SWIHA Blog

A Life of Service: Khariah Clark’s Journey from the Air Force to the Yoga Studio

Posted by Jade Marvin on 5/19/22 4:00 PM

Before SWIHA I was an active duty military member serving in the air force. Once I became a veteran, I knew I wanted to seek deeper healing for myself and the communities I am a part of. I also wanted to facilitate and curate spaces that allowed for that healing to occur. Being a trauma-informed and intuitively lead yoga instructor/ guide allow me to do just that in every space I’ve grown into.”

Great Graduate, Khariah Clark, of SWIHA’s 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training program as well as the Intuitive Guide program, has blossomed into her new life since attending Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. Like many other students who enroll at SWIHA, Khariah was at a point in her life where she had to stop and reflect on what she wanted to do next with her life. Khariah had just dropped out of a very rigorous law program and felt defeated, not really knowing what to do next. Clark explains, “...not knowing my next move, I went into my backyard to do some yoga, I looked up to see a rainbow in the sky, it was awesome.” And one step aligning after another, Khariah found herself studying yoga and intuitive guidance at SWIHA.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, SWIHA, entrepreneur, healing, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga, Arizona, business, Tempe, intuitve guide, Yogi, Yoga studio, yoga classes, intuitive guidance, Energy, Sharon Rose, Aura, James Patrick, Higher Learning, Higher Education

Looking in the Mirror: A Journey to Self-Love|SWIHA Student Blog Series

Posted by Aatiyah Mcneill on 5/5/22 4:00 PM

"Keep taking time for yourself until you are you again." -Lalah Delia

A Look into our Self Love Journey:

The fact is that it is a "YOU VS YOU "battle in this life. So get it in your head that no one is coming to SAVE US EXCEPT US.

During my journey, I'm learning that the most critical part is to stop being a people pleaser and living life like everyone else matters except you because you do matter. Knowing that taking care of your needs first is essential, knowing that your feelings matter.

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Topics: self love, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, holistic practitioner, holistic entrepreneur, SWIHA, Self-care, entrepreneur, healing, Intuition, Arizona, healing arts, Tempe, intuitve guide, integrative healing arts practitioner, IHAP, Self-Love Journey, People-Pleasing, Intuitive Coach, Spiritual Growth

Lourdes Menendez’s Dream to Provide Holistic Healing through Hypnosis & Coaching

Posted by Jade Marvin on 6/17/21 4:00 PM

Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible”. - Mandy Hale

Timing is everything. For our great graduate Lourdes Menendez, in April of 2019, had a spiritual enlightenment that eventually led her on the path to SWIHA. “On that day, a master spirit connected with me while I was working my shift as Medicaid Advocate for a local hospital. I heard a man's voice whispering "Hypnosis Class" she tells us, “I knew I was on the right path when I received the Brochures and Pamphlets from SWIHA. By touching the paper I felt positive energy. I recalled telling my husband: ‘How sad I feel for not finding this school ten years ago’ and my husband said ‘Ten years ago was not the time; the time is now’.”

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Topics: Life Coaching, Hypnotherapist, SWIHA, healing, life coach, Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, Holistic health, Guide, integrative healing arts practitioner, Addiction, Spiritual Awakening, Online student, Transformational Coaching, Holistic Education, Setting Goals

We Need to Talk: Sexual Misconduct by Spiritual Practitioners

Posted by Taylor Jablonowski on 7/8/19 3:00 PM

Usually the SWIHA blog is full of inspiring stories, tips for holistic living and exciting updates about our programs. Today, I want to shift the dialogue a bit and talk about a topic that is emotional for many: violation of boundaries by a practitioner, spiritual leader or advisor.

We believe the way to empower survivors of abuse is through open, honest conversations, so we will be having one today. If you are sensitive to the topic of sexual abuse or harassment, please proceed reading mindfully.

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Topics: healing, Sexual Misconduct, Trauma-Aware, Survivors

Why Certain Yoga Poses Make You Cry

Posted by Kate Ferguson on 5/1/17 3:29 PM

If you’ve ever found yourself suddenly moved to tears in yoga class, you’re not alone. The sensation can be a little alarming if you’re not used to crying at the gym, however, rest assured that it’s a sign of good things happening. Our bodies tend to hold onto a lot of tension that’s both physical and emotional at its root. Just like our shoulders can tighten up when we’re hunched over the keyboard day after day, our hips can tighten up from emotional stress as well. Certain yoga poses unleash the tension and suddenly make you feel something that you haven’t felt in a while.

When you’re holding a yoga pose you’re often attempting to balance as well as stay strong and support your own body weight. (Our egos fight pretty hard to avoid being the person who topples over onto their mat.) These moves are using a variety of muscles at once, require concentrated breath, and also physically stretch us in new ways.

