SWIHA Blog

At Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, we dedicate ourselves daily to our mission of inspiring individuals to discover their gifts and graces and support them as they share their talents with the world in a loving and profitable way. It was this idea that resonated with SWIHA graduate, Melissa Richardson:  “I didn't want to work for anyone else,” she says, “I wanted to make my own way and chart my own course. I had my own ideas of how I wanted to participate and give to the world.”

Melissa is a licensed Massage Therapist in Buffalo, New York. She loves what she does and one day realized that, while she was making a difference for her clients, she felt she was only helping them temporarily and in a physical way.

“Life Coaching is a way for others to have someone to be a sounding board, to have someone ask simple questions that trigger a positive plan of action without telling the client what to do and to have them explore outside of their comfort zone,” Reilynn Sarmiento, a Massage Therapy graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts explains, “We guide by allowing them to explore their own horizons and have them set goals for themselves.”

Rudy Frame is a Massage Therapist, Yoga Teacher and currently pursuing the 700-hour Western Herbalism program at SWIHA. He’s been a SWIHA student since 2005, when he took a course on Gua Sha while working in a chiropractor's office.

He tells us: “I took a different route of service for six years in the United States Marine Corps, traveled the world and completed a Bachelor’s degree. However, government work was no longer appealing to me. Like a light bulb it hit me: go back to SWIHA and work on my own healing journey from my short time of intense service in the Corps.”

Victor Terrazas has been a Licensed Massage Therapist for twenty years, and spent much of that career as a program director for a Massage Therapy school. While he enjoyed facilitating the health and healing of others, a few years ago he was called toward change.

“I started noticing that I was feeling extremely stressed,” Victor tells us, “I had very low energy and motivation. I was also feeling extremely irritated most of the time and walking the line between negativity and anger. I started becoming more and more aware of this, and I started thinking that I needed to make a change from my day job as a massage school director. I didn't know what or how to do it. Although I had my clinic operating with a team of therapists, I had many attachments to the ‘director’ title.”

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.

Southwest Institute of Healing Arts is unique in countless ways. Spend a few minutes browsing our classes and programs, and you’ll see everything from crystal healing to raw food cooking and even canine massage! You’ll find no other accredited college quite like us.

Understandably, a common question we receive is: What can I do when I graduate?
The only truthful response is: What do you WANT to do?

“It is our Soul’s divine journey into a still point, a quality that is filled with a richness of rhythm and harmony,” is how Jennifer Emperador, a SWIHA admissions coach and holistic practitioner, defines the practice of sound healing.

Jennifer has graduated from SWIHA’s Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching, Yoga and Yoga Nidra programs--just to name a few!--though, the modality she most has a passion for is sound healing.

“What’s there not to love?! I was introduced to sound healing back in 2010 and hooked ever since!“ says Jennifer, “All of my instruments emanate energy and I named them based on the energy they hold. For me, they are ‘alive’ and have developed a status of their own.”

Take a moment to picture yourself facing the ocean, with your toes in sand and your eyes closed as the wind caresses your skin. Are you feeling light, happy, and cleansed in that moment?

There’s a reason why: The unending movement of the ocean waves and resulting wind cause the physical location of the beach to vibrate at a higher frequency, thus positively affecting our sense of well-being. A mental or physical trip to the ocean is actually beneficial to your health. Pretty fascinating, right?

Yoga Body Psychology is not your average asana practice; it’s science.

“If we know that everything is energy and that by being able to transmit and transmute energy, we can effect change in our external environment,” explains Kate Shipp, the Associate Dean of Yoga Education at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts,  “then we also know that we are capable of doing the same in our internal environment.“

This amazing modality’s transformational tools are rooted in tradition while also integrating the principles of psychology, creating profound change for those with past trauma.

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.