SWIHA Blog

What was your life like before SWIHA? What led you to SWIHA and to your particular program of study? Why are you passionate about this modality?

Before SWIHA, I was a Chef who worked long hours at a fine dining farm-to-table restaurant & was a hairstylist on the side. I love to cook and especially loved embracing the sustainability aspect of sourcing our ingredients and how everything connected full circle. Although I loved cooking, as many people know kitchens can be quite a challenging and sometimes toxic environment to be submerged in. At that point in my life, I was deeply depressed and longed to do something that felt more fulfilling to my soul. For me, this "cycle of depression" triggered an awakening of sorts. I began venturing my journey of "internal" personal development (outside my physical fitness) and sought out schools that spoke to my soul path. After studying myself and creating a boatload of interests, everything on my list pointed to holistic health and wellness. I discovered SWIHA at the beginning of my journey and finally answered the call to enroll 10 years later!

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Holistic Nutrition, holistic entrepreneur, SWIHA, Mindfulness, Intuition, Spirit, Holistic wellness, Arizona, Tempe, community, Holistic Education, conscious community, GRIT, Divine Timing, Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching, Holistic Health and Wellness Coach, Spiritual Wellbeing, Microbiome

It is easy to feel self-doubt when you are an aspiring entrepreneur. Imposter syndrome starts to creep into your mind and you begin to feel like you aren’t up to the challenge that a once “eager you” was so excited about. You may even feel the need to protect yourself, stay where you are comfortable, and not really put yourself or your business out there. When this happens, you start holding yourself back from your most true and highest potential. What can you do now? There are many ways to push yourself forward even when it feels uncomfortable! Learn how to ditch your self-doubts with the power of mantras.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, holistic entrepreneur, SWIHA, Meditation, Arizona, mantra, Tempe, Om, mantras, Holistic Education, Perspective, mantra meditation, Leap of Faith

In 2018, Holly Cavanaugh sat down with SWIHA Admissions and shared her vision of becoming a yoga teacher and a coffee roaster. Holly asserts, “In August 2018 I set out from Michigan to Arizona on a leap of faith that this would be the next step toward making my dreams a reality. I have been looking forward to continuing to grow my business ever since”. Long before finishing her 600-hr yoga program, and joining the Online Team as an Academic Advisor, Holly had an entrepreneurial spirit and was willing to work hard to make her vision a reality. “Has it been easy? No. I have had an image of what I wanted to create within my life and I have had to release control in order to stay open to the opportunities in front of me” states Holly.

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Topics: holistic entrepreneur, SWIHA, Yoga Teacher Training, Arizona, yoga teacher training 600 hour program, YTT, spirit of yoga, Tempe, Arizona Yoga Studio, Coffee, Private Practice, Academic Advisor, Online Advisor

“Before SWIHA I had the privilege and blessing of being a full-time wife and mom of four amazing children. We owned a mortgage company that my husband ran. My husband of 15 years passed away unexpectedly after a 25+ year struggle with chronic pain which led to opioid addiction. This rocked our world and my children and I lost everything. The depths and darkness of addiction ran deep and his passing uncovered a painful spiral of a brilliant man.” said Renae Valdes-Seago. She continues, “I found myself lost, undereducated, underemployed and urgently needing to figure out how to provide for my family. I didn’t find SWIHA, my angel grandmother led me to this institution for my own healing and to rediscover the gifts I was born with. I felt guided to choose medical massage because of the world I existed in loving a man who hurt constantly and searched tirelessly for respite from pain.”

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, spirituality, Massage Therapy, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Holistic wellness, Arizona, Tempe, Licensed Massage Therapist, medical massage, Shamanic Reiki, Arizona Massage School

The corporate 9 to 5 job is not for everyone. It certainly wasn’t for SWIHA Great Graduate Nikki Cordell. Nikki recalls her life before SWIHA by using words such as “busy” and “hectic” as well as recalling the feeling of constantly longing for something else. Nikki Cordell wanted a way out of her corporate job…and she found one. Nikki was introduced to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, and the rest was history! “I wanted to follow a dream, doing something that I love. A dream I always had was to own a yoga studio. Yoga has been a hobby of mine for many years, that one place I would allow space to take time for myself” asserts Nikki. She found that even though her days were still long and full, as she went to the evening program right after work, she came home feeling different. Nikki came home feeling refreshed, and always enjoyed her time in class, constantly looking forward to her next class, which was quite the opposite feeling of dreading her next day at her corporate job.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate, SWIHA, Meditation, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga nidra, Chair Yoga, yoga, Arizona, spirit of yoga, Tempe, yoga teacher, Yoga Retreat

We often hear the phrase ‘you have to pay your dues’ in situations where someone starts out in a new career field. This phrase translates to the understanding that you have to first experience difficulties before reaching success. This does not have to be a reality for everyone. Leah Morris, Life Coaching and Hypnotherapy Graduate from SWIHA states, “The greatest lesson I learned at SWIHA was that with the right intention and a massive amount of integrity, your efforts can take you anywhere.” Basically, if you are willing to work hard and put forth effort into what you want out of life, you can achieve anything!

