SWIHA Blog

At Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, every student arrives with a story—yet some journeys carry a depth of transformation that ripples far beyond the classroom. For recent 1000-hour Yoga Therapy graduate Tara Cutner, the path to healing became a calling rooted in service, resilience, and purpose.

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For years, she had been both a practitioner and a teacher of yoga, experiencing firsthand the profound benefits that yoga brought to her body and life. She had seen how this ancient practice transformed her own well-being, as well as, the lives of her students. Yoga, for her, was more than a series of postures—it was a tool for healing and self-discovery. This deep appreciation for yoga’s ability to foster transformation led her to pursue the next step in her journey: enrolling in the Yoga Therapy Program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA).

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Charles LaPac’s life underwent a remarkable transformation after enrolling in SWIHA’s Integrative Yoga Therapy program. His path began with an interest in Reiki, a spiritual healing technique that opened his eyes to the profound connection between mind, body, and spirit. This initial curiosity eventually guided him to pursue Yoga Teacher Training, where he discovered the powerful practices and philosophies that define yoga. Now, he is on an inspiring journey to becoming a Certified Yoga Therapist, dedicating his time and energy to mastering the art of yoga and teaching others how to harness its benefits for their own healing journeys.

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“Before SWIHA I spent a lot of time in a ‘poor me’ world. From the outside, it looked like I had everything. A wonderful husband, a great paying job, and a beautiful house. In 2021, my grandmother died and it made me look at myself differently. I wasn’t getting any younger… who do I want to be for the rest of my time on earth? I found SWIHA online and had the funds to make it happen. So, I signed up for the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program. I was doing this for me. At the end of my program, I realized that since what I had learned had changed my life, maybe I could help change the lives of others. Taking the YTT-200 was just the tip of the iceberg of my yoga journey. I had heard that there was a 1000-hour Yoga Therapy program, so I went all in! This changed the way I practiced yoga and life.”

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In 2014, I experienced a year of heartache that was followed by the devastating loss of my brother in 2015. I was in desperate need of support and turned to yoga as a source of healing. I had been attending yoga classes and began working with a mentor who introduced me to yoga therapy. During my darkest moments, I was searching for a connection to something greater than myself and embarked on my own Hero's Journey. My mentor was teaching Transformational Yoga Coaching at SWIHA and an instructor at her studio recommended that I sign up. Learning that I had signed up for Transformational Yoga Coaching (TYC), my mentor suggested that I take my 200hr Yoga Teacher Training to support me during this difficult time. In January 2016, I took the leap and enrolled, which marked the beginning of my healing journey.

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