Lauren Doyle has been life coaching for over a year now; allow me to share her reflection, “Both my own experiences with self-work, as well as finding myself as a mentor and guide to friends and family, has led me to life coaching. I found that throughout my different careers and jobs, I was often sought out for my knowledge and advice. I finally decided that there was a gap and the need that I could fill.” When Lauren coaches her clients, she utilizes the Rewriting the Story worksheet the most. She finds that this tool allows clients to reflect and rewrite, not only past experiences, also to stop the train of automatic negative thoughts (or ANTs) that can so easily take over, freeing clients to move on and write the future they really want.

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.

Like so many other students that end up at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Steven Jaggers also found his way here through a need to find a holistic solution to an afflictive situation. Although he was originally born in Orange County, California, he spent the majority of his childhood in Arizona with parents who struggled with heavy drug addiction. After graduating high school, he entered corporate America, joining a microchip company. “I knew then that I wanted to help people because for me, it was more fulfilling than just turning a profit.” Almost like a consequence, he got laid off and his mother desperately needed help, so he moved in to take care of her. She was having difficulty with prescription drug abuse, and he knew there had to be another option to help treat her: “We needed a different way to deal with her underlying illness, rather than the ‘Western medicine approach’, which is to just mask symptoms. I began to search for holistic ways to treat her and the pills’ side effects which created even more problems. I knew there had to be another path. I really felt like we had been tormented by Western medicine." However, Steven had his own difficulties when he was diagnosed with scoliosis, and at one point, his doctor told him that we was going to need spinal surgery. He felt strong resistance to this treatment, as he did not feel surgery was the best option for him. Well, he was right. Today, his spine is healthy, and with the treatment of massage and soft tissue manipulation, most of which he experienced through his program at SWIHA, he was able to get out of pain and avoid surgery.

Stephen Hubbell says he was drawn to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) due to his curiosity in exploring the healing arts, and he was on a spiritual adventure! He elaborated by saying, “My adventure’s purpose was to find a way to bring my spiritual relationship more fluently into the physical world in an applicable way to help and heal people, as well as myself. I was most interested in the Polarity Therapy program at SWIHA when I first found out what Polarity Therapy was.” He went on to graduate from the 750-hour Massage Therapy program, in which he was certified in Massage Therapy, as well as in Polarity Therapy. “SWIHA has been a huge part of my transformation.”

As far as massage goes, Stephen continues to stay focused on studying and applying for his massage license in the state of California. He plans on combining massage, polarity, and astrology together to form the perfect business trine. In the meantime, he really enjoys giving his friends short massage sessions to help them feel better. He is currently doing astrology readings for both individual and couples sessions.  “I enjoy working with clients on a longer term basis. For example, it’s awesome to work with someone for three months at a time so that I can really help people free up their minds and their lives for more enjoyment, love, pleasure, etc.”  To supplement his energy work, he is currently working at Camp Cedar Glen, which has awesome programs like archery and rock climbing, and there he helps maintain the grounds and campsites and enjoys being immersed in nature!

Bradley Goss first enrolled at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, in the Associates degree program for Western Herbalism and Holistic Nutrition. He was already a Physical Trainer at a gym and a Detoxification Specialist, but he knew he wanted to continue his education. Before finding SWIHA, he was taking classes at Phoenix College where, to his dismay, he found he did not resonate with what the nutritionist teachers were teaching. “They would tell us that having a couple of cokes a day isn’t bad; there is no good fat; white bread is the same as whole wheat bread; and eating sugar won't make you fat. I didn’t want to be at a school, filling my brain full of things that I knew weren’t correct, just to have to relearn them later.”  So Bradley started looking for another school. New York Integrative and SWIHA were his top two. He wanted a campus school with online options, but he really liked that one of his favorite teachers/authors, Dee McCaffrey (The Science of Skinny) worked here. Since he was already in AZ and NY would require a move, he chose to stay local, as he connected with our mission and philosophy. He reflected on his first few months at SWIHA: “I arrived, ‘not SWIHA material’. I believed in the goodness of foods, but not like I do now. I’d hear teachers say, ‘Be aware’ and ‘this food helps with consciousness’.  I was like, ‘What am I missing? I’m not drunk, what is she talking about??’ I wasn’t aware, even though I thought I was.”  The nutrition and herbalism fit together perfectly, as he still believes that diet and herbs is the curative solution to all dis-ease, however, the education took a lot effort. His feedback to new students or those in the herbalism program was, “Stick with it and don’t get discouraged, especially with the herbal medicine. The payoff is so worth it!”

Can you imagine, one day looking back on your life of over seventy-five years, and realizing you have walked a parallel path with extensive history? It is so important for every human being to realize that with life comes the constant ebb and flow of change, and if you are the type to resist it….maybe find a Life Coach and do some work around your resistance, if you’d like to experience more ease! Said in jest, but this week’s graduate has a compelling story of change, dreams, and blessings that created a lifetime of memories and experiences. This is the epitome of “living life”.

Llewellyn D. Howell grew up on a farm in western New York where hard work was the only mode of life he and his family knew. His father always worked a minimum of two jobs, which required him to work days and nights, so sometimes he wouldn’t even see his father. Although Llew developed many life skills as a farm boy, by the time he was seventeen, he was ready to move to something else.

