Reine Matthews is a SWIHA graduate both doing great things and writing great things! Her first book, Thriving After Diagnosis: Instead of Merely Surviving, was just published… and she is already working on a second! Hailing from Northern Idaho, Reine received an AOS Degree in Mind Body Transformational Psychology from SWIHA, with concentrations in Holistic Nutrition and Wellness, Life Coaching, and Urban Farming and Conscious Living.
Reine chose to get into the field of holistic wellness because of her personal journey of being diagnosed with (and thriving beyond!) Lyme Disease. According to the CDC, Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector-borne, infectious disease in the United States, with 25,000 new cases being reported every month for an estimated 300,000 new people being affected per year (25% of which are children). This illness is typically transmitted through a bite from an infected deer tick and has been reported in all 50 states and on every continent, excluding Antarctica.
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Holisitc Nutrition,
Mind Body Wellness,
yoga,
Holistic Healing,
Meditation,
Urban Farming,
Lyme Disease,
Mind Body Transformational Psychology,
conscious living
SWIHA graduate Shashirekha Banavar, affectionately called “Shashi” by friends and family, is described by those who know and love her as sophisticated, sassy, shy at first, sensitive, and super committed to whole food cuisine. Shashi lives in India, where for the past 30 years she has served as a lawyer and a consumer activist, written a book entitled Shashi’s Recipes – Authentic South Indian Vegetarian Dishes, and received the President’s Guide Award for top performing Girl Guides (similar to the Girl Scouts in the United States) from the President of India. Shashi is a superstar by many standards, although she will blush hearing it said!
As one of the first students to graduate from the online 750-hour Holistic Nutrition Wellness Practitioner diplomas, Shashi actually flew to Tempe, Arizona, to attend the September 2017 Gifts and Graces event, where she was recognized as being a one of SWIHA’s Great Graduates! She easily gets the award for traveling the furthest to attend graduation on campus!
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Topics:
Vegetarian,
Sound Healing,
Toe Reading,
Holisitc Nutrition,
holistic entrepreneur,
Holistic Healing,
Nutrition Coaching,
Hypnotherapy,
chakra,
Intuitive Guide,
intuitive guidance,
South Indian Cuisine,
hospitality,
chakras,
Nutrition Coach,
Singing Bowl,
intro to gong
Nereyda Varias was a passionate seeker of wellness who wanted to share her gifts with the world and expand her knowledge. Before enrolling in the Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner program, she dreamt of learning the skills, scripture, and wisdom utilized by great sages, mystics, and scholars. She felt that she was meant for greater things and that helping others was her path. Nereyda knew she would be part of something bigger that would help to aid the world. “I knew deep within I was a part of a movement to aid our world and all of its brilliant divine human and non-human beings upon it— to be a catalyst of transcendence and evolution,” she shares.
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Topics:
Sound Healing,
aromatherapy,
Toe Reading,
Floral Essences,
flower essences,
Guided meditation,
Holistic Healing,
Reiki,
Hypnotherapy,
Intuitive Guide,
Restorative Yoga,
Holistic Healer,
integrative healing,
integrative healing arts practitioner,
hero's journey,
spiritual ministry,
crystal therapy,
intuitive guidance
As my husband and I journeyed to Breckenridge, Colorado, for an early birthday getaway, the annual upcoming in-service training that I am scheduled to give for the Licensed Massage Therapists (LMTs) that work in the SWIHA Healing Arts Clinic was very much on my mind. In fact, so much so, little nagging ‘yeah but’ thoughts were floating around in my mind...thoughts like: “Do I really have anything to offer our LMTs after all these years,” “Am I getting too old to teach our amazing practicing therapists anything new,” and “Who do I think I am to be the one serving as the presenter?”
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Massage,
Massage Therapy,
Holistic Healing,
Hypnotherapy,
Spirit guide,
Holistic Healer,
Spirit Releasement,
deep-tissue-massage,
intuitive messages,
trance-massage,
thai foot-massage
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.
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Massage Therapy,
holistic entrepreneur,
entrepreneur,
Holistic Healing
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.
