SWIHA Blog

“I would define Life Coaching as seeing an individual with unique qualities and abilities, assisting the human in seeing themselves in the same way,” says Hali Benson, SWIHA graduate and founder of Blossom Services, “This then allows them to live according to their highest Self and find the truth they need to be freed to live authentically. As a life coach, I give them tools and accountability to speak and do as they would like to speak and do.”

Toe Reading, as we know it at SWIHA, is almost 20 years old this year, and in that time approximately 2000 people have been trained in the art of Toe Reading, both in the United States and Japan!

Toe Reading is based on the theory that the body holographically records the stories of our lives which then causes the toes to depict what one’s journey has been like. It has been well documented that everything that happens in your life -- the story and the emotions -- are stored as cell memory; each bump, lump, crease and crevice means something.

Becca Briley is an Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner as well as a Holistic Nutrition Specialist, Transformational Life Coach, Toe Reader / Soul Coach, Yoga Teacher, soon-to-be Ordained Minister, and Reiki Practitioner. She is a life-long student who has taught Life Coaching and Spiritual Traditions online for SWIHA. Becca now teaches "Mission Possible" on-campus, to support students in building their businesses as they step into their purpose and power.

“There is nothing more beautiful to witness than light-workers embracing and fulfilling their life missions,” she tells us.

For Tammy Coin, wellness is not a destination; it’s a magical adventure through a hall of mirrors hidden behind locked doors. Tammy also believes that the key to unlocking those doors and understanding the confusing reflections in that hall lies in developing a conscious awareness of our own life stories.

Tammy's story begins with a history of childhood trauma and abuse and complex PTSD, factors which created a strong sense of separation from other people within her... something which other survivors of trauma can certainly relate to and understand. "We often have feelings of not being enough, being empty, unseen, unheard, invisible and like nobody gets us,” Tammy articulates. “Naturally, I attract clients with similar histories. There is no greater gift than to feel seen and heard... to feel that somebody ‘gets it.’”

Apprehensive! Nervous! Excited! Empowered! This was the range of emotions I experienced as I did my first LIVE Facebook coaching session as a part of SWIHA’s 31 Days of 31 Minutes of Life Coaching. My topic was 5 Ways to Connect with Spirit, and my “ah-ha” was that the ways we connect with Spirit are the exact same ways we prepare to do a LIVE Facebook gig… and the same steps it takes to fully show up in life in a very “alive” way! In retrospect, going LIVE was just a metaphor! Let me explain…

To go L.I.V.E. you must first LEAN IN!

The title of Life Coach is about learning to “lean in” to your life in a very real and vulnerable way. To be a good coach, you must have a real life– one which goes through the full spectrum of emotions. There will be times when you are apprehensive, nervous, excited, and even empowered! As a coach, the more human, vulnerable, and real that you are willing to be, the more you can be of service to others. 

Ever have those times when everything seems to go wrong? Your computer crashes, you quarrel or argue with people in your life over small and nonsensical things, flights are delayed or cancelled, plans change without warning, and even Facebook seems to be against you? Chances are you are smack dab in the middle of a Mercury retrograde!

Our most recent retrograde started on August 12^th–marking the third time Mercury has gone retrograde in 2017—and isn’t scheduled to end until Labor Day! So what exactly happens when Mercury goes retrograde? SWIHA Great Graduate Danielle Warford explains in one of her compelling blog posts on The Wild Feminine:

“It’s a time where the planet Mercury, for a three week period, appears to be moving backwards in the sky. Star-gazers have been watching this for millennia. The effects of a retrograde are universal, it seems, and if you begin to look at patterns of your life up against a calendar of retrogrades, you may find a pattern along with your frustrations.”

“Side effects” of this particular alignment—or misalignment—of the planets usually include glitches and misunderstandings in our communication and relationships that create a sense of unpredictability. In fact, even our electronic devices can have a tendency to go a bit haywire during this time!

Over the past 15 years, Melissa Kim Corter, a graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, has extensively studied many facets of intuition, including science, metaphysics, and various energetic practices. As part of her diploma program at SWIHA her completed various specialties – Life Coaching, Hypnotherapy, Yoga Teacher Training, Yoga Nidra and Transformational Yoga Coaching to name just a few.

On her journey she has mentored and worked with shamans, metaphysicians, psychics, and even law enforcement to hone and perfect her own gifts of intuition. Now stepping into her power, Melissa has launched a successful business as an author, psychic medium/coach and shamanic practitioner, weaving the world of spirit into her daily life and taking that gift out into the world to share it with others.

It is through the sharing of these gifts, Melissa has taught others how to drop-in deeply, to connect to that place where their inner spirit speaks to them. To bring forth insight, information and physical and emotional healing to those she touches. While her path has been filled with many obstacles and challenges Melissa has chosen to turn these into opportunities and possibilities. She now uses sensitivity and compassion as a gift instead of seeing it as a burden as she once had.

Mary Ernsberger truly believes that she was Divinely guided to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). She had been in administrative work for over 25 years and was struggling with health issues. She wanted to do something that would allow her some freedom, as well as give her the ability to serve others. Mary recalls that Massage Therapy was ‘really big’ when she walked through the doors at SWIHA, however, she couldn’t see herself giving people massages all day, especially since her health issues involved weakness in her wrists. “I was already a Reiki practitioner, so when I discovered I could utilize my prior training as part of a new career, I was excited. There is something about the energy at SWIHA; you can feel it the minute you walk in.  I knew this was the place for me, so I enrolled in the AOS degree program in Mind-Body Transformational Psychology.” After earning that diploma, she then re-enrolled and graduated with a second AOS degree in Western Herbalism.