SWIHA Blog

From Chef to Health & Wellness Coach, Valerie Hahn Guides Others through Inner Transformations

Posted by Jade Marvin on 9/8/22 4:00 PM

What was your life like before SWIHA? What led you to SWIHA and to your particular program of study? Why are you passionate about this modality?

Before SWIHA, I was a Chef who worked long hours at a fine dining farm-to-table restaurant & was a hairstylist on the side. I love to cook and especially loved embracing the sustainability aspect of sourcing our ingredients and how everything connected full circle. Although I loved cooking, as many people know kitchens can be quite a challenging and sometimes toxic environment to be submerged in. At that point in my life, I was deeply depressed and longed to do something that felt more fulfilling to my soul. For me, this "cycle of depression" triggered an awakening of sorts. I began venturing my journey of "internal" personal development (outside my physical fitness) and sought out schools that spoke to my soul path. After studying myself and creating a boatload of interests, everything on my list pointed to holistic health and wellness. I discovered SWIHA at the beginning of my journey and finally answered the call to enroll 10 years later!

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Holistic Nutrition, holistic entrepreneur, SWIHA, Mindfulness, Intuition, Spirit, Holistic wellness, Arizona, Tempe, community, Holistic Education, conscious community, GRIT, Divine Timing, Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching, Holistic Health and Wellness Coach, Spiritual Wellbeing, Microbiome

How Ashlynn Finley Follows Her Heart’s Calling to Hold Space for Others on Their Healing Journey

Posted by Jade Marvin on 6/9/22 4:00 PM

Your brain understands facts. Your heart understands emotions. Your intuition understands truth. Above all, follow your intuition. It will never fail you.” - RKL

Living up to other people’s expectations is always difficult. It is hard enough to even live up to your own expectations. When we change how we seek validation and choose to pursue it within ourselves compared to outwardly things or beings, we start to live our life for ourselves and nobody else. Once we can grasp this concept of trusting our own intuition, and letting go of outside influences, we truly start to live our life’s true purpose. Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate Ashlynn Finley, went through just that. She was living a life based on what her family wanted for her, until she made the decision to completely change her life, and chose to follow her passions and live the life she always dreamed of.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Intuition, Reflexology, Reiki, energy work, Spirit, Holistic wellness, Oracle Cards, Arizona, Tarot, Tempe, intuitve guide, community, Affirmations, Holding Space, Traditional Reiki, Empathy, Angels and Guides, Business Owner, Heart

The Power of Inner-Knowing: Fran-Kay Moseley Helps Women Connect With Themselves

Posted by Jade Marvin on 4/14/22 4:00 PM

Trust your heart and embrace the journey. You may make a wrong turn, however, your heart will get you back on the right path. Just keep making choices and don’t second guess yourself.” - E’yen A. Gardner

Fran-kay, like many others who came to SWIHA, wanted to find her purpose in life and help others along the way. Fran-Kay came from a humble background. She states, “Both of my parents were uneducated and I was told at a young age that education wasn’t important. That as long as I learned a trade, I would be satisfied. Well, I felt robbed. I self-taught myself, and even though I may not have a college degree, I am very wise and love learning new things…” And that is exactly what Fran-Kay did here at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. Fran-Kay learned to trust her intuition, stop second-guessing herself, and how to fulfill her life dream of helping others.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Life Coaching, Body, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Intuition, Spiritual Coaching, Spirit, Hypnotherapy, Mind, Arizona, Tempe, intuitve guide, Holistic Healer, integrative healing arts practitioner, intuitive guidance, IHAP, Online Programs, Holistic Modalities, Higher Source, Virtual Business

How Yoga Therapy Helps Coco Taylor Spread the Wisdom of Yoga to Others

Posted by Jade Marvin on 4/7/22 4:00 PM

I am completely devoted to sharing the wisdom of yoga with the world for the rest of my life. As soon as I graduate I am going back to India for the first time, with my baby, and we are going to continue to embody the teachings forever. This is a lifelong journey.

After completing 500 hours of yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, India, Coco Taylor discovered SWIHA when she returned home. Coco felt deeply infatuated by the yoga programs offer at SWIHA. Coco seemingly couldn't get them out of her head for the next two years as she relocated to live in New Zealand. While living abroad, Coco found herself thinking about SWIHA every day. “One day, I finally decided to put what I was doing there on pause, and answer my soul calling to study yoga therapy at such a magical school. I left my friends, job, and all my belongings. Booked a flight back to Phoenix, and moved in with my parents so I could begin my journey at SWIHA from the bottom up!

