SWIHA Blog

As our understanding of mental health continues to evolve, it’s becoming clearer than ever that postpartum struggles with depression, anxiety, and trauma can have a significant impact on entire families, from the new mothers who are wrangling with the challenges of having a baby to their partners’ aiming to adequately support them. Stepping in to serve in this sector is Jillian Holper, a life coach and hypnotherapist with a passion for providing guidance to women throughout some of the hardest parts of their lives. “I knew from the get-go that supporting moms with postpartum anxiety and depression was something I wanted to do and was passionate about,” Jillian explains.

What Jillian didn’t anticipate was having a secondary specialty show up in her practice. “Smoking and weight management clients just kind of fell into my lap,” she recalls. “It was never part of the plan, yet I realized this is something my clients are seeing significant results from and that feels just as good as the shifts I am facilitating with my mamas!”

For Bridgett Zehnder, finding her niche as a life coach came as an extension of the challenges she faced and overcame in her own life. “Like most of us that work in the Healing Arts field, we have developed our message from our mess,” she confides. Bridgett’s “mess” wound up looking like co-dependency, alcoholism, dysfunctional relationships, divorce, and loss— roadblocks which stemmed from childhood trauma and which were keeping her from leading a healthy life.

“Because of the strain this put on me emotionally, I developed debilitating pain through fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue,” she explains. “I did not find any relief from the traditional medical field, yet I fought hard to find a path of healing.” After joining a 12-step program, implementing significant dietary changes, picking up a meditation practice, and engaging with other holistic therapies, like hypnotherapy, Bridgett finally found her hope returning. It was ultimately these triumphs over suffering that would shape her as a life coach and offer a blueprint for her clients facing obstacles in their own careers and lives.

According to Life Coach and meditation teacher Bill Gisclair-Sullivan, authenticity requires practice: “It is a conscious choice that we must make about how we want to live our lives every day. It is a collection of our choices and decisions, and it requires us to show up, be present in the moment, and to be honest with ourselves.”

The truth is that authenticity usually has to be re-learned because so much of our lives have been spent mastering the many masks we think we must wear to be approved of or to fit into what we imagine is expected of us. A quote from Coach Bill’s website captures his life coaching mission, which emphasizes how we can step into our truest self: "Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we truly are."

Bill is so passionate about this work because it mirrors his own life journey. “It took me many, many years to discover my authenticity,” Bill explains. “I spent most of my adult life working in management in the hospitality field. After making some dramatic mistakes and trying to climb the corporate ladder, I lost some important parts of myself along the way.”

Dana Marie Greenwood has officially gone full circle: from her roots as a middle school and high school teacher to her exploration as a student at SWIHA, she is now returning once more to the world of education as a Life Coach!

With 13 years of classroom experience backing her up, Dana intuitively knew that a relaxed state was necessary for her students to effectively absorb new knowledge. Yet, it wasn’t until she trained in a diverse spectrum of specialties at SWIHA—including massage therapy, yoga, aromatherapy, life coaching, mindfulness, guided imagery, and hypnotherapy—that Dana found an appropriate name for the phenomenon she was encountering. “I became consciously aware of the importance of returning to the parasympathetic—or “rest and digest”—state as often as possible,” she reflects. “So many of the body, mind, and spirit’s important functions take place in that state!”

According to Life Coach and Clinical Hypnotherapist Stacia Aashna, one of the best ways to start the New Year is with a detox of body and mind. In fact, she is offering a perfect prescription for wellness in 2018 with Hypnosis, Meditation, Booch at The Kombucha Room in Chicago in mid-January.

For those who don’t know, “booch” is the term for a fermented tea beverage that detoxifies the body and builds the immune system. It is an ideal companion for those brave souls who are ready to detox their mind of old “personal lies”– that inner dialogue of unconscious, reinforcing statements that keeps you from evolving into your best, most confident, happiest self.

Yet, drinking tea is not the only way to “clear” yourself internally in preparation for what 2018 will bring! This graduate from SWIHA’s Life Coaching and Clinical Hypnotherapy program firmly believes that hypnotherapy is one of the oldest proven detox tools available today and an incredible asset for life coaches to use with their clients.

Life coach, Hypnotherapist, and YouTuber Dulce Zambrano would like you to know that you don’t have to give up your sense of self and personal preferences to find success!

As a coach who often finds herself working with clients who are already on the path to achievement—particularly female entrepreneurs and leaders who want more mindfulness and balance in their lives—Dulce has noticed that this is a common fear. “What these successful people are often most afraid of is losing the little personality quirks that make them individuals; they’re afraid they have to become Tibetan monks to find balance, which simply isn’t true,” Dulce says. “You can be successful and still be you! It’s a matter of recognizing that everywhere is a safe space. Just show up and do your thang, boo!”

Jewel Blackfeather always knew she was intuitive, although she didn’t fully acknowledge it until she became a Life Coach. In fact, during the first 20-hour weekend of her Life Coaching program at SWIHA, Jewel felt intuitively called to volunteer as the demo client for a fear-related exercise being led by master instructor Richard Seaman in front of a room of nearly fifty people. While there was a part of her that didn’t want to be put in spotlight, there was also a part of her that knew she was being compelled to step up and face her fears!

A Lion Among Wolves

And face her fears she did! During the demonstration, Richard asked her a series of potent, probing questions–which is one of the most powerful skills a Life Coach learns–that caused her to stop and look at what was stopping her. Once she shared a bit of her story, Richard used yet another incredible coaching tool–Transformational Listening–to weave a metaphoric visualization based on what she had shared:

If you, or someone you know, is a caregiver, it goes without saying that you could probably use more sleep. You are not alone! The statistics are staggering: there are approximately 43.5 million people in the United States who identify as caregivers!  

Approximately 8.5 million of these primary caregivers are single mothers and 2.5 million are single fathers. These numbers don’t include the 1.7 million veterans who have returned home in the last ten years and who are now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or some form of depression—individuals who also need a great deal of support and care.

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!

Way up in Anchorage, Alaska, SWIHA Graduate Kris Hwang comes from a family of entrepreneurs whose business has been running strong for 40 years. Growing up with that background had fostered a strong entrepreneurial spirit in her, as well as a desire to be her own boss and do what she loves on her own terms.

Kris’ work as a bartender had left her feeling emotionally and spiritually drained. As an empath and highly sensitive person working in the service industry, it can be easy to give too much of yourself and take on the energetic and emotional baggage of your customers. Kris found herself seeking balance and looking to grow, and so she began practicing meditation exercises and nurturing a personal yoga practice— her first steps towards beginning a new chapter of her life.