SWIHA Blog

Living mindfully comes with many benefits, and none of them are limited to just adults! Mindfulness has the ability to provide children with simple tools to understand their nervous system, make healthier decisions and regulate their feelings.

By helping children to learn to focus on a single thing, such as a sound or their own breath, they can calm their mind and develop emotional fortitude. Consistent mindfulness practices for children leads to less impulsivity, refined concentration skills, and more awareness of how to respond thoughtfully to tough situations.

With incredible tenacity, Nyla Jones, a graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts’ Yoga & Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner programs, states: “In my mother’s death, she gave me life.”

At the tender age of twenty-four, Nyla stepped in to the role of family matriarch. Cancer had claimed her mother, placing Nyla as caretaker to her youngest siblings—her two-year-old brother and her three-year-old sister who was born with Down syndrome.

Instead of allowing herself to be consumed by anger and self-pity, Nyla felt that her mission was to become a vessel of compassion and help her family thrive—not despite the hardships—rather, inspired by them.

“When you truly believe in and love what you do,” says Cheryl Speen, SWIHA’s talented Reflexology and Toe Reading instructor, “you will excel in your life… through Reflexology and Toe Reading, I found out that my intuition is strong and alive and has helped me guide people to some profound healings.”

Toe Reading is a fascinating healing art using active listening, powerful, soul searching questions and deeply skilled insight to help people create change in in their lives. When you couple this with Reflexology, which is based on the principle that an image of the body is represented on the face, ears, hands and feet, you can truly treat the whole client—mind, body and spirit.

“If you see me walking around,” says Michael Anthony Suszczynski, a graduate of SWIHA’s Mind-Body Wellness program, “I can gladly give you ten miraculous stories.” The key word in that invitation is walking, because a debilitating back injury twenty years ago left Michael unable to do anything except crawl.

In an attempt to repair the damage to his back, Michael underwent a surgery followed by six months of intensive physical therapy – three hours a day, three days a week. Despite the attempts of the doctors, physical therapists and Michael’s own dedication to his health, his body was not responding in the way that they’d anticipated. He had no strength in his left leg and began to lose hope that he’d ever walk normally again. 

Many of us seek to live a more sustainable lifestyle—and yet, how can we achieve that? It can often seem counterintuitive in the current culture of excess.

Our everyday choices have a global effect; on the environment, the climate and other species. However, if we think twice about our actions and make some important adjustments, we can take a stand against mindless consumption and preserve our earth.

Here are just a few small steps you can take today to have an impact on a better tomorrow.

Many people discover the healing arts after being sparked by something deeply personal; Valeria Neiman, a graduate of SWIHA’s Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner program, is a shining example of igniting this passion and turning it into her profession.

Seeking Answers

Sixteen years ago, Valeria found herself in the role of caretaker for her then-partner. He suffered from several different ailments and traditional medicine wasn’t producing many answers. After watching him undergo countless failed treatments, Valeria realized there was something vital that Western Medicine had been ignoring: the mind-body-spirit connection. This revelation motivated her to investigate alternative healing methods.

What do Holistic Nutrition and Life Coaching have in common? According to Janet Lee, the answer is almost everything! “Holistic Nutrition is looking at the whole person,” she explains. “Life Coaching does the same.”

Janet Lee’s unique style of coaching is deeply personal to her. Her own challenges, experience in therapy, and, ultimately, finding her own wellness led her to pursue her passion for healing. Janet’s philosophy is that mental and physical health are profoundly interconnected. From how we interact within our relationships to what we choose to eat, it all affects us in a much bigger sense than we may initially realize. “I firmly believe in the power of a decision, she shares. “One small decision can transform a person’s life. It has in my own life many times!”

Everyone’s heard the phrase, “The stars simply aligned.” For Life Coach and Astrologer Daune Thompson, that phrase is not just a beautiful metaphor— it’s part of her life coaching philosophy! Daune’s favorite tools to use with her clients are intuition and, of course, the stars.

Daune specializes in two very different yet interconnected kinds of coaching—relationship coaching and corporate coaching—both which require strong skills in learning how to connect with others while not losing authenticity. From business mergers to executive growth, from finding a life partner to starting a family, Daune relishes watching her clients achieve their greatest dreams.