SWIHA Blog

At Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), we often say that every student carries a spark—a calling that draws them to healing work not just for others—for themselves too. For recent graduate Isea Natalie Reid, that spark has become a radiant flame. A proud Jamaican mother, healer, entrepreneur, and survivor, Isea’s journey through SWIHA’s Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner program with a concentration in Spiritual Coaching and Earth Ceremonies has been one of profound transformation, both inside and out.

Before stepping into her healing journey, Scherrie Blake found herself navigating a season of loss—romantic breakups, family fractures, and friendship fallouts. “I was desperate for answers,” she recalls. “I needed to understand why I had to experience so much pain, even though I was a good person.” That search for meaning led her to shadow work—and eventually to the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner (IHAP) program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA).

When Desarie Lee first found SWIHA, she wasn’t seeking a certificate—she was seeking spiritual alignment. Already practicing Reiki and deeply connected to the metaphysical world, Desarie had read Journey of Souls and felt called to guide others toward the magic and depth of the spirit realm. After a transformative “life between lives” session with a hypnotherapist who happened to be a SWIHA graduate, Desarie’s path was clear. Spirit said “YES,” and so did she.

I came to spiritual coaching not through a textbook or a plan—rather, through an experience that awakened something deep within me. While working as a massage therapist at a yoga retreat, I found myself surrounded by healing energy. I received Reiki sessions, participated in guided meditations, and experienced powerful hypnotherapy sessions. I didn’t know it at the time, however, something inside me was shifting. I felt myself opening, softening, and connecting more deeply with parts of myself I hadn’t accessed in years.

At some point in life, many of us feel a deep inner calling—a whisper that says, “There’s more for you out there.” For Paulette Brown, a retired police officer with a lifelong passion for helping others, that call came with a desire for a new beginning. She knew she wanted to live a more meaningful life, one aligned with spiritual purpose and healing service. That calling led her straight to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), where she enrolled in the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner (IHAP) program with the dream of becoming a Spiritual Life Coach.

Have you ever felt a quiet nudge from within… an inner knowing that you’re here for something more?

In 2025, more people than ever are answering that nudge. They’re waking up to the truth that fulfillment doesn’t just come from financial success or status. It comes from alignment. From purpose. From spiritual connection.

At the heart of every healer is a calling—a gentle nudge, a sudden synchronicity, or a deep inner knowing that there’s more to life than what we can see with our eyes. For Nicole Santoro, that calling was never a singular, dramatic event. Instead, it was a series of divine nudges—a trail of synchronicities marked by resonant goosebumps, repeating numbers, and perfectly-timed encounters that let her know she was exactly where she was meant to be.

“Before SWIHA, I had been studying psychology and sociology and had been looking at a career in clinical psychology. At the same time, I started going through a spiritual, awakening and Covid all at the same time and realized that I did not want to deliver traditional clinical psychology. I wanted to work more with people, mind, body, and spirit, and help them live fulfilling wonderful lives.”

In my early to mid 30’s I went through what I refer to as my mid-life crisis, I got divorced, struggled with addiction, and let a lot of negative people and negativity in general into my energy and space, in the hopes of finding/being truly loved (out of desperation). I found out my son had Chondroblastoma tumors, I was trying to help my mom who is battling cancer and basically lost myself in the pain stemming from the divorce I got from my best friend, lover, father of my children, my husband of 17 years. He was living a double life where he was struggling with addictions, and having an affair with my supervisor/best friend outside my marriage. It was like mourning the death of someone who was still alive, crazy right? He left not only me; he left our 3 children as well, and never looked back. It was a total shock in every sense. I was sort of left there standing, wondering what just happened like some sort of awkward comedy. It all happened so fast. I could hardly hold myself together let alone for 3 children, yet I had no choice.

“The Universe knows the perfect timing for all those things you want and will find, through the crack of least resistance, the best way to deliver it to you.” - Esther Hicks

Life can be all about timing. For SWIHA Great Graduate, Libby Schaible, this happened to be the case when starting her journey going back to school for SWIHA’s 1000 hr Massage Therapy program as well as being ordained through the Spiritual Coaching program. Libby shares, “I wanted to do the massage therapy program there (SWIHA) for at least 5 years before I actually started. By the time I finally started I absolutely knew I would be walking the right path. Being a longtime yoga practitioner and my love for yoga adjustments brought me to massage. I am passionate about massage and it lights up my soul. I love being able to connect one on one with people individually. And to indeed be of service to them in mind, body, and spirit.”