Holistic Entrepreneur, Rocio Castellanos, Helps Others Using Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, and Reiki

SWIHA-Graduate-Rocio-Holistic-Entrepreneur

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

My life before SWIHA, when it came to professional work, was working 12-hour shifts at a local Level 1 Trauma Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. All my life since I was young, I had this desire to help people so I decided to go into the medical field. I worked alongside great people and carers for 13 years. Working in the hospital, I had this innate feeling that I would one day be working on my own, I would say "One day, I'll have my own business, I'm going to be my 'own boss', just you watch". That was my favorite line to say to people when someone asked me how I wanted to "grow" in the company. I didn't envision myself retiring as a healthcare worker.

During my work as a Respiratory Therapist, I found myself listening attentively to my patients, spending time with them, valuing the power of our minds, of our spiritual side. At the same time, I had always had supernatural experiences, I thought it was "normal" to be able to dream about dead relatives and that talking to a dead grandpa whom I never met because he died a year before I was born, was something that was "normal". After a series of events unfolded, some might say it was an “unfair experience” I was faced with having to leave a job that I loved and cherished. Yet, the day I walked out of the hospital on my last day of work I was DELIGHTED, and I didn’t have another job waiting for me or anything else lined up. I was unsure of what I wanted to continue doing in life.

What led me to SWIHA was after taking a year off work and brainstorming what I wanted to do, I decided to enroll at the University of Arizona to earn my bachelor’s in social work so that I could continue helping people. Everything was set, all I needed to do was register for classes and I just wouldn’t. Until one day I had a serious talk with myself, about the reason behind wanting to go back to school. And I asked myself a very important question, “What would I be doing if money weren’t an issue, if I could do whatever I wanted, what would that look like for me?” And then, I realized, I wanted to go to a school where I could openly talk about my experiences in the spiritual world, a school that would help me learn about holistic modalities to help others, a school that would teach me the tools I needed to be able to embrace myself. And then, call it the Universe, Big Brother, social media algorithms, whatever it was, I saw a sponsored ad on FB about SWIHA. I filled out the contact form and within a week I was scheduled to speak with an advisor. Then I filled out the gifts & graces questionnaire and a few days/weeks later I was enrolled in the IHAP online program.

Is there a “defining moment” you’d like to speak about? When did you know that you were on the right path?

There are so many defining moments one bases their life experiences on, those moments help define different aspects of ourselves. I knew I was on the right path when I allowed myself to be embraced by the Universe. I began understanding myself more, communicating with my inner self, and listening to my body, to my mind. I truly believe I knew I was on the right path the moment doors began opening, or maybe those doors had been open yet I hadn’t paid attention until I did.

Has your life significantly changed? If so, how?

My life has changed. I am more aware of who I am, I have become a better version of my old self and not only have I benefitted, my Family has too. Those who have been close to me riding alongside, while on their journeys have been able to grow and expand themselves. Collectively we have expanded, grown, and matured.

What are you up to now—professionally and personally?

Professionally I have recently had my hand-drawn logo renovated and digitized into a vector. When I opened my business I began as a sole proprietor, and then about 3 years ago turned into an LLC. I recently moved to a new, bigger space with a colleague, a fellow Reiki Practitioner. As the years pass I have learned to “pinpoint” and discover my niche and the services I offer. Because of my Life Coaching expertise and qualifications, I also work part-time as an Education Program Coordinator for the largest grassroots non-profit organization on mental illness in the USA, the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) the southern affiliate in Tucson, AZ. I meet with recurrent clients in person and I also offer coaching services online as well. I am taking new clients currently.

Personally, I am in one of the best moments of my life! I truly enjoy the work I do, and I feel like every day is a Friday! Seriously, can I even call it work when I enjoy so much what I do? I have learned so much about myself in the past few years, there is constant inner work to be done to be in a space of Zen. And it isn’t always like that, every time I am about to go into a new chapter, a different level of ascension, I always go into a dark of night passage, it’s not fun. Sometimes it can last a few weeks. Above all, I “hang in there” until it’s time for me to reemerge from my cocoon.

If you own a business or private practice, tell us all about it! What inspired you to start your own business? What services do you offer? How do you powerfully impact clients? How are the skills you learned at SWIHA supporting your work?

I do own a business and have been in private practice since 2018 a few short months after starting SWIHA. My business is Natural Inner Healing & Wellness, I work for NIHW as an Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner using several tools like Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, and Alternative Therapies to help individuals navigate through their own healing journey. I knew that going into private practice was what I wanted and had been envisioning before, after I learned and became attuned to Reiki, I decided to open my business so that by the time I graduated SWIHA I would have already had a business portfolio with clients.

The skills I learned at SWIHA support my work on a daily basis. The tools and skills I learned helped me implement individualized treatment plans for each of my clients. I have a “base foundation” where all my clients begin, and as we work together we discover what type of therapy they would benefit most from and how much of the work they are willing to do once they leave my office. I set up my clients to succeed on their own when they are out and about in the “real world” because what matters most is how they apply the tools they learn with me during sessions when they are not with me.

As for the services that I offer, I broke it down into three categories so to speak. Hypnotherapy techniques: Self Hypnosis, Regression Hypnosis, & Transpersonal Hypnosis, Life Coaching: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), & Toe Reading. Alternative Therapies: Usui Reiki, Aromatherapy, Auriculotherapy, & Flower Essence usage.

What was the greatest lesson(s) you learned while at SWIHA?

The greatest lesson I learned at SWIHA was that each and every class I had and was enrolled in showed me to embrace myself mostly, as I practiced each module I was going through my own spiritual journey and breakthrough. As I was learning about helping others in their journey I learned how to heal myself. SWIHA opened up so many possibilities within me.

If you could give advice to future SWIHA students, what would it be?

The advice I extend to future SWIHA students is to envision yourself as if you are already living, however, you envision your future self-doing, or if you are thinking about whether or not you should open your own business or not, dream it and make it happen. What qualities do you have that can help you and others? What’s your passion? How can your mission help others in this world? Can you get reimbursed for how you help?