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, yoga therapy, Body, SWIHA, Yoga Teacher Training, Spirit, Mind, yoga, Arizona, asana, Tempe, Yogi, Yoga studio, Manifestation, Samskaras, Holistic Modalities, Divine Timing, Yoga Retreat, Divine, Private Yoga Classes

A Shower of G.R.A.T.I.T.U.D.E

Posted by KC Miller on 11/25/21 4:00 PM

G-IVE GRATITUDE A TRY

Gratitude has always been familiar to me; basically, I’ve been a pretty happy-go-lucky person my whole life. By nature, I’m an optimist! As a longtime student of A Course in Miracles, I consciously choose to be “miracle ready” which means choosing to be in a state of gratitude and readiness as a daily practice. An “attitude of gratitude” was fully reinforced during my travels to India.

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Topics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Kamini Desai, Gratitude, SWIHA, Mindfulness, KC Miller, Yoga Teacher Training, yoga nidra, Spirit, Holistic wellness, yoga, Arizona, India, Holistic Education, Amrit Institute, Thanksgiving, Gratitude Journal, Amrit Yoga, Grateful, Blessings, Blessons, Wisdom

Feel Empowered to Thrive with Graduate Amanda Beatty

Posted by Jade Marvin on 10/14/21 4:00 PM

The final stage of healing is using what happens to you to help other people. That is healing in itself.” - Gloria Steinem 

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Topics: holistic practitioner, Life Coaching, Body, SWIHA, Polarity Therapy, yoga nidra, Spirit, Mind, Holistic wellness, Holistic health, passion, Transformational Pychology, Somatic Psychology, Holistic Modalities, Purpose, Mind-Body Psychology, Integrative Cranial Sacral Unwinding, Shamanic Reiki, Coaching the Hero Within, The Hero's Journey

Conscious Comedy: Egos Are Like Farts

Posted by Stevieanne Petitt on 11/7/16 8:52 AM

Egos. We all have them. In fact, egos have become a subject that more and more new-thought leaders and spiritual teachers are focusing in on – inviting us to separate from, transcend above, and live without. A personal fan of introspective, spiritual work myself, I can appreciate the works of Eckhart Tolle, Debbie Ford, and many others who have helped me observe the ego in me that swings like a pendulum between inferiority and superiority. The ego, as suggested in many works, is perceived as our “identity” – I’ve found it much easier to observe and even adjust when I label it as an “activity”! Though there are numerous ways to define and understand ego, why not add humor to such humbling practices?

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Topics: Mindfulness, Spirit, Conscious, Ego, Farts, Enlightenment, Subconscious, Spirit Work

Helping Others Create Open Minded Lives

Posted by Kerry Burki on 10/14/16 9:50 AM

A desire to learn healing arts, to refine the skills she already had, and to give her some new ones is exactly what brought Connie Gensamer to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). Truly, she has always been on the path to healing work, however in early in 2014, she was introduced to a modality called The Reconnection by Eric Pearl. “I read his books and then had the process done. My feet were reconnected to the earth and my crown chakra reconnected to the cosmos as a way of reclaiming who I was and my life purpose. After the process, I really didn’t know if things had shifted, yet three months later, I was looking for a school to teach me how to help people heal, and I found SWIHA.”

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Topics: Toe Reading, spiritual Studies, entrepreneur, Intuition, Mind-body, Spirit, Hypnotherapy, Transformation, Oracle Cards

My First Saguaro Floral Essence By Kathy Koziol, SWIHA Yoga Therapist Graduate

Posted by Kathy Koziol on 5/6/16 3:17 AM

With the saguaro cacti in bloom, I am reminded of the very first floral essence I created. It was a memorable experience that produced a potent brew! I’d love to share my story with you:

First of all, I am a Cactus Whisperer.

I have had a connection with plants my entire life. It’s a gift that was given to me by my mother. Since I love plants so much, I took the Flower Essence Course at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in July of 2014. I loved the class and bemoaned the fact that I would have to wait almost a year to create a flower essence from my favorite of all cacti, the saguaro, since their blooming season is in the April-May time frame.

Before I continue with my story, you might be wondering what a flower essence is. A lot of people mistakenly believe that flower essences hold the fragrance of flowers, when in fact flower essences actually contain the vibrational energy of the plant. They are taken orally (a few drops in a cup of water) versus a topical application, and they hold no fragrance.

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Topics: Cactus Flower, Therapeutic Effects, Saguaro, Sound Healing, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Dr. Edward Bach, Body, Vibrational Energy, Saguaro Flower, Blog, Gong, Great Graduate, Floral Essences, yoga, flower essences, Reiki, Spirit, Mind

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