SWIHA Blog

When we cook and enjoy eating real whole foods we have the opportunity to create a wide variety of tasty, beautiful, colorful, local, in-season dishes.

• Cook with variety. You can cook the same foods different ways – raw, steamed, roasted, blended - and enjoy very different, delicious meals.
• Eat with the Season. When we eat real whole foods, we have the opportunity to eat in tune with what’s in season, and enjoy the food that nature naturally creates for us in the geographic area where we live.
• Eat with Color. By incorporating whole foods into our life, we easily enjoy the infamous "rainbow of fruits & veggies" that we hear about so often, getting a variety of nutrients and phytonutrients (natural plant chemicals).

Holistic Wellness Practitioners offer a wide variety of ways to help us transform ourselves and create balance in our life. Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, Holistic Nutrition, Aromatherapy, Reiki; just to name a few, are powerful modalities that offer tremendous transformation at various levels, including body, mind and soul. These all offer us a chance to tap into the answers and infinite power that is within us, instead of looking outside of ourselves for security, love, happiness and truth. The journey is not always a clear a simple path, but we can certainly still enjoy it. There are many forms of alternative therapy that can can help us transform our lives and enjoy the journey.

How To Make the Most of Your Holistic Wellness Practices and Therapy

1. Remember you are 100% responsible of your life.

Owning responsibility for your own experience is the first step towards transformation. Some people might look for alternative therapy assuming that the therapy is going to save them, or completely change them in some way. The therapy it self is very powerful, but the level of transformation will be equal to the level of openness, intention, and passion you yourself put in the process. Take responsibility and allow the therapy to guide you in your transformation.

Eat Local. Shop at a Farmers’ Market. Buy a CSA. Enjoy a Simple Roasted Roots Recipe

In Arizona where the Southwest Institute of Healing Art (SWIHA) campus is located and where I live, many of the local farmers’ markets will be re-opening for the season after our “dry heat, hot summer”. Fortunately, we do have a few farmers whose produce is available during the summer, so I’ve been having fun shopping from a few farmers for our Whole Foods Cooking Classes at SWIHA this summer.

4 Great Reasons to Eat Local

• Locally grown produce is fresher, tastes better and lasts longer.. Most produce in conventional grocer stores is picked well before it's ready to be picked. Some of the methods used to ripen the food in warehouses and in trucks include methane gas. Food that is allowed to ripen on the vine absorbs many of the flavors and nutrients they are intended to. Local produce shortens the path traditionally traveled from farm to table and the result is better tasting more nutrient dense food.

Pregnancy massage is a wonderful self-care tool that can be used during this special time. The wise woman sees massage as an integral part of her total prenatal care, addressing the many changes rather than a special treat! It is safe and effective. Pregnancy is a non-medical event; it is a natural process. If you have concerns about receiving massage as an expectant mother, have a conversation with your obstetrician.
I first took classes in pregnancy massage when my daughter was having her first child. I wanted to support my daughter, make her more comfortable, and create a warm, supportive environment for my grandson by providing pregnancy massage for his mother. It was a wonderful time for me to be able to be totally present for my daughter on the many levels. Touch is a way of connecting and developing deeper bonds. Research has shown that expectant mothers that receive massage during pregnancy are more likely to touch and bond with their babies.

Being a holistic entrepreneur means there is no separation between your love, life, work and spirituality. It’s a way of life that lends to serving in whatever capacity you’re living in that very moment.

It's diving into that path that makes your heart sing; your Divine calling. The realization that you want more than to be a human doing, but to live in your truth as a human Being.

Holistic Living is Trending

The holistic way of living seems to be hitting mainstream more than ever. Have you noticed how many of the big brand names have started incorporating motivational saying and quotes into their branding?

More people are seeing that the typical 9-5 and living for the weekend is no longer status quo. We’re stepping into living lives that are more aware and more present than ever before. It as if we’re replacing T.G.I.F. with T.G.I.Today! I see more and more people turning to meditation, instead of medication.

A funny thing happened to me when I taught my first yoga class ...

I was standing front and center in the yoga room, nervously cuing my students into a warrior pose and inwardly praying that my voice wasn’t shaking too much, when I noticed something. A man a couple mats away from me was in Warrior II, with his head turned to the side, and his gaze directed right at me. At first it made me uncomfortable and insecure. “Why does he keep looking at me?” I thought to myself. Then I figured it out – he was listening to me! He was waiting for ME to guide him into the next pose. DUH! Why else would he be there?

