SWIHA Blog

“Since childhood, I have been quite intuitive,” says Andrea Aizlewood, a SWIHA Online graduate. Andrea always knew that she had unique spiritual skills waiting to be discovered and refined; she could receive emotions from those those around her, recognize synchronicities, and even sense energies. Her gifts were so strong, however, that they initially intimidated her.

“I closed up out of fear,” she explains, “I closed up for almost a decade, all through my early twenties.”

It was only when her one-year-old showed signs of the same intuition Andrea possessed, that a new-found interest in exploring her abilities was sparked:  “I saw my son wave at my long-deceased grandmother [who I felt] standing in the corner of the room. It made me realize that I had to get over my fears so that I could be there for my son to teach him how to protect himself and learn his own gifts.”

That day, she made the decision to step in to her power and began the journey of strengthening her connection to Spirit.

The Path to Purpose

Before becoming a mom, Andrea was pursuing a career was in the hospitality industry as a fine dining server in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Originally from Lansing, Michigan, Andrea views her move to Colorado as her “big break to get out of the Midwest”.

“Colorado was beautiful, and where I lived bumped up to miles of protected wild forest. I spent all my time there on my days off,” reminisces Andrea, “Where I lived brought people from all over the world and from many walks of life! At twenty-one, living in a place like that was so inspiring. There were many lessons I learned out there as well as having unique experiences that that shaped me.”

After three-and-a-half years there, she felt called to return to Michigan to regroup, and moved to Ann Arbor where she found a job serving at a seafood restaurant. She spent that first summer back home having fun with her friends, and that fall she decided that she needed a break from the fast-paced environment and got a job as a baker for one of the biggest catering companies in town.

“Recalling what I had learned from my previous employment as a baker years back,” she says, “I built the bakery from the ground up and was even awarded the title of Head Baker.”

Andrea was ecstatic and felt that she’d finally found her dream job. Life, however, had another plan for her: motherhood!

“Motherhood was a BIG shift from the lifestyle I once knew,” she explains, “Even though it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done, in those first six months [as a stay-at-home mom], I grew quite depressed. Postpartum Depression is a real thing and sometimes you don’t realize you’re in it until you’re deep in it.”

She eventually moved to Lansing, Michigan to be closer to family, where she began taking intuitive development classes and met her current mentor. Through that experience, she found the space to share her story and felt a new-found respect for her gifts. Andrea started doing Intuitive Angel readings with great success and realized that she wanted to build her credentials and further develop her services.

Andrea soon found Southwest Institute of Healing Arts’ online programs, and felt immediately connected to the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner diploma. She chose Life Coaching, Intuitive Guide, and Spiritual Studies as her concentrations.

“Spirit lead me to SWIHA in a serendipitous way and without question I followed Spirit’s lead!” says Andrea.

An Education in Spirit

“Going through [the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner] program helped me to understand and accept my gifts on deeper levels, which has brought me so much healing and confidence,” Andrea reveals, “It felt like each class was the exact topic I needed to learn about and each week’s lesson correlated with what was going on in my personal life. Discovering myself again and learning how to rely on my gifts has taught me how to accept myself.”

When asked about her favorite classes, her answer is an enthusiastic: “All of them!”

“Mysticism and Universal Laws was mind-blowing. All the Intuitive Development and Energetics classes truly helped me accept and develop my gifts. Flower Essences was absolutely fascinating and changed the way I thought about plant medicine and homeopathy. The teachings from the Stress Management, EFT and the Building Resiliency classes are the crux of my practice. The Aroma-Auriculotherapy is what gives all the intuitive ‘stuff’ validity. Even Toe Reading was fun, and I have to admit that I do study people’s feet now!”

What was especially impactful to her were the entrepreneurial classes weaved in to the program.

“I want to recognize the dedication of those instructors,” Andrea says, “Those classes are intense and give a solid backbone to kickstarting your business.”

As an online student, there’s the worry of feeling ‘disconnected’ from the school’s community, however Andrea says that wasn’t the case at all with SWIHA: “Honestly, each instructor was absolutely amazing and their knowledge and feedback was incredible. One instructor that I really clicked with was Jodi Johnson, because she’s so encouraging and inspiring! Another is Melissa Corter. Her feedback is Spirit-lead, guiding, and helpful. These women are deeply rooted in themselves, their path, and to Spirit. I admire and respect that about them.”

Giving Her Gifts

“My life has significantly changed since deciding to be of service in a divinely-lead way,” Andrea reveals.

Andrea now has her own private practice called Owl Wisdom Intuitions. What initially inspired her to start her business was creating a means to practice her gifts for extra income, though she says: “It has turned into something so much more! SWIHA has taught me so many skills to use that not only do I feel more competent and capable in my gifts, I now have different outlets, or services, to flex my intuitive muscle on. I offer Life Coaching, Spiritual Coaching, Aroma-Auriculotherapy, and Reiki.”

She aims to powerfully impact change in her clients by creating a sacred healing space for them to feel safe and be honest with themselves about their true feelings, desires, intentions, and what’s holding them back.

“Auriculotherapy is pretty powerful as it usually reinforces what we have talked about through coaching, and then communicating to the body to let go and let it flow. Giving my clients permission to let go and let it flow empowers them to move forward out of that space they were in. It allows them to heal those wounds their subconscious programming won’t allow them to heal.“

“The base of my practice is mindfulness; being aware that the thoughts you think cause the emotions you feel, identifying the beliefs that influence those thoughts, and understanding that you don’t have to be an active participant in this process. Just observe and let go. The other base of my practice is for the clients to intimately develop their own intuition, which empowers them.”

It’s not just the client that benefits from a session, however. Andrea herself experiences an energetic boost from doing readings!

“Connecting to Spirit feels like being supercharged! It feels so good to be in that space of being connected to Spirit and then coaching a client with Spirit’s lead. Helping others adds another layer to the feeling because it’s so good to be of service and, at the same time, led by Spirit.”

In addition to her private practice, Andrea is also an active member of a women’s entrepreneurial support group, teaching stress-reduction classes at a local yoga studio, and learning martial arts alongside her son!

Andrea says: “The greatest lesson I learned while at SWIHA is that I am enough, I am valuable and I am valued. And even more so, to truly accept my abilities as gifts! I have become empowered through the process of intimately getting to know myself.”

To anyone poised on the edge of a leap of faith, Andrea has this to offer: “Stay dedicated and persevere through. You will feel pride and gratitude for the experience!”