SWIHA Blog

When asked what led Caroline Zeller to SWIHA’s Life Coaching program, she responded, “I started at SWIHA wth Reiki to help myself recover from a stroke.  As attended, I heard about life coaching.  I knew I was meant to be there.   I always wanted to professionally help others, but didn't subscribe to the mainstream counselling model.  The rest was history.  Now, after coaching for a year, it has inspired me to obtain my Wellness Practitioner diploma, then my AOS in Transformational Psychology.”

Every coach has a favorite tool, and like many others she mentioned the Wheel of Balance. She feels that it gives her a clear and concise map into where her client is and where they want/need to go. However, she also loves the practice of “story busting”, which she learned from the “genius”Richard Seaman: “While all clients don't live in their stories, many do tend to get caught up in the past and carry it with them.  This tool is beautiful when it pulls the client out of the middle of their situation, allowing them to look at it in a different, unemotional way.” She has found that she often works with clients suffering from PTSD, ADHD, divorce, and grief recovery, stress management, and those trying to move past a trauma.

Gabriela Milan was always fascinated with psychology and the human mind, yet she knew that her passion didn’t lie in simply studying conventional psychology. She suffered through twelve years of depression and was suicidal. She knew that she had to make a shift in her life. “I hired a life coach and discovered the amazing benefits of holistic healing through coaching. I looked for a school with this type of program, yet none of them felt right until I found SWIHA - I just knew I was home!”

Reine Matthews was diagnosed with Lyme disease four years ago and decided to treat it naturally. Having felt and seen firsthand how taking the natural holistic route really worked and helped inspired her to share it with others so they, too, can find health and wellness inside and out. “I researched holistic schools online and found Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) and it just felt like a perfect fit for what I wanted to do and learn.” She went on to study Mind- Body Transformational Psychology specializing in Holistic Nutrition, Urban Farming, and Life Coaching.

Mary Ernsberger truly believes that she was Divinely guided to Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). She had been in administrative work for over 25 years and was struggling with health issues. She wanted to do something that would allow her some freedom, as well as give her the ability to serve others. Mary recalls that Massage Therapy was ‘really big’ when she walked through the doors at SWIHA, however, she couldn’t see herself giving people massages all day, especially since her health issues involved weakness in her wrists. “I was already a Reiki practitioner, so when I discovered I could utilize my prior training as part of a new career, I was excited. There is something about the energy at SWIHA; you can feel it the minute you walk in.  I knew this was the place for me, so I enrolled in the AOS degree program in Mind-Body Transformational Psychology.” After earning that diploma, she then re-enrolled and graduated with a second AOS degree in Western Herbalism.

A sobering thought -- what if, at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential? 

Some of the most pressing matters of the human experience revolve around happiness, achievement, and growth. We are always striving for something, whether it is financial freedom, physical fitness, education, a happier marriage, or overcoming personal struggles. As human beings, we have an incredible resource in living a full, harmonious life: the ability to reflect, reason, and re-learn. Our consciousness aims to teach us to re-evaluate ourselves so we can maximize our potential, be the person we are meant to be, and live passionately in confidence and self-love that is given to our family and friends as a result. But what happens when, throughout the muddle of financial and personal crisis, we become shrouded with guilt, fear, confusion, and inaction? More importantly, how can we rise again after we fall into moments of despair, of unknowing, and indecisiveness so that we can live a truly incredible life?

In 2010, Gisele Marasca-Vargas had to close her graphic design and publishing company and file for bankruptcy (mostly due to the 2008 economic crisis). She lost her home in the process and had to practically start from scratch. She got a temporary job at the U.S. Census Bureau and went through a phase when she was feeling lost and confused about her next steps. At a certain point, she realized that she needed to reinvent herself.

During her years as a graphic designer and publisher, she had worked on the side as an “energy healer”. She felt that the challenges she had gone through were a sign from the Universe that it was time to change the course of her life -- to find her true path. Gisele decided that her “on the side” work was going to become her main career and life path.

“That’s when I started researching schools from all over the country for a degree in energy healing and other holistic practices. I was attracted by the AOS degree in Holistic Health Care (Concentration in Mind-Body Transformational Psychology) that Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) offered. I was also very intrigued by the fact that it’s very rich curriculum included Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching. The facts that SWIHA offers online programs and is nationally accredited by ACCET and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education sealed the deal,” shared Gisele.

When we talk about gratitude, we are talking about the act of truly being thankful. Thankful for the blessings we have in life -- the simple pleasures, the gifts of nature, health, happiness, family, friends, etc.

Gratitude shifts our focus from what we want to what we have.

It allows us to look at the ready abundance of all that is great in our lives. When we are truly grateful there is a profound change in our attitude towards life. Truly giving thanks makes us happier, healthier, and more resilient. It makes our relationships stronger and improves our overall health by reducing stress in our lives.

We all sometimes take for granted, the little things in our lives. The things someone else would and have given their lives for: freedom, food, a place to live, an education, a bed to sleep in, clothes on our backs, etc. What about simple things others don't have like sight, touch, smell, and hearing? I know most of us just take those things for granted. Just for a second, imagine your life without them. Think how your life would change and then you will truly be thankful.

Before she found SWIHA, Sarah Peters a young woman, working a stressful job in a medical office – She was sick, overweight, and lost.

“I was just starting to expand my health knowledge and learning how to self-heal. As I was searching for photography schools online, I 'accidentally' stumbled upon SWIHA,” shared Sarah. After 'stumbling' onto SWIHA’s website, Sarah enrolled into the Mind/Body Transformational Psychology program, specializing in hypnotherapy, Reiki, Life Coaching and yoga. Sarah became fascinated with almost every subject in her program: “I love the psychology of the mind; I love having deep conversations with people and I have always been sensitive to energies – other people’s energy as well as mine! It was so amazing to find a program that connected everything together for me – mind, body, energy and coaching!”

Sarah is currently transitioning into a Sound/Energy Healer and Yoga Teacher position at Knead Me Wellness in North Phoenix – a move she’s very excited about. She’ll begin taking clients there in March 2016, where she’ll share her wide array of gifts, including Reiki, Hypnotherapy, Coaching, Sound Healing and private yoga instruction.