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Topics:
holistic entrepreneur,
Holistic Healing,
spiritual studies,
Mind Body Transformational Psychology,
Holistic Healer
Hannah Roen was in need of significant healing. Over the course of 9 years, she was suffering from two brain tumors, a liver tumor, severe acid reflux, pancreatitis, ovarian and breast cysts, pleurisy, and some other emotional conditions as well.
At the time, Hannah was living in Puerto Rico and suffering with serious health conditions when she met a holistic healer who taught at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona. He spoke to her of the self-healing power of Ancient Chinese Medicine and a specific technique called Tui Na. The term Tui Na (pronounced "twee naw”)—which literally means "pinch and pull”—refers to a wide range of Ancient Chinese Five Element Medicine, therapeutic massage, and body work. Tui Na is not generally used for pleasure and relaxation; rather, it serves as a treatment to address specific patterns of disharmony in the body.
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Topics:
Massage,
Holistic Healing,
Cranial,
Holistic Living,
Holistic Healer
If you’ve ever found yourself suddenly moved to tears in yoga class, you’re not alone. The sensation can be a little alarming if you’re not used to crying at the gym, however, rest assured that it’s a sign of good things happening. Our bodies tend to hold onto a lot of tension that’s both physical and emotional at its root. Just like our shoulders can tighten up when we’re hunched over the keyboard day after day, our hips can tighten up from emotional stress as well. Certain yoga poses unleash the tension and suddenly make you feel something that you haven’t felt in a while.
When you’re holding a yoga pose you’re often attempting to balance as well as stay strong and support your own body weight. (Our egos fight pretty hard to avoid being the person who topples over onto their mat.) These moves are using a variety of muscles at once, require concentrated breath, and also physically stretch us in new ways.
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Topics:
yoga therapy,
healing,
Holistic Healing,
yoga,
Yoga poses,
Reduce Stress,
Emotional Release,
Tempe,
openhearted,
Alternative healing,
Namaste,
Om,
Emotions,
Yoga studio,
Stress Release,
Emotional Healing
In 2015, Gena Hailey and her family were going to the doctor a lot for colds, to the point where they were spending a lot of money on co-pays and prescription drugs. Most of the time, the treatments didn’t even work. She had been doing internet searches on home remedies, and now and then, she would accidentally come across articles that mentioned holistic healing. She admitted that at the time, she wasn’t even sure what holistic meant. She ended up seeing an ad for the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). “I was like (imagine a soft, high-pitched voice), ‘What is this magic they speak of?’ Ha! Within that next week I had researched the school, the programs they offered, and spoke to an Admissions Coach - and I was absolutely ecstatic to enroll in the Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner program with a focus on Urban Farming & Conscious Living, and begin the journey that would eventually teach me that ‘magic’ and end up a #GreatGraduate.”
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Topics:
aromatherapy,
transformational,
Life Coaching,
holistic,
Toe Reading,
flower essences,
Holistic Healing,
Holistic Nutrtion,
Nutrition Coaching,
Mind-body,
Urban Farming
The IMDHA, or International Medical & Dental Hypnosis Association, has a local chapter at SWIHA (Southwest Institute of Healing Arts), where they meet monthly and discuss different hypnosis techniques and ways to expand their profession as hypnotherapists. One evening in 2015, the group was viewing a video, “Free the Mind”. It was discussing meditation, mindfulness, and PTSD. As they watched, we got into a great discussion on how hypnosis could be so beneficial for those struggling with PTSD, and they knew they wanted to do something more for the community. The question of the night became, “How do we get the word out?” Hypnotherapy Program Director, Linda Bennett reflected, “In traditional SWIHA fashion, we asked, ‘Imagine if….???’” And thus, the idea for an event took shape. Members of the chapter worked together to bring about the event last November, and this year they are gearing up to do the same.
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Topics:
holistic,
Massage,
SWIHA,
yoga,
Holistic Healing,
Hypnotherapy,
practitioner,
PTSD,
Veterans Event,
workshop,
therapy,
support,
traumatic,
soldier,
black friday,
family,
veterans day