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Topics: yoga therapy, healing, Holistic Healing, yoga, Yoga poses, Reduce Stress, Emotional Release, Tempe, openhearted, Alternative healing, Namaste, Om, Emotions, Yoga studio, Stress Release, Emotional Healing

Mathina Ross: Healing Touch for Body, Mind, and Spirit

Posted by Zoey Sigmon on 4/28/17 9:23 AM

Mathina Ross has always been a healer and philanthropist at heart. Though her background is not necessarily one you would expect from someone who now has a bustling career offering signature massage experiences, throughout her life she has mastered the art of caring for others. In fact, before attending SWIHA and completing our 1000-hour Massage Therapy Program, Mathina cultivated a profoundly rewarding career in cosmetology, in which she chose to specialize working with children who experienced spectrum disorders toward the end. She shares that the work was fulfilling to her soul, yet left her feeling drained. “I loved the work, [however, I] got ‘burned out.’  Given my specialized status, when I chose to move on, my options were very limited.  Prior to specializing, I had worked in hair, skin and nail care, and had been massaging much of the body, so the transition to massage seemed an appropriate one.

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Topics: aromatherapy, transformational, holistic, wellness, Massage, yoga, Self-care, healing, Yoga Teacher Training, Transformation, asana, health, Spiritual, Alternative healing, Namaste, Yogi, Om

Meet Sharon Rose --The Holistic Lifestyle Coach Offering Lasting Change

Posted by Zoey Sigmon on 4/21/17 1:47 PM

Sharon Rose made the trek out to Arizona following an opportunity in her previous career of hospitality and to experience a much-needed change in scenery. Attending a school like Southwest Institute of Healing Arts was far from her mind. At the time, she had no idea that her recreational and self-preservationist interests in yoga would become such huge components of her life path, and ultimately, the fulfillment of her life purpose.

After four months here in the desert, a sinking feeling began to creep into her soul that something significant was missing. Looking back, she shares, “I became uninspired and mentally checked out. I started practicing yoga at Spirit of Yoga around this time. I realized then that I wanted to pursue yoga full time and decided to look into SWIHA.

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Topics: transformational, Life Coaching, holistic, wellness, Holistic Nutrition, SWIHA, yoga, healing, life coach, Nutrition Coaching, Healthy Eating, organic, asana, Spiritual, Smoothies, Alternative healing, Namaste, Yogi, Om

Healing Footstep to Footstep – #SWIHA Graduate Releases Book – April 25, 2017

Posted by KC Miller on 4/7/17 12:16 PM

She is excited! We are excited! And the world will soon be excited for one of SWIHA’s #GreatGraduates, Brianna Bedigian.  She is releasing her first book this next week.  It’s entitled Healing Footstep to Footstep.

Brianna is a highly trained and gifted healer, and a graduate of the SWIHA Hypnotherapy program.  After being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, Brianna dug deep to create and undergo her own healing process, and chronicled it through journaling and photography. After her recovery, and years of optimum health, Brianna looked back and reflected on the narrative that unfolded.  One step at a time, footstep to footstep, her healing occurred over time. Brianna realized her recorded journal entries can now serve as an abstract primer-of-sorts for others suffering from any type of illness.

As an author, artist, teacher and healer, Brianna utilizes her personal journey, years of formal training and her personal practice to guide students and clients locally, nationally and even remotely. Brianna explains, “The reality is that healing begins one step at a time, often slowly and with acceptance of the self.”

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Topics: Become a Hypnotherapist, Great Graduate, SWIHA, yoga, healing, Reiki, Hypnotherapy, healing arts

Underactive Thyroid, Overactive Heart: Great Graduate Serving Her Community

Posted by Ravynn Rohner on 2/24/17 8:56 AM

Kelly St. Claire was looking for something more in her life prior to becoming a Holistic Wellness Practitioner at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. Her story, her words:

I had wanted to raise the level of excellence in my life and finally break-through in my business. There were so many missing pieces that I needed to find and I was on a search. I was online in one of my discussion groups and someone mentioned SWIHA and becoming certified in different forms of coaching.  I heard it, and filed that away. I eventually ended up searching online for continuing education in the areas I was passionate about, and SWIHA was one of the first results.

I was at a point in my life where nothing was working.  Old things no longer fit the same way, and new things felt out of reach. I felt so stuck and stagnant in body and whole life, yet I do have the kind of spirit that will never give up... Most of the coaching and holistic nutrition certification programs were not in my budget at the time, however I decided to talk to admissions at SWIHA and was pleasantly surprised at how easy, accessible and smooth the process was. They also seemed invested in my success… Support… I’d been craving that kind of support. 

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Topics: Life Coaching, western herbalism, holistic, SWIHA, entrepreneur, healing, Reiki, Hypnotherapy, practitioner, community

Raising the Vibration of the Universe, One Soul at a Time

Posted by Kerry Burki on 2/3/17 10:59 AM

Cora Love was actually led to the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). She was seeking, very diligently, an affordable program that covered multiple modalities. “Another effort I was following was being thwarted at every turn. Then, I saw SWIHA, which offered  everything I was interested in, accepted financial aid, and was able to get me enrolled within days to start my two-year program, on-time, January 19, 2015.”

Cora went on to graduate from the Mind-Body Transformational Psychology program, with a concentration in Spirituality and a specialty in Hypnotherapy. “One of the most valuable things SWIHA taught me was that my spiritual gifts are real; they can be enhanced with study and practice, and I am more powerful than even I originally thought. I also learned that what most of us think we know and believe, we really, really don’t. Long-held beliefs can be shattered with a sentence, or an image.”

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Topics: Sage, Life Coaching, healing, Mind-body, energy work, Hypnotherapy, Crystals, spiritual studies, mysticism

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