SWIHA Blog

The concept of juicing has been around for a few decades! Most recently more people have started to pay close attention to this beneficial method for enhancing health and wellness. Juicing, which can be a form of detoxing the body, can be a healthy and safe way to rid the body of toxins, along with a variety of other physical and mental benefits.

What Causes Toxins?

There are many causes of toxins in the body. Some common causes are alcohol consumption, food additives, prescription drugs and intestinal build-up in our bodies. Other causes of toxins include chemicals and solvents such as certain cleaning products, cosmetics and air fresheners. Pollution in our environment is another cause of toxins, in addition to metals. It’s been said that toxins can even be caused by negative thinking patterns!

Thirty years ago, Melanie Albert stopped eating meat. This wasn’t a decision based on politics or personal beliefs about animals. She simply didn’t like the way her body felt after consuming meat. “My body was feeling full when I ate meat and I felt as though I could not digest it,” Melanie says about her longstanding decision to eliminate meat from her diet. Shortly after eliminating meat, Melanie began to focus on intuitive eating; listening to the cues her body was giving her about food and making decisions about what food to consume.

Little did she know that a few years later, nutrition and intuitive eating would be a daily part of her life and her work. After leaving meat behind, she began to eat organic, “way before it was popular in the media,” she says. Although her decision to go organic baffled some of her friends and family, Melanie enjoyed the results too much to listen to the naysayers. In 1995, Melanie started to educate herself about the true power of nutrition.

It was her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis in 1995 that spurred Melanie to focus her attention on food and nutrition. Her mother was given six months to live by allopathic doctors, so Melanie moved to Florida to care for her.

By Jenna Zizzo, Guest Blogger

It’s no secret that yoga and all things holistic are on the rise in America. Once considered esoteric by some, and often perceived as being practiced only by those who fell into the category of “hippie” or “granola,” recent decades have demonstrated how yoga has catapulted into mainstream society, becoming a popular way for people to stay in shape, relax and connect with their higher selves.

It is widely known that the history of yoga dates back to ancient India. While there isn’t any official written proof as to the exact date that yoga began, there are many accounts online and in books about the birth of yoga, and how it came to America from India. However, what is even less documented is the history of yoga teaching.

It’s been written and recorded that one yogi taught another who then brought those teachings to another individual or group, and the tradition and philosophy was passed down from person to person, group to group. From old school yoga masters such as Patanjali and his yoga sutras and B.K.S. Iyengar’s alignment instruction, to contemporary instructors like Tara Stiles and Sean Corn, the influence of yoga in America is an essential part of today’s culture.

How Great Graduate Kelly T. Smith Created a Successful Holistic Wellness Business

Intuition. We all have it, and some of us might be more in tune with it than others, but it’s there. It’s that gut feeling, that little voice inside our heads, the answers that live within our hearts and souls.

As a natural intuitive and trained Life Coach, it makes sense that Kelly