Karen Baker is no stranger to the ins and outs of holistic wellness. Before enrolling in the Associate Degree in Holistic Healthcare at SWIHA, Karen had managed to complete several continuing education classes, a certification in Complex Decongestive Physiotherapy and Lymphatic Drainage Therapy, and a 1000-hour massage therapy degree. Yet, with all this experience and academic prowess under her belt, was she done learning? No way!
Read MoreTopics: Life Coaching, Reiki, Hypnotherapy, massage therapist
Ask Loren Evans what the greatest lesson he has learned in his 22 years at SWIHA, and he’ll tell you this: “The Universe will never present an opportunity that we are not prepared for.” While he may not have envisioned becoming an instructor at SWIHA or a well-traveled massage therapist, it was a journey and an opportunity that he was certainly ready to seize.
Loren was introduced to massage therapy through his former wife, who had suggested that the pair sign up for a community education massage class close to home in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the time, Loren was employed as a software designer for healthcare companies. This demanding career took him far and wide across the United States— and even internationally to places like India, where he helped complete a project involving open system design.
Read MoreTopics: Massage Therapy, Myotherapy, massage therapist, Thai Massage, Fabulous Faculty
When Pam Field moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1999, she was determined to do one thing: bring science to the art of massage. While she already has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and had taught at a massage therapy school in Kansas City, Missouri, for 17 years, she was on the hunt for a new school—one that could help build on her current knowledge base to further refine her technique and teach her new information.
“When I found SWIHA, I was delighted at the quality and diversity of classes that it offered,” she discloses. “The school was forwarding-thinking when it came to health education.” As it would turn out, SWIHA had an equal appreciation for what Pam brought to the massage table, and she was asked to come on board as an instructor. Now, after 33 years of work and study, Pam teaches the Myofascial Energetic Massage program at SWIHA—and she’s still focused more than ever on making the myofascial approach as effective as possible. “I believe I can make my intent more appropriate in the executing of technique,” she says. “Intent causes the energy to flow toward the goal of the work.”
Read MoreTopics: myofascial, Massage Therapy, Myotherapy, Stress, Trauma, massage therapist
Everyone remembers their first love. For Audrey Washington, that love was massage therapy.
In 2007, with eleven years of massage and entrepreneurial experience under her belt, Audrey moved to Phoenix, Arizona, from Detroit, Michigan, to start her own massage business, ALW Massage Therapy. Once in Phoenix, she found that she preferred to hire graduates of SWIHA’s Massage Program to work as Licensed Massage Therapists on her staff. Although she was not yet formally acquainted with the school, she could tell that the curriculum taught there was strong. “They had more knowledge of anatomy, as well as the ability to do energy work and follow their intuition when working with clients,” she says. “I trusted the school and how they trained their LMTs.”
Read MoreTopics: Massage Therapy, spiritual Studies, Meditation, Hypnotherapy, AOS degree, massage therapist, LMT
Kevin Williamson had been working the 9-5 daily grind for ten years. Employed in the credit card department of a financial institution, his life was beginning to feel like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day. “I felt no real personal significance in the work I was doing,” he shares candidly. His job involved sitting at a desk and staring at a computer screen for eight hours a day with minimal security; the very real possibility of lay-offs lurked around every corner.
Kevin was feeling discontented, frustrated, robotic, and unhappy with how he was participating—or not participating—in his own life. Ultimately, this led to a mental and emotional burnout. Looking for options, he sought out hypnotherapy. His hypnotherapist was a graduate of SWIHA and ended up sharing information about the school. Kevin had heard of SWIHA previously and decided to take an opportunity for self-healing and self-discovery by attending a Gifts & Graces event for the first time.
Read MoreTopics: Hypnotherapist, Polarity, yoga, Certified Massage Therapist, Yoga Teacher Training, massage therapist, lomi lomi massage
When you hear SWIHA Instructor Ann Cabano’s story, it’s hard to imagine that the path she has walked has been carved by anything other than destiny.
Read MoreTopics: Reiki master, massage therapist, energy healer
