SWIHA Blog

Kelly St. Claire was enjoying her life as a mother of two with a successful career as a hairstylist when she suddenly felt as though something was missing from her life.

“I love beauty. However, my passion also lay in holistic and energetic healing,” Kelly explains, “I didn’t know the term ‘multi-passionate’ at the time. I just thought I was flighty and that in order to get into my holistic health work I’d have to leave my beauty work. I struggled with it for a long time.”

The urge to expand in to healing eventually led Kelly to take many holistic workshops in order to stretch her knowledge base and get inspired. That’s how she found Southwest Institute of Healing Arts!

For over two decades, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts has held the belief that healing takes place within mind, body and spirit. After all, it makes intuitive sense when you consider that we are multifaceted beings with many different energetic components.

We’re thrilled to finally see allopathic medicine and modern neuroscience embrace holistic modalities and confirm what we’ve felt all along: that we must treat the full being for true transformation to occur.  From major corporations employing nutrition advisors and life coaches, to chiropractors partnering with energy workers, we see traditional and modern healing coming together and igniting major change!

In case you’ve never read the bio at the end of these blogs: Hi, my name is Taylor! I serve at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts as a marketing specialist or (as I like to title myself) “Creator of Copy, Bringer of Blogs”. You’ve never seen me write in the first person on the SWIHA blog before, so this is a special feature that warrants the change in voice!

As an ongoing entrepreneurial support piece for our students and graduates, SWIHA’s Success Coach, Sharon Rose, hosts bi-weekly webinars talking all things business. Sharon brings her fabulous energy, her honesty, and her personal experience with her own thriving venture, The Soul Stylist.

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts is unique in countless ways. Spend a few minutes browsing our classes and programs, and you’ll see everything from crystal healing to raw food cooking and even canine massage! You’ll find no other accredited college quite like us.

Understandably, a common question we receive is: What can I do when I graduate?
The only truthful response is: What do you WANT to do?

“It is our Soul’s divine journey into a still point, a quality that is filled with a richness of rhythm and harmony,” is how Jennifer Emperador, a SWIHA admissions coach and holistic practitioner, defines the practice of sound healing.

Jennifer has graduated from SWIHA’s Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, Yoga and Yoga Nidra programs--just to name a few!--though, the modality she most has a passion for is sound healing.

“What’s there not to love?! I was introduced to sound healing back in 2010 and hooked ever since!“ says Jennifer, “All of my instruments emanate energy and I named them based on the energy they hold. For me, they are ‘alive’ and have developed a status of their own.”

Are you feeling ready for a change?  Do you desire to positively influence the lives of others? If lifelong learning, human connection and self-employment are appealing to you...look no further! You’re perfect for a career in massage therapy.

Massage therapists help others relieve stress, relax, and stay healthy by using a wide range of techniques to manipulate the soft muscle tissues in the body. They can help rehabilitate injuries through touch and aid in the wellness of their clients mind, body and spirit. It’s an ancient art that’s seeing a rise in popularity, and for a good reason! Everyone can benefit from a massage therapy session.

Dr. Paul Bernitt, a Board Certified Doctor of Holistic Health and founding member of Trivita Clinic of Integrative Medicine in Scottsdale, has worked in a wide variety of health care entities including long-term care, OB/GYN, children’s hospitals and family medicine since 1998.

“My life was all about how much I could get done,” he says, “raising my family, being active in my church and trying to ‘get ahead in life’.”

In a turn of fate, Dr. Bernitt fell ill. He was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and, at age thirty-six, was already experiencing atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries. The traditional allopathic doctors he spoke with told him that he would have to reduce sugars and carbohydrates from his diet, increase his physical activity and that he would need to take medications to help him manage his condition.

If you’re a part of SWIHA’s student and graduate Conscious Branding group on Facebook, you’ve surely picked up a few hints from this #bosslady during her informative (and fun!) live videos. Sharon Rose graduated from the Advanced Yoga Teacher and Healing Arts Practitioner program, and alongside building her own coaching business as The Soul Stylist, she serves as a Success Coach at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, supporting students and graduates embarking on the journey of entrepreneurship.

Today, Sharon Rose gives you her answers to some of the many questions that budding holistic business owners bring to SWIHA’s Success Center:

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.

For those who have had the pleasure of seeking support from Will Zecco, it will come as no surprise that he has the business savvy to back up his coaching!

Will has served as an entrepreneur and business owner for over 40 years, starting with the creation of his very first business in 1982, which he opened up with a $10,000 personal loan secured with the help of his parents. He was able to pay that loan off within two years, secure a second loan, and continue to expand the business— testament to his larger vision and gift for growth.

Yet, the road to entrepreneurship wasn’t always easy. “It was a learning curve all along the way,” Will reflects. “When I look back on it now, I wish that I had someone who knew about running a business to go to for support. I was not that fortunate and made mistakes along the way.” Will eventually ended up closing the business, and for the longest time, he felt that his venture had been a failure. With the passage of time, however, Will was able to see the whole endeavor as a series of lessons. “Expensive lessons,” he laughs, “Yet, lessons nonetheless!”