SWIHA Blog

Cherie Lee believes she was receiving divine messages about attending SWIHA. One day she was researching online when she noticed an ad for SWIHA flashing across each page she landed on. Later, when watching television, she saw another ad; she decided to take it as a sign and called admissions.

When she got to the school, she and her admissions coach went over different programs, and she was immediately drawn to the Life Coaching class, so she signed. “I was so happy to be in this class, as it helped me so much. I loved it, and I became ‘addicted’ to the school. I completed the entire course, and I graduated as a Master Life Coach in October 2015. I have been life coaching, friends, family members, students and the public for a little over one year now.”

Durga believes that she was a born healer and has been helping people since childhood, yet she wanted the training and proper tools, so she enrolled in the Life Coaching program at SWIHA. One of the most valuable things she learned during her program was to accept herself as she was. Perhaps the better relationship she formed with herself is why she attracts clients who are working on the present relationships in their lives such as parents, siblings, spouses, and the self.

To other potential students or ones in the program already, she urges you to “listen to your heart and believe in yourself. Everyone is unique with your own style, and there are people out there waiting for you and your style of coaching.” What keeps Durga passionate about coaching is the need for more life coaches. “There is nothing like seeing a smile of relief on your client’s face because they have let go of something that they have been bound to for so long.”

It was “complete serendipity,” says Alexis Holland, that led her into the Life Coaching program at SWIHA. She feels that she is just beginning to kick off her coaching career through her business called Harmonious Holistics. She has been working with a small amount of clients for the past year and a half.

She loves asking her clients ‘high mileage’ questions, or deep questions that get them to find the answers they had no idea they were searching for. “It’s all about the questions you ask… and in order to ask the right question, you must listen to your client first.”

Alexis shared with me that her niche market are women in corporate America who are just beginning to seek a more fulfilling way of living. For example, they don’t quite understand the difference between organic and GMO; they don’t really know how to cook, but they want to learn. They eat out most of the time because they are so busy. Most of them are sick of the party lifestyle that lacks depth and meaningful connection, and they most importantly want to prevent the health problems they witnessed their parents go through or other loved ones in their families. Many are ready to embrace a healthier lifestyle and are excited to lose some weight and engage in a better way of living surrounded by good people. “I have found that the more you define who “he or she” is, the larger your audience becomes.”

Bella Neumann showed up at SWIHA because that was just part of her life journey. From being a big sister/mom to her younger sister at such a young age, all the way to being the person who helped her father into his next plane of consciousness (eternal rest), the techniques she’s learned through SWIHA’s program have assisted her through it all.

She is now 52 years old, and she has grown and developed every age of her life. This is a profound insight she has had, looking back on it all: “I am a daughter, a big sister, a mother, and grandmother (they call me Yaya) and am a friend and confidant to many. I only point that out, because I feel if we do not find ourselves on each side of a situation, there is no room for growth.” She says she has been on all sides of any given situation, and even though she may have found herself completely stuck in one point of view when first approached, through growth and opening her heart to how others may handle the same situation, she has found herself able to not only understand, but welcome, her own change of mind, heart, and soul.

From a young age, Stephanie M. Bjarnson already admired life coaches. A counselor taught her self-hypnosis techniques, which she then used to bring herself out of a severe depression during her youth. Her hometown wasn’t the most accepting of her approach to holistic healing, as she shared with me.

Stephanie feels that this fear is due to the mainstream medical establishment that pushes pills, therapy, and rehab on to people, rather than promoting self-love, meditation, and holistic methods of healing. Stephanie sums up healing and wellness succinctly, saying, “It all starts with the self - that is where we truly evolve.”

Though the fields of life coaching and hypnosis may differ in their approach to healing, these were the two areas that Stephanie desired to learn about the most, dating back to her highly beneficial childhood experiences with them. It comes as no surprise that Stephanie eventually enrolled in the Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner ONLINE program, where she specialized in Clinical Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching.

Like so many other students that end up at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Steven Jaggers also found his way here through a need to find a holistic solution to an afflictive situation. Although he was originally born in Orange County, California, he spent the majority of his childhood in Arizona with parents who struggled with heavy drug addiction. After graduating high school, he entered corporate America, joining a microchip company. “I knew then that I wanted to help people because for me, it was more fulfilling than just turning a profit.” Almost like a consequence, he got laid off and his mother desperately needed help, so he moved in to take care of her. She was having difficulty with prescription drug abuse, and he knew there had to be another option to help treat her: “We needed a different way to deal with her underlying illness, rather than the ‘Western medicine approach’, which is to just mask symptoms. I began to search for holistic ways to treat her and the pills’ side effects which created even more problems. I knew there had to be another path. I really felt like we had been tormented by Western medicine." However, Steven had his own difficulties when he was diagnosed with scoliosis, and at one point, his doctor told him that we was going to need spinal surgery. He felt strong resistance to this treatment, as he did not feel surgery was the best option for him. Well, he was right. Today, his spine is healthy, and with the treatment of massage and soft tissue manipulation, most of which he experienced through his program at SWIHA, he was able to get out of pain and avoid surgery.

Alexis Holland grew up in sunny, humid Florida and has spent years bouncing around the country with her husky, Kiya, gaining integral life experience and wisdom. Sometimes she barters musical entertainment for a place to sleep, like the time she stayed in a Vedic Temple in Sedona, AZ in exchange for playing Kirtan (a Sanskrit word for a musical form a narration). They love  to set up camp, especially in the mountains, with as little as a tapestry, her blanket, food, and instruments. In the midst of her nomadic lifestyle, her love of music from various cultures began to grow, as well. She found herself attending lots of drum and music festivals, from a Sufi ceremony called a Zikr (sacred ceremony of divine rememberance), to Rainbow Gatherings, a drum and dance festival called Paralounge (northern FL), and a handpan retreat called Hangout USA (Asheville, NC). Along the way she learned to play an array of instruments, trombone being the first in grade school. Since then her collection has grown; she plays the handpan, crystal singing bowls, tuning forks, guitar, cajon, drums, and digeridoo. She reflected, “Music was all around me, in many different forms… wherever I went, there it was…and there I was, fully immersed.”

Cherie Lee grew up in Galveston Island, Texas with four siblings, three brothers and a sister. She was raised a Catholic and attended church every Sunday. She always believed in angels, God, Jesus, and Mother Mary, and loved to learn about Catholic traditions, prayers, and songs of worship. However, she was not sure if she really believed in the devil or a hell with fire. As I grew up, I tried to please my parents and do the right thing, although I had my moments of rebellion. “I was a good kid, growing up in a very dysfunctional family with an alcoholic step-dad who abused my eldest brother and me on a regular basis. My entire family was negative in nature, and I became the peacekeeper of the family. I became a person who always tried to help others, yet was full of my own negativity; I suffered from anxiety and depression at times. However I always had faith in God, and this is what pulled me through every terrible incident growing up.”

Worrying about money can be a tremendous stressor in one’s life. Scientific studies have shown that extreme stress can adversely affect our mental health and can decrease the function of our immune system. Because mind and body function together, worrying about money may cause physical and emotional symptoms. You might feel helpless or depressed. Possibly you experience headaches, digestive problems, or frequent infections. You may feel anxious, irritable, and have difficulty sleeping. 

Kara Schaal had been feeling led to go back to school and she knew she wanted to do something holistic. She just wasn’t sure exactly what path to take. A friend recommended checking out the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). After researching different programs and talking to one of the guidance counselors, Kara felt that SWIHA was the best fit for her to begin her journey!