His first dream was fulfilled when he earned two college scholarships, including one from Bakery Confectionery Workers Union of America, one of the few union scholarships given in the country at that time. This allowed him to escape to the University of Michigan! While he was there, he realized his next two goals. One was to teach abroad and the other was to find the small town of Bavaria. He shared a memory of keeping a photograph in the back of a boring German book, and he would often come to that page and hold the photo and think, “Someday, I’m going to go there.” At the beginning of his junior year, he transferred to the State University of New York at Brockport. He developed another dream: “I wanted to be a teacher. I loved being in the classroom, being with children all day, helping to shape their lives. I finally developed some steam in my academic work.”

Georgia Nelson spent over thirty years in the medical industry and remembers, as a little girl, that she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up. While in this field, she noticed she always got pulled back in to dermatology. When her sister was seventeen years old, she was in a horrible head-on collision that split her face open, leaving her face severely scarred. Georgia shared how this trauma affected both of them. “When you’re a teenager, damaging your face can seem like the end of the world.” Though her sister continued to have surgeries and as a team of doctors worked to diminish the scarring, Georgia noticed a transformation in her sibling that inspired her to help others with their skin problems. She has wondered if this was one of the reasons she found herself working in the dermatology departments throughout her career. Georgia became intimate with her own physical struggles, as she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and then later, basil cell carcinoma. This struggle also made her passion for oncology and hematology grow, as she came out a cancer-survivor!

At the age of 50, the pull toward dermatology and skin took over. Georgia decided to take a leap of faith and follow her dream into aesthetics. Her journey began with searching for a beauty school in Arizona. She had four schools lined up to tour, and Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics (SWINA) was the first one on her list. Commuting forty-five minutes from Cave Creek, she showed up at SWINA and remembers this, “I walked into the school and immediately knew my search was over. The staff offered me a facial and that experience was the solidifying factor that showed me I was where I belonged. That was September, and by December, I was enrolled, going to classes, and graduated in June 2016 with a Natural Aesthetics Practitioner diploma!”

The monthly event, Gifts and Graces, is initially what brought Tara Walker-Munroe to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). That evening led her to enroll in the 800-hour Yoga Teacher Training program at Spirit of Yoga (SOY), SWIHA’s extended yoga school and studio. Now that she has graduated, Tara reflected that the first 200 hours of her Yoga Teacher Training were actually her favorite part of the entire program.

“There is such a sense of community that is built. So much love and compassion shared all while learning how to help others find themselves, find stillness, and cultivate peace. It's a beautiful experience. Even if someone is not interested in teaching, the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program is great for self discovery, self growth, self knowledge.”

During her yoga training, Tara found that her favorite teachers were Laura McKinzie, Duane Armitage, Aradhana Kaur, and India Bee. She shared that they all taught with compassion and grace. During her training, she learned the tools needed to succeed and were instilled with the confidence needed to face self-doubt. “I also have to say my fellow classmates inspired me. When you embark on such a journey, the opportunity for learning is all around you.” Tara wanted to add that she also loved her Polarity teachers- Gilad, Tracy, and Dina. In all honesty, she knows there are people she is leaving out so she shared that it's safe to say that she loved all her teachers at SWIHA/SOY.    

Prior to attending the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), Trinity Songha was a certified 200 hour yoga teacher from Seattle, WA.  When she moved to Arizona in August of 2011, she decided that she would further her training in yoga teaching by enrolling in the 800 hour yoga program at SWIHA and she is very grateful that she did.

Trinity went on to graduate from 2 major programs at SWIHA. She completed the Yoga 800 hour program in May of 2012, and several months after graduating, she re-enrolled in the 1000 hour master massage program and completed it in April of 2013.

During her time at SWIHA, Trinity felt that she had many favorite classes. Few of which were Myotherapy, Aromatherapy - 5 Element Acupressure for Emotional Healing and Transformational Life Coaching. She liked Myotherapy because it was one of her favorite modalities to give and receive, and she liked the other two because they were transformative – both personally and professionally. One of her most favorite teachers was Pam. She had her for Anatomy and she made the class both fun and educational. 

Anita Tanjutco was working for UPS’s pre-load shift, and she had 100%-free health benefits. One day she decided to take advantage of her benefits, so she found a chiropractor for routine maintenance. Her massage therapist was a graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). They became friendly and would always chat during their treatments and one day the massage therapist said, “You would love SWIHA! I think you should check it out!” Anita was twenty-three at the time and not exactly sure which direction she was heading in her life and career. Actually, she had toured another Valley massage school a few years before, however it didn’t feel like the right place or the right time. She decided she was open to suggestions, especially since this topic was coming up again for her. A week after this SWIHA chat with her MT, she called the school and set up a time for her to tour of the campus. The moment she arrived on campus, she fell in love, and she knew she was exactly where she needed to be! This felt right: when the timing is right, you just know. So she enrolled in the next available Master Massage Practitioner program.

Each class and teacher had something so unique and special to offer. From start to finish within the massage program, Anita’s interests seemed to evolve. At first she loved Myotherapy, however towards the middle of her studies her passion was energy work, which is working with meridians (energy pathways across the body) and the metaphysical body rather than the physical tissue. Then she found Release Point Therapy and absolutely fell in love. In 2008, these classes were taught by Dr. Henele and deeply impacted Anita’s life and her future success. The series of classes really took students through a step-by-step journey of healing the body and layers, one by one. “In massage school, you give and receive each treatment during class: it’s how you learn the skill. Every single day, we watched our classmates have these breakthroughs, and each of us were witnessing how fascinating and powerful the human body really is. Everyone in the program experienced at least one, huge emotional breakthrough. To have the opportunity to assist my fellow classmates in achieving such magical releases, is why I’d say it was my favorite class. Now that I get to watch the same in my clients-- it is such a blessing.”