“My life before SWIHA I would say was lived very on edge, being a highly sensitive and empathetic person in the traditional 9-5 did not mesh well for me. I felt punished or pushed away from how much I cared, as I did not have an appropriate outlet for those feelings I had. I now have education in how to protect myself when helping others, and my sole purpose as a massage therapist/energy worker is to CARE!”
Read MoreTopics: Great Graduate, Licensed Massage Therapist, Ayurvedic Massage, Massage Therapy Program, Licensed Esthetician
“I’ve been interested and involved in holistic health since the 80s. I lived overseas for several decades, was a practicing Licensed Massage Therapist, and started my own holistic health clinic before returning to the US. I attended SWIHA so the AZ board would recognize my European qualifications and medical massage experience. I firmly believe in helping others as naturally as possible so they may live pain-free.”
Read MoreTopics: Massage Therapy, Great Graduate, Licensed Massage Therapist, Massage Therapy CEUs, Arizona Massage School
“The Universe knows the perfect timing for all those things you want and will find, through the crack of least resistance, the best way to deliver it to you.” - Esther Hicks
Life can be all about timing. For SWIHA Great Graduate, Libby Schaible, this happened to be the case when starting her journey going back to school for SWIHA’s 1000 hr Massage Therapy program as well as being ordained through the Spiritual Coaching program. Libby shares, “I wanted to do the massage therapy program there (SWIHA) for at least 5 years before I actually started. By the time I finally started I absolutely knew I would be walking the right path. Being a longtime yoga practitioner and my love for yoga adjustments brought me to massage. I am passionate about massage and it lights up my soul. I love being able to connect one on one with people individually. And to indeed be of service to them in mind, body, and spirit.”
Read MoreTopics: Great Graduate, Spiritual Coaching, massage therapist, thai foot-massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Thai Massage, swedish massage, LMT, Deep Tissue, 1000 hr Massage, Gua Sha
Body appreciation. We could all give a little more gratitude to the vessel that carries and houses our spirit. Humans are the children of the Earth and the Universe. Our bodies are made up of the elements and space. Recycled out of the past and renewed, electrical and 60% water. We are literally one with life itself. As within so without. Our bodies allow us to connect and experience the world we live in. They function without our consciousness telling it what to do. They express our feelings and thoughts. We experience luscious pleasures, debilitating pain, and everything in between.
Read MoreTopics: self love, Great Graduate, Whole Foods, Nutrition, integrative healing arts practitioner, Licensed Massage Therapist, IHAP
“Before SWIHA I had the privilege and blessing of being a full-time wife and mom of four amazing children. We owned a mortgage company that my husband ran. My husband of 15 years passed away unexpectedly after a 25+ year struggle with chronic pain which led to opioid addiction. This rocked our world and my children and I lost everything. The depths and darkness of addiction ran deep and his passing uncovered a painful spiral of a brilliant man.” said Renae Valdes-Seago. She continues, “I found myself lost, undereducated, underemployed and urgently needing to figure out how to provide for my family. I didn’t find SWIHA, my angel grandmother led me to this institution for my own healing and to rediscover the gifts I was born with. I felt guided to choose medical massage because of the world I existed in loving a man who hurt constantly and searched tirelessly for respite from pain.”
Read MoreTopics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, spirituality, Massage Therapy, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Holistic wellness, Arizona, Tempe, Licensed Massage Therapist, medical massage, Shamanic Reiki, Arizona Massage School
“I had settled into a comfort zone before SWIHA. Back in 2008, I decided I wanted to become a massage therapist, and I wanted to get out of the Midwest and start my life over in Arizona. I bought a plane ticket and scheduled a tour of SWIHA, then met a guy who wanted me to stay in the Midwest. I took the trip, toured the school, and really liked it, yet I let that guy talk me into staying and going to massage school in St. Louis, closer to home. We divorced in 2018 -- turns out living someone else's dream doesn't lead to much happiness. Over the years I've become passionate about mental health, from healing from the traumatic birth of my son in 2011 to navigating divorce, and seeing how my massage clients could gain so much more healing if they worked on their emotional health as much as they worked on their physical health. I had my eye on life coaching, and what popped up on my first Google search was SWIHA! Things came full circle, and I took it as a sign.”
Read MoreTopics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Life Coaching, Great Graduate, SWIHA, entrepreneur, Holistic Healing, Hypnotherapy, Arizona, coaching, Tempe, mysticism, massage therapist, Holistic Healer, integrative healing arts practitioner, Licensed Massage Therapist, LMT, IHAP, Books, Published Author, Podcast, Universal Laws
“More than ever people need to be touched. Physically and emotionally, the soul needs to be touched through understanding, meeting people where they are at, and holding them in a space where they can come into a place of calm homeostasis and healing. There has never been a better time to seek an education in massage and the healing arts than now because we have been isolated for so long that we now understand how connection and human interaction is such an important part of the human psyche.” - Joel Hamilton, SWIHA Associate Dean of On-Campus Education
Read MoreTopics: Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Massage Therapy, SWIHA, Holistic Healing, massage, Arizona, Licensed Massage Therapist, Our Success Center, Career Statistics, Gainful Employment, Healing Modalities, Arizona Board of Massage Therapists, Arizona Massage School
Healing arts are more popular than ever, and one of the most accessible (and versatile) modalities is Massage Therapy. In addition to being a relaxing spa experience, it is now widely used in medical settings for pain management, stress reduction, and in conjunction with traditional treatments. Sessions can be both preventative and restorative, which means that no one doesn’t need a massage!
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts began as a humble massage school in Arizona. In honor of those roots, we’ll look at three reasons you’ll absolutely love a career in Massage Therapy:
Topics: Massage, Massage School, Massage program, massage therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist, Master Massage Practitioner
Spiritual awakenings don’t come easily. Just ask Stephanie Gangi, who in 2010 found herself facing exactly the kind of trauma that is so often the hallmark of emergence from a metaphysical slumber…
After a three-way car accident left her with a severe heart arrhythmia, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Stephanie was determined to eliminate the source of the emotional and physical chaos within her life. Although she had long been fascinated with the inner workings of the mind and the way that it dictates human behavior—even graduating in 2012 with bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Arizona State University—she felt that an intellectual approach was simply not comprehensive enough to resolve her distress.
Read MoreTopics: myofascial, Massage Therapy, Myotherapy, energy healing, Licensed Massage Therapist, cranial Sacral, intuitive guidance
LaRie Hope has toured with bands, worked in freak shows and haunted houses, and been a body piercer and hairstylist… yet her biggest and boldest career move is happening right now, as she sets up shop in Arizona to offer her services as a Licensed Massage Therapist, energy worker, and self-described “Life Doula.”
While a doula is traditionally a person who is trained to assist a woman during childbirth and to provide support to the family after the baby is born, LaRie has given the profession her own personal twist by providing much needed help to families with or without children. She assists families plan and prepare healthy meals, provides childcare to individuals who need to work or be in class, and offers general emotional and mental encouragement by holding space for her clients. “If you need it, most likely I can help you with it,” LaRie says. “My nickname since high school has always been ‘mom,’ which is accurate because I have always been a mom to everyone when they need support.”
Read MoreTopics: Life Coaching, Massage Therapy, Polarity, Reiki, Certified Massage Therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist, Thai Massage, cranial Sacral, Seated Massage
