SWIHA Blog

By definition, a dream is described as:

a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

More often than not, each new day in our modern lives comes with an overwhelming number of responsibilities and duties that have to get done: work, school assignments, childcare, cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments... the list goes on and on!

Unfortunately, our contemporary fixation on being busy leaves very little room for dreaming. Whether we aspire to find a better job, meet the love of our life, be the first in our family to pursue a post-secondary education, or even to open our own business as a holistic entrepreneur, the reasons we all desire success are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 

Many times, however, the stark reality of our current lives keeps us fixated on our fears, causing us to avoid our futures and to stop dreaming. Dreaming requires the intentional devotation of time to a vision of a better life and self; it is, in itself, part of the process of change. 

Kaye Bahr spent 15 years teaching in the Arizona public school system. As an elementary school teacher teaching third to sixth grade, Kaye loved the daily interaction with her students and watching them grow and change throughout the school year. However, like most teachers, Kaye found that there was very little time left for her family or for herself. After experiencing some changes in her career, she began to develop depression and digestive disorders.

When she reached the point that she could no longer stand the situation and her suffering health, she went in search of a counselor. In that search, she found a Mind Body Wellness Practitioner. When she made the call to set up an appointment, Kaye heard the words that she so needed to hear that day: “You will feel so much better when you leave my office.” After her first session, she did feel so much better; the fog began to clear and her physical and emotional self found relief. “When I left her office that day, the experience changed my life,” says Kaye. “It took another few years for me to leave teaching, yet I knew in my soul that I had found my life’s work. I wanted to provide that same healing experience for others.” With this in mind, Kaye sought out SWIHA, enrolling in the Mind Body Wellness Practitioner Diploma program with an emphasis in Clinical Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching. She graduated in November 2016— the start of a whole new life on a path that she felt she was destined to take.

There is a certain strength both required and gained from picking yourself up off the ground and starting anew. Some people are fortunate enough to never have to lose it all; their path has different challenges to face and overcome. Others find themselves facing a life-changing event, requiring them to choose how best to move forward. Rima Desai, a graduate of SWIHA’s Transformational Life Coaching program, has had a lifetime of such changes, spanning the globe, which have shaped and reshaped who she is and given her new and unique talents every step of the way.

After twenty-five years of helping people to discover their gifts through life coaching and other holistic practices, I’ve heard an awful lot of stories about how some friends and families of our graduates weren’t exactly thrilled hearing them announce they were becoming a Healing Arts Practitioner of any kind. And yet, most who have made the “leap of faith” say they wouldn’t go back for anything!

As we return from the Fourth of July holiday, words like “freedom” and “independence” clearly ring true as privileges we enjoy as Americans. However, these two words also have greater significance— they describe what it is to be an independent entrepreneur.

The brave souls who create businesses are called entrepreneurs, and according to Entrepreneur Magazine, they have the "capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture, along with its risks, in order to make a profit".  In my opinion, there are four important words that need to be added to the definition, and they are, “who are brave enough.”

As a longtime entrepreneur and life coaching expert, I choose to define entrepreneurs as  “passionate people who are brave enough to trust themselves to develop, organize and manage a business venture in order to make a profit by serving others as a part of their life purpose!”  

When building a sustainable business as a holistic practitioner--be it through life coaching, massage therapy, or any other modality--what others think of us IS our business, especially when what they say is ABOUT our business. Word of mouth, or viva voce, can make or break a business or a practitioner’s private practice. Viva voce is a Latin phrase that means “the living voice.” With today’s digital media platforms—such as Yelp, Facebook, and Google+—there is sudden room for the world to publish exactly what they think about your business… quickly and often without recourse! Once a “bad” review is registered, it is nearly impossible to reverse the rating that shows up on your business' page.

Naturally, we want to do all we can to create positive word-of-mouth to help grow our private practices and holistic businesses. For guidance on this matter, we can turn to the wisdom in Don Miguel Ruiz’s most famous book, The Four Agreements, which has sold around 5.2 million copies in the U.S and has been translated into 38 languages.

