SWIHA Blog

On June 8^th, 2011, Helen Hurry was diagnosed with Stage-3 breast cancer. It was advanced and aggressive. “I experienced a bi-lateral mastectomy, chemo, radiation, a full hysterectomy, and numerous reconstructive surgeries. All of this spanned over a three-year time period.” After this grueling process, she began to look into holistic modalities and energy work, both of which eventually helped her to heal. “Once my personal battle was coming to an end,” shared Helen, “…I decided that the world needed these modalities. I enrolled at SWIHA and it completely changed my life.”

Amanda Goe’s journey to SWIHA all began as the main health education teacher at Desert Vista High School. “I was asked to brainstorm a course I would be comfortable teaching in addition to Health, and I was immediately drawn to the idea of a yoga class.” The first year it got put into the course catalog, she had three sections of about 45 students each. “I wanted the best education possible to be the best teacher I could be--that's when I found SWIHA and SOY.”

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.

From an early age, Kimberlie Faybik was blessed with the ability to communicate with Spirit in a myriad of forms. She could communicate with an individual’s higher self, their guides, connect with deceased loved ones, and tap into experiences of their past lives. Her journey to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts wasn’t easy, as she battled through Merkel cell carcinoma over seven years ago.

“Multiple surgeries and dozens of radiation treatments later, I was fortunate enough to beat it,” said Kimberlie. “Afterwards, I decided to take a more natural and holistic approach to my health.  I became a Reiki Master, which opened the doors to meet more like-minded people, one of which told me about SWIHA.”

After working in the healthcare field for over twenty years, coupled with her own personal experience as a cancer survivor, Kimberlie knew deep down that there was a better healing environment than the “cold and impersonal” healthcare system that currently exists as the status quo. Regarding the current healthcare system, Kimberlie shared how she felt like “just another patient or just another employee.”

When it comes to discovering Southwest Institute for Healing Arts (SWIHA), Antonieta Hensley has Google to thank! “After I saw all the courses, programs, and classes they offered, I was sold. It sounded like a temple or a mystery school available in the states and I knew it was calling for me before I ever stepped foot on the school grounds.”

Antonieta graduated from the 600-hour Mind Body Wellness Practitioner program. She also went through the Yoga Teaching Training, Transformational Life Coaching, and Hypnotherapy programs. She went on to share how her time at SWIHA dramatically changed her life for the better:

“The laws of attraction, eastern philosophies, energetic body healing, taboo subjects, and spirituality have always fascinated me. But that is only about 10% of what the school has to offer. It surpasses your expectations on both what you can learn and whom you can meet. There is no need to search for a guru in India or Thailand. With SWIHA you can become your OWN guru.”

After retiring from the Air Force and moving back to Arizona, Tom Kreienbrink found the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) through a Facebook friend. Throughout the duration of his Air Force career, Tom was in Graphic Arts and Multimedia, and for the last 10 years he was in leadership and management positions. “I worked in a design position for FEMA in Washington D.C. for a few years after retiring from the Air Force. Bottom line – I was ready to get out of the 'rat race,' and when I found SWIHA it was the second career I’d been waiting for.”

Tom shared how he’s always had a passion for learning about natural healing methods, nutrition, energy, and spirituality. “When I started studying at SWIHA, I found it was a school that offered practical holistic modalities and techniques that I could take out into the world and help people in my community and beyond.”

Tom graduated with his Associates of Occupational Studies Degree in Holistic Health Care – with a concentration in Mind-Body Transformational Psychology. The programs he completed with his degree included the 750-hour massage program, a Certificates of Excellences in Myofascial Energetic Massage, Transformational Reiki, Cranial Unwinding, Reflexology, and Hypnotherapy.

Tom went on to share how he uses all of the combined wisdom from each of his areas of specialization in his sessions. “Of the classes and programs I’ve taken, I love them all. I use them all. Even some of the required classes like Ayurveda, Western Herbalism – Foundations of American Herbal Studies, Life Coaching, and even Public Speaking offer me a lot to draw from when working with clients.”

How do you put into words that which cannot be transcribed? Many things in life become lost in our attempts to capture them, to employ our language in place of direct experience. There is no substitute for experience, which is why I highly recommend you consider having your own first-hand experience, as I have had, with the Medicine Wheel class taught by Heather Principe. As the great Sufi mystic poet Kabir once said, “If you have not lived through something, it is not true.”

I entered the Medicine Wheel class with anticipation but no expectations. My girlfriend took this course a year ago, and it was her overflowing love for both the teachings and the teacher that influenced my decision to enroll in the class.

Before we entered the classroom at SWIHA, a fellow student was awaiting us at the door, feather in one hand, and sage held in an abalone shell, in her other hand. We were smudged one by one, and proceeded to enter the classroom, beckoned by the ancient rhythm of Heather’s Native American drum playing.

Growing up in a small town located just outside of North Little Rock, Arkansas, Susan White joined the Air Force at age of 17 and spent the next 12 ½ years traveling the world, connecting with different cultures, exploring new places, and becoming aware that there is more to life that meets the eye – and that, in the end, it’s all about ‘energy’.

After the birth of her daughter, Susan began to experience a deep calling for something different—almost as if there was an ‘energy’ leading her to search for more. She followed that ‘energy’ or ‘calling’ and decided to start a new journey outside of military life. Almost as if to counter balance the male-dominated-structured life she had lived for over a decade, Susan’s new path led her to do intuitive readings and eventually, using tarot cards.

Along her path, as Susan felt a deep desire to expand her knowledge and skills when she stumbled upon the SWIHA website. The phrase SWIHA often uses to describe itself – ‘the school with great energy’ – called to Susan right away. “I was captivated by the great energy I felt by just reading the website, and the more I read, the more drawn and excited I was,” shared Susan excitedly.

If you were to pinpoint Nancy Santana’s philosophy on life you could use her Pinterest description: “I am an empowerment lifestyle spirit junkie -- loving anything mind-body wellness! I love holistic… intuitive…spiritual! I am the founder of the #chooseLOVE movement and The Lotus Wellness Center. Follow me!”

Nancy Santana was going through some major transitions and shifts in her life when a friend first told her about SWIHA. “I had transformed my body . . . yet something was missing and that was the mind-body-spirit connection,” shared Nancy, who recently completed the Mind-Body Transformational Psychology program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. Her passion for this program developed from deep within her soul. She recalled how she lit up when first saw the list of Spiritual Studies courses that were part of her program:

Before she found SWIHA, Sarah Peters a young woman, working a stressful job in a medical office – She was sick, overweight, and lost.

“I was just starting to expand my health knowledge and learning how to self-heal. As I was searching for photography schools online, I 'accidentally' stumbled upon SWIHA,” shared Sarah. After 'stumbling' onto SWIHA’s website, Sarah enrolled into the Mind/Body Transformational Psychology program, specializing in hypnotherapy, Reiki, Life Coaching and yoga. Sarah became fascinated with almost every subject in her program: “I love the psychology of the mind; I love having deep conversations with people and I have always been sensitive to energies – other people’s energy as well as mine! It was so amazing to find a program that connected everything together for me – mind, body, energy and coaching!”

Sarah is currently transitioning into a Sound/Energy Healer and Yoga Teacher position at Knead Me Wellness in North Phoenix – a move she’s very excited about. She’ll begin taking clients there in March 2016, where she’ll share her wide array of gifts, including Reiki, Hypnotherapy, Coaching, Sound Healing and private yoga instruction.