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Life Coaching, holistic entrepreneur, Great Graduate, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, life coach, Hypnotherapy, Arizona, Holistic Living, Tempe, Relationship Coaching, Podcast, small business owner, relationship transitions

“I cannot do all the good that the world needs. However, the world needs all the good that I can do.” - Jana Stanfield

Lourdes Silva, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts Great Graduate, realized that her life’s purpose was to serve others with her gifts and graces. To spread the healing arts of Reiki, Sound Healing, Yoga, and more to those who speak Spanish and use Sign Language. Lourdes states, “I realized that the purpose of my life is to give love and be in service reaching all that community that needed the most because I truly believe yoga is for everyone regardless of age, weight, beliefs, or race! We are Onésimo.” One day, during a Polarity class that Lourdes was taking, she had the realization that each experience that she had in her life leading up to that moment was preparing her for her soul purpose. Her soul purpose is to “become a healer, to be on the yoga path, share my acknowledgment, and with empathy - be an instrument of service!”

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Topics: Sound Healing, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Life Coaching, Toe Reading, Great Graduate, SWIHA, Advanced Yoga Training, Reiki, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga nidra, Arizona, Tempe, Holistic Healer, Sign Language, Spanish Speaking, Service

“It’s never too late to start over. If you weren’t happy with yesterday, try something different today. Don’t stay stuck, do better.” - Alex Elle

Great Graduate, Rosie Aslanyan, of the 600-hr Natural Aesthetics Program traveled from Armenia to the United States in the late ‘90s to start a new life. Ever since she arrived in the US, there has not been a single day that passes where Rosie doesn’t learn something new, and she takes pride in doing that with great motivation! Rosie worked as a hospice administrator in Los Angeles, California for a while, until she quit that career in 2019 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. After working in a field that no longer served her, Rosie found a passion ignited inside of her to help others. Rosie knew she wanted to start her own business one day. Rosie suffers from a skin condition called Rosacea, and she desperately wanted to find the right skin care approach for herself, along with wanting to help others with skin conditions as well.

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Topics: SWINA, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Aesthetician, SWIHA, Facials, entrepreneur, Spa SWINA, Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics, Arizona, skin care, Tempe, Esthetician School, Aesthetician School, Esthetician Student, Licensed Esthetician, Rosacea, Skin Care Routine, Student Clinic, Aesthetician Student, Licensed Aesthetician, Esthetician

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts launched Guidance on Call, an outreach initiative to connect clients to professional wellness practitioners, to make the process of finding a practitioner that fits your needs - easier and more accessible. James Patrick, Director of Business Development & Community Outreach asserts, “Guidance on Call is really all about creating quality connections with trained professionals, who are called to serve and create a better quality of life for all, through the modalities and passion they offer.”

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduates, SWIHA, Hypnotherapy, Arizona, Tempe, yoga teacher, intuitive guidance, OurSuccessCenter, Holistic Services, Guidance On Call, Coaching Services, Reiki Healing, Wellness Coaching, SWIHA Graduate, Nutritional Guidance, Holistic Guidance, SWIHA Practitioner, Toe Reading/Soul Coaching

“Your brain understands facts. Your heart understands emotions. Your intuition understands truth. Above all, follow your intuition. It will never fail you.” - RKL

Living up to other people’s expectations is always difficult. It is hard enough to even live up to your own expectations. When we change how we seek validation and choose to pursue it within ourselves compared to outwardly things or beings, we start to live our life for ourselves and nobody else. Once we can grasp this concept of trusting our own intuition, and letting go of outside influences, we truly start to live our life’s true purpose. Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate Ashlynn Finley, went through just that. She was living a life based on what her family wanted for her, until she made the decision to completely change her life, and chose to follow her passions and live the life she always dreamed of.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Intuition, Reflexology, Reiki, energy work, Spirit, Holistic wellness, Oracle Cards, Arizona, Tarot, Tempe, intuitve guide, community, Affirmations, Holding Space, Traditional Reiki, Empathy, Angels and Guides, Business Owner, Heart