Quickly I figured out that these students were looking to me for guidance! Whoa - what a realization! Never before had I been in a position of ‘authority’ like that – but I liked it! Immediately, my confidence level increased. My voice became stronger; I stepped away from my mat and began weaving myself between the rows of students while guiding them through the next standing sequence.

During the last two years I have been teaching two to seven yoga classes per week. I’ve noticed a lot of internal and external changes since I began teaching, with the biggest shift being an increase in my confidence.

I’ve never been a meek or mild person; I have what some might call a ‘strong personality’. However, there are areas of my life where I’ve noticed my confidence level has improved since I began teaching. It is a lot easier to make decisions, and I rarely question a decision I made once I make it (something I used to do ALL the time). Teaching yoga has helped me learn how to think on my feet and stick with a decision once I make it.

Plus tasty recipes: Experience Nutrition™ Vegan Chocolate Avocado Pudding & Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownie

What do Sweet Potatoes, Bird Seed, Grass Seed, Dark Chocolate & Avocados have in Common? Healthy Dessert Night at Whole Foods Cooking Class!!!

Within the Whole Foods Cooking Class at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts we really enjoyed “Healthy Dessert Night” creating delicious whole foods gluten-free and dairy-free desserts with special unique ingredients. The students passionately and creatively cooked desserts including Vegan Chocolate Avocado Pudding, Millet Cake, Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownies, Agar Agar Gelatin, Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie and a Spicy Apple Crisp.

Top 5 Ways to Create Tasty Healthy Desserts with Unique Ingredients

Article written by Carol Gutierrez

When you hurt all over…how does massage help with fibromyalgia symptoms?

When you hurt all over, you are exhausted, and can’t think straight, it is hard to make decisions on what modality to try next to be more proactive in managing your health! Rest assured research shows massage provides short-term benefits in persons with Fibromyalgia. Good news!!!

How do I know if I have fibromyalgia?

You may have occasional aches in pains in various parts of your body, but it may not be Fibromyalgia. The new 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria include expanded the criteria for the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia (FM). In the 2010 criteria, wide-spread chronic (more than 6 months) pain is only one of the criteria. Other symptoms may include fatigue, waking un-refreshed, cognitive symptoms, and body symptoms. Conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, restless leg syndrome, migraines, and interstitial cystitis can be associated diseases.

Newborns and infants do not come with an instruction manual. Each child is unique and has a language all their own! During the first few months the new parents begin to learn the different sounds, cries and body cues the child displays as a means of communicating their needs.

One of our great graduates, Carol Gutierrez, recently welcomed a new grandchild into the world! She shared that at two weeks old, her grandson began communicating he had colicky symptoms after feeding by wiggling, crying inconsolably and sleeplessness. “As a caring grandparent it was frustrating to watch. Many hours were spent rocking, singing, walking and providing a loving
presence”, Carol reported.

Carol shared she used many of the things she had learned during her massage therapy training at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. She reported reaching into her tool-kit for all the techniques she had learned about infant massage, energy work, reflexology and aromatherapy. While not all of protocols were 100 % effective in calming the child, Carol confirmed that her sense of connection with her grandbaby increased and her sense of helplessness lessened.

Some people call it a ‘gut feeling’ and some call it a little voice. No matter what you refer to it as, we all have the inner knowing our intuition guides us daily. Do you tap into and actually listen though?

The Transformational Life Coaching program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts starts students with the foundation of 12 Guiding Principles. The first principle is:

Deep within us is a knowing

You know the feeling? The one where something just doesn’t feel right? The real gift comes in listening and choosing to act on the answers found within. Sometimes our head can outweigh the feeling or the idea of what we want can lead us to ignoring it. Or maybe you just don’t know whether to trust it or not. This is all just the ego or mind interfering with what is true.

Tapping into truth can get easier with practice though. Envision this thread of inner awareness as a radio channel. You have free will to listen or not. You might need to adjust the knob to hear clearly or sit and be with the channel in order to silence our heady thoughts. Either way, the more you listen, the more clarity comes.

Harnessing the power of your intuition can also benefit your relationships. Imagine taking the time to really tap into what’s behind the gut feeling? By silencing the mind and diving within, you can really look at issues with a free set of eyes. This is something that can improve the communication amongst your family and friends, just by you taking living from your heart space.