been. I felt as though I was not giving my children the life that so many others were giving theirs, therefore I was a bad parent.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, western herbalism, SWIHA, Urban Farming, Arizona, Tempe, mind body wellness pracitioner, integrative healing arts practitioner, Herbalist, National Be on Purpose Month 2023, Self-worth

Jenny McGee uses Holistic Nutrition Coaching to Heal the Mind, Body & Spirit

Posted by Jade Marvin on 11/10/22 4:00 PM

I knew I wanted to be a part of the Holistic Wellness industry 12 years ago when I started a new job working at Southwest Naturopathic Medical Center in Tempe, Arizona. This was my first introduction to what holistic medicine was and what it meant to view the body as a "whole" rather than just the symptom. I quickly grew passionate and learned that whole food nutrition is a necessary part to bring the body into balance. In 2009, I became a massage therapist and practiced for 5 years. I was passionate about massage therapy and eager to learn more. Little did I know, I was led to dive deep into my passion for helping my clients.”

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Holistic Nutrition, Massage Therapy, holistic entrepreneur, Great Graduate, SWIHA, Urban Farming, Farmers Market, Holistic wellness, Arizona, Tempe, Holistic Healh and Wellness Coach, nutrition Practitioner

How Urban Farming Can Benefit the Health of Our Bodies and the Planet

Posted by Lauren Miller on 7/7/22 4:00 PM

The Call to Switch Directions

Urban Farming brings consciousness to the health of our bodies and the health of the planet through the practice of local farming and environmental education. With the increasing number of pesticides in our food and water each year, Americans have begun to experience a decline in their overall health. According to The World Health Organization, excessive consumption of pesticides can contribute to adverse health effects including cancer, and immune system dysfunction. The pollution of the planet has begun to reflect the effects of mass production and unconscious farming practices. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, commercial farming contributes to 21 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions; this number does not include other related greenhouse gas emissions such as shipping produce or driving to the store.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, SWIHA, Urban Farming, Arizona, Tempe, Planet Protection, Action for Change

Walking the Path with BearLee Essentials: SWIHA Student Blog Series

Posted by Aidale Scott Crevier on 11/30/21 4:00 PM

Come walk with us

Let me tell you a little bit about myself - my name is Aidale, my friends know me as Lee. I am married to my amazing husband called Bear and we both harvest and make some medicines and forage edible wild foods for our family and friends here in the Northwest of CT. After witnessing the healing properties we were gifted from our land, we have created BearLee Essentials to share the magic Mother Earth has gifted us right from our backyard. We feel self-care, wellness, and connecting back to our wilderness souls and Mother Earth is so important especially after experiencing the many changes we have gone through during the Covid-19 pandemic. I feel we found ourselves wondering how we can be more proactive in our self-healing and health for ourselves and our family.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, wellness, SWIHA, Whole Foods, Intuition, Urban Farming, Holistic health, Arizona, Healthy Eating, Holistic Remedies, Organic Food, Mother Earth, Herbs, Plants, Ancestors

Why Urban Farming is the Future of Agriculture and an In-Demand Skillset

Posted by Taylor Jablonowski on 4/1/21 4:00 PM

Urban Farming encompasses a vast array of interests: growing produce for personal consumption, involvement in a community garden or even with the intention of selling product at a local farmer's market. You may have a modest dream of a salsa garden on your patio, or loftier aspirations of creating a homestead with multiple plots. Whatever your ‘green goals’ may be, Urban Farming connects you back to the basics and gives you an enhanced appreciation of the magic of nature and how food is grown.

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Topics: Holistic Nutrition, Urban Farming, Farmers Market, sustainability, Organic Produce

From Balconies to Backyards: You Can Have a 'Micro-Farm' at Home

Posted by Taylor Jablonowski on 12/15/20 4:00 PM

Humans have been consciously farming the earth for around 12,000 years. That may seem like a very long period of time, but if all our planets history took place in the course of a single day, we started our agriculture practices at 11:59:59 PM! In that 'one second', we have created a surplus of food and--unfortunately--contributed to a major imbalance of chemicals in our air, water and soil.

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Topics: Urban Farming, Farmers Market, conscious living, Organic Produce, Home Gardening

Environmentally Friendly Foods For a Low Impact Diet

Posted by Taylor Jablonowski on 7/22/19 3:00 PM

There are many aspects to consider when choosing an eco-conscious lifestyle, and one of the most simple changes you can make is with your diet! The carbon footprint and water usage of our foods is often overlooked, however the U.S agriculture industry emits almost six-hundred million metric tons per year and accounts for eighty-percent of our nation’s water usage annually.

Today we’ll explore some options that are nutritious, delicious and gentle on the environment!

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Topics: Holistic Nutrition, Urban Farming, sustainability, conscious living

The Parent’s Mirror: Crystal Valentina Price Shares the Life Lessons of Motherhood and Yoga

Posted by Staff on 6/14/18 2:00 PM

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!”

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Topics: Sound Healing, Herbalism, Urban Farming, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga nidra, yoga, Motherhood, Fabulous Faculty

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