“My life before SWIHA was and is a mystical - glorious journey! I am an entrepreneur at heart, with my own business as a holistic hairstylist. I was led to SWIHA during the shutdown in 2020 and found that I had an opportunity to add to my skills as a holistic practitioner. I had an interest in expanding my career into something new and exciting within the wellness space. I have many energetic gifts and wanted to incorporate more of them into what I do for a living. I was interested in the Integrative Healing Arts Program and the Holistic Health & Wellness Coaching program. I felt that the skills I would learn with the holistic coaching and mindfulness facilitation program would be a good fit and the first step in creating my new holistic business. It is my passion to share my knowledge about awakening consciousness and how to live an aligned Heart-Centered life. Through Holistic Coaching and Mindfulness Facilitation, It is my mission to be a guide for those I came to serve.”
Read More
Topics:
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,
holistic entrepreneur,
Great Graduate,
SWIHA,
Holding Space,
Holistic Health and Wellness,
NBHWC,
Holistic Health and Wellness Coach
This time of year, it’s easy to begin to recite unconscious, redundant holiday greetings such as Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, or Happy New Year. While a sincere sentiment might be your intention, could we just stop a minute and acknowledge those who aren’t feeling so merry and bright this season?
Holidays can be an emotional time of year for some, especially those who mark the holidays with anniversaries such as “This is the first holiday without (insert loved one’s name)!” Or, “I cannot believe it’s been so many years that (loved one) hasn’t been here for the holidays.” Remembering and reminiscing are part of the grieving process.
Rather than skirt around the grief or try to act as if it’s not there, consider these thoughtful and compassionate HAPPY options:
Read More
Topics:
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,
SWIHA,
Mindfulness,
Holistic Healing,
KC Miller,
Arizona,
Tempe,
integrative healing arts practitioner,
Holding Space,
Christmas,
Holidays,
IHAP,
winter solstice,
Connection,
Solstice,
Healing Procress,
Healing Process,
Space Holder,
Grief Stages,
Grief
“Your brain understands facts. Your heart understands emotions. Your intuition understands truth. Above all, follow your intuition. It will never fail you.” - RKL
Living up to other people’s expectations is always difficult. It is hard enough to even live up to your own expectations. When we change how we seek validation and choose to pursue it within ourselves compared to outwardly things or beings, we start to live our life for ourselves and nobody else. Once we can grasp this concept of trusting our own intuition, and letting go of outside influences, we truly start to live our life’s true purpose. Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Great Graduate Ashlynn Finley, went through just that. She was living a life based on what her family wanted for her, until she made the decision to completely change her life, and chose to follow her passions and live the life she always dreamed of.
Read More
Topics:
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,
Great Graduate,
SWIHA,
entrepreneur,
Holistic Healing,
Intuition,
Reflexology,
Reiki,
energy work,
Spirit,
Holistic wellness,
Oracle Cards,
Arizona,
Tarot,
Tempe,
intuitve guide,
community,
Affirmations,
Holding Space,
Traditional Reiki,
Empathy,
Angels and Guides,
Business Owner,
Heart
As youngsters, we are often asked, “What do you want to BE when you grow up?” The question being asked is really what do you want to DO for a living?
For Will Zecco, he knew in middle school he wanted to BE a hairstylist. And yet his dad wouldn’t hear of it! He wanted Will to do “college”. So Will attended a community college and became a Fashion Designer, doing costume design for a local theatre group. He was good at what he was doing, including singing and dancing in the local productions, yet he still had a dream of being something else.
A hometown newspaper did an article featuring Will with the headline “Local Boy Becomes Designer.” A state Senator sent Will a letter congratulating him and offering that if there was ever anything he could do for him, to let him know. As Will often says, “We only get what you’re brave enough to ask for!” Will boldly asked the Senator about a grant and got a full ride to go to Cosmetology school.
Read More
Topics:
SWINA,
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,
Aesthetician,
SWIHA,
yoga,
200 Hour Yoga Training,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics,
YTT,
spirit of yoga,
Yogi,
Safe Space,
Holding Space,
Trauma-Aware,
Hairdresser,
Makeup Artist,
Esthetician School,
SOY
“Holding Space for myself means permission to feel what I need to feel, space to just be here, exactly who and how I am, and to find my way forward - gently.” - Unknown
Before coming to SWIHA, Great Graduate of the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program, Mario Jiannino, was swept up in the whirlwind of life. Always go, go, going, and not really breathing through life. Mario explains, “I was really reactive to everything around me. I really thought that what I was reacting to before was so important. I realized that while taking Yoga, I have the ability to slow down and analyze things before I create my reaction.” Rather than experiencing and witnessing things, Mario found himself in a place of reaction. Having known and worked with KC Miller, Founder of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, for several years, she finally approached Mario about the Yoga Program. Mario’s reflection was, “KC is insightful - she saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. Somebody out there believed that I was capable of doing something beyond myself, and she was right. I am passionate about this specific modality because Yoga taught me to breathe. I thought I knew so many things about life, until Yoga. Then, I woke up and witnessed so much beauty that was always with me.”
Read More
Topics:
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,
transformational,
SWIHA,
Mindfulness,
200 Hour Yoga Training,
KC Miller,
Yoga Teacher Training,
yoga,
Arizona,
Breath,
YTT,
spirit of yoga,
Tempe,
Yoga studio,
yoga teacher,
Holding Space,
Holistic Modalities,
breathing,
Personal Development
Season’s blessings, SWIHA commUNITY—
While most people are singing songs and feeling merry and bright, we must be mindful that, for some people, the holidays are rather blue . . . or even gray.
As one who is coming up on the second anniversary of family tragedy (two years ago, our son took his life due to complications of PTSD), I’m especially aware that the holidays can be tough. Even well-intended greetings such as a simple “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” can trigger feelings of grief, angst, or even anger.
Just this last week, I was witness to such an incident. As I pulled up to my regular Starbucks location I noticed a woman having a full-blown meltdown over an innocent greeting given to her by a kindly gentlemen collecting for the Salvation Army. All he said was, “Happy Holidays!”
Read More
Topics:
yoga,
spiritual studies,
Holding Space,
Holy Reiki,
Holidays,
SWIHA Staff
Entrepreneur and Life Coach Sheera Gersh has been in the beauty industry for 20 years. Her business, Addicted to Nails, has a huge clientele of ladies that trust her with their nails and their personal stories, dreams, fears, and problems. Sheera has the privilege of working on someone’s outside while getting a glimpse into what’s going on inside of them. Remembering one such conversation, Sheera recalls, “I had a client whose husband was terminally ill. We talked for a long time during that session about death and mourning and what life would be like for her after he passed away. When we were done, she told me that I have a gift and should go to school to become a life coach. This conversation stayed with me, and I thought about it a lot. After a while, I did some research about classes and that’s how I found SWIHA. Soon after that I made an appointment with an admissions coach, and signed up for classes!”
Read More
Topics:
richard seaman,
Life Coaching,
Psychology,
Holding Space,
nail salon,
sociology
Shortly after SWIHA was founded, a guest massage instructor came to our modest campus to offer training on a technique known as “positional release therapy.” In this type of therapy, the body is positioned in strategic ways so as to release the muscles and tension stored from past injuries, accidents, and traumas. Within the first few hours of the workshop, one of the students had a reaction to the position in which her body had been placed. She began to cry and then shake; finally, her left hand involuntarily contorted into a claw-like cramp. The guest instructor (who had over 20 years of experience) stood by in confusion, looking as if he had never seen an emotional release before. Immediately stepping up to the table, I offered the student a guided visualization, taking her to a “safe place” and instructing her to concentrate on slowing her breath to calm her mind.
As the guest instructor look on incredulously, he commented, “In all my years, I have never had THAT happen on my table!” Luckily, I had the grace to not say what I was thinking, which was: “And you never will… because you don’t know how to ‘hold space’ for others!” Even if I had shared what I was thinking, this instructor probably wouldn’t have understood what I was talking about.
Read More
Topics:
Massage Therapy,
Polarity,
cranial unwinding,
Reiki,
Hypnotherapy,
Trauma,
Emotional Release,
Cranial Massage Therapist,
Vulnerability,
Cranial Therapy,
25 Years,
Anniversary,
Safe Space,
Holding Space,
Soul Contracts
