SWIHA Blog

Full of fiber and packed with nutrition, green smoothies are a staple in any health-conscious diet. Making this delicious drink is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

• 1 cup of fruit
• 2 cups of liquid
• 3 cups of greens

Step One: Choose Your Liquid Base

To ensure even blending, add two cups of liquid to your blender first. Be mindful of the sugar content of liquid bases, and feel free to choose more than one!

Every year, the EWG (Environmental Working Group) analyzes the chemical residue on fruits and vegetables widely available in the average grocery store. Their report notes things such as the average number of pesticides found on a single sample and the maximum number of particles detected.

Here are their findings for 2019:

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts has been celebrating National Nutrition Month by inviting you in to our teaching kitchen for informative Facebook Live sessions with Becca Briley, Lead Admissions Coordinator, and Janet Lee, Online & On Campus Holistic Nutrition Instructor.

In case you missed the Facebook Live Videos, enjoy these replays below, and check out the next opportunity to join us on March 26th at 5PM (AZ) for a discussion about eating right for your blood type!

It’s no secret: Our society is saturated with unhealthy, unbalanced options for food. In fact, many households spend over three-thousand dollars--or 10% of the average income--eating out per year; the United States fast food industry is forecasted to make 223 billion dollars by 2020.

The Standard American Diet (S.A.D) is causing an epidemic of diabetes, cancer, heart disease and a slew of other ailments to affect ourselves, friends, family and loved ones. According to the U.S Department of Health & Human Services and the Center for Disease Control:

More than ever, consumers are paying close attention to what they put in their body, avoiding unbalanced fast food in favor of organic whole foods. This shift toward a wellness-conscious mindset is changing the landscape of the health industry and fueling an increased demand for reputable, knowledgeable authorities on Holistic Nutrition.

We at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts witness firsthand the amazing transformations that passionate Nutrition Coaches facilitate, and we love supporting our graduates as they embark on their journey of becoming conscious, successful wellness pioneers! Our graduates have become motivational speakers, opened restaurants and catering businesses, written wellness blogs and cookbooks, and created successful coaching businesses. The one thing they all have in common? They began with a passion for healthy food!

“At some point, everyone needs a coach,” explains James Patrick, “Life happens to us all and sometimes the best tool to have is someone to listen and support. It makes things a little clearer and a little less complicated.”

Seventeen years ago, James stopped at a deli in upstate New York and something curious caught his eye: a SWIHA class calendar! He paged through it and was immediately drawn to Life Coaching. What piqued his interest even more was that he’d already been planning a move to Arizona.

“I came to visit and tour the school, however I didn’t officially sign up until 2007.  Per the quote by George Bernard Shaw, I was still busy finding myself in who I thought I was supposed to be versus creating myself into who I chose to be.“

Hello everyone! Taylor here.

Being immersed in SWIHA-land for the past three years, I’ve heard a lot about vision boards. In fact, many of my coworkers keep them in their offices. They’re full of travel photos, symbols of prosperity and health, wishes for love and plenty of inspirational quotes. I love looking at other’s vision boards because I get to learn so much about their dreams and priorities.

With the new year approaching at lightspeed, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in 2019. So, I woke up this morning and decided to create my very first vision board! I grabbed my scissors and glue, found an unused canvas and began hunting for old magazines…to no avail. My on-going quest to live minimally has me reading digital copies of everything and immediately recycling junk mail.

Hello everyone! Taylor here.

Being immersed in SWIHA-land for the past three years, I’ve heard a lot about vision boards. In fact, many of my coworkers keep them in their offices. They’re full of travel photos, symbols of prosperity and health, wishes for love and plenty of inspirational quotes. I love looking at other’s vision boards because I get to learn so much about their dreams and priorities.

With the new year approaching at lightspeed, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in 2019. So, I woke up this morning and decided to create my very first vision board! I grabbed my scissors and glue, found an unused canvas and began hunting for old magazines…to no avail. My on-going quest to live minimally has me reading digital copies of everything and immediately recycling junk mail.

Jenna Gully was doing the same thing many high school graduates end up doing: going to college for something she had an interest in without knowing where it would lead her or how she would use the skills she was learning in a practical way. As is often the case without that big “end picture” goal—without the drive of a vision to work towards—college had become more of a vehicle for social interaction than for personal growth. Jenna soon came to realize that she wanted more out of life… that she wanted to do something that supported a healthy and active lifestyle, something that would spark her growth as a person, that could give her direction and the motivation of working towards a career she could be excited about. In 2013, she dropped out of college and started moving in that direction.

Yoga has always been a part of Jenna’s life. Her mother had been sharing the experience of yoga with her since a young age, giving her the gift of a physical practice that was sustaining and ever evolving. After witnessing her mother’s own experience as a student in the Yoga Teacher Training program at Spirit of Yoga, Jenna realized she was being drawn to the program herself, wanting to expand on the physical practice she had enjoyed throughout the years by adding the technical, philosophical, and energetic components and developing her gift of healing touch. In 2014, she enrolled herself in the 200-hour YTT program at SOY.

The exciting alternative programs that Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) has for holistic health is what brought Shannon Coleman to the school. She enrolled and graduated within one year with a Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner diploma. “This program has opened my eyes to many things such as staying more positive, having confidence, facing my fears, and to just do it. Many of these tips have helped me already, and continue to help me be a better mother, wife, and business woman.” The most valuable thing she learned at SWIHA was to stay positive and face her fears. A quote she loves sharing is, “Release the negative, and truck on with the positive.”

Shannon’s passion for holistic health started when she spent many hours and thousands of dollars on doctors to treat an unknown illness that was leaving her incapacitated. “I met a holistic doctor that saved my life and changed it forever. I am passionate about what I do because I have lost family members, including my mother, to cancer. I know from experience that taking care of the mind, body, and soul as a whole, works! And, I want to educate others who are interested.”