Before attending SWIHA, Deborah Brown was a professional college student in Maryland, a Community Health and Wellness Facilitator, and a Minister. After going through what she refers to as a “Damascus experience,” she felt a calling to seek something bigger— the pursuit of the “missing piece” keeping her from delivering her gifts to the public. 

While Deborah had served as an entrepreneur in various shapes and forms for most of her adult life, the business journey had not always been completely satisfying for her. She had always had SWIHA in her sights, originally in the form of the Natural Aesthetics program at SWINA; however, Spirit had other plans for her and led her to the Mind Body Transformational Psychology Degree Program at SWIHA, where she would learn how to serve as a holistic healer and entrepreneur. “The Mind Body Transformational Psychology Degree called out to my Spirit because it had the components to feed me and fine tune my life's work in Ministry, Health and Wellness, Spirituality, and Entrepreneurship, as well as foster my leadership qualities,” says Deborah. 

Many of you know me as the Copywriter and Editor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, and part of my job is coordinating/writing our blogs which post on Mondays and Fridays. It is my responsibility to find graduates who are using their SWIHA education and holistic gifts out in the world in incredible ways. January was National Life Coaching Month, and we honored a life coach a day by showcasing them in a blog. Within a few weeks of each other, both KC Miller (SWIHA founder) and Richard Seaman (head of the Life Coaching department) mentioned an Elaine Glass. I followed my usual protocol of a “hello-and-congratulations” email stating that she was a #GreatGraduate who we’d love to feature on the SWIHA Blog page, if she’d be willing to fill out the attached questionnaire. She graciously accepted my proposal to work with me and requested to meet in person for an informal interview to go over the questions. At the time I didn’t think anything about it, yet as I reflect back, I remember us both saying we were glad we met in person. I enjoy putting a face with a name, and it allows me to write with a more dynamic and connected tone when I can see the energy and raw emotion of a person as they talk about their process to SWIHA, their educational journey, and the love for their work. I’ll never forget the day I met Elaine Glass.

The position and shape of the toes say a lot about their owner. By observing someone’s toes you will know a great deal about their past and the experiences they have lived through.  Toes reveal how a person copes with their feelings, as well as their thoughts.

Toe Reading is a metaphysical art based on the belief that your body holographically records the story of your life in your feet. An experienced Toe Reader knows toes tell the truth, even when the person themselves may not even be aware of how deeply their life experience has effected them. An over-simplification of this technology would be to say that well-balanced people have beautiful, evenly shaped and spaced toes. The toes of people who have had more challenging lives will appear ‘toe-tied’, depicting the lumps and bumps of the personal and emotional lives they have lived up to this point in time. 

Critics of Toe Reading are of the opinion that bruised and battered toes are simply caused by wearing the wrong shoes, injuries, or disease.  They scoff at the thought that a person’s inner life could create such patterns in toes. There is a very close connection between character, behavior, and attitudes in life, and have you ever considered the personalities and thought processes of the person who chooses and buys certain footware and the effect they can have on the feet?

Sharon Rose originally came to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) for Yoga Teacher Training (YTT), thinking she would only train 200 hours. She quickly realized that it was not enough and joined the 800-hour YTT program, chose Yoga Nidra & Holistic Nutrition as her specialties. While working at a yoga studio during her schooling, she became good friends with one of the instructors. Once, when Sharon was helping her friend work on her resume and Instagram account, her friend turned and looked at her and said, ""You know, you should be a life coach", to which I quickly responded with, ‘What on earth is a life coach?’"

From there, the Universe didn’t hold back. All of the sudden Sharon was in two Mastermind groups on Facebook and being contacted by coaches. It didn’t take long for her to look into SWIHA a bit more and find out that life coaching was an option for her. “I paused my Yoga Nidra training and picked up my coaching certification. I haven’t looked back since. I have been coaching since June 2016 but am excited to say that I have officially just launched my signature programs and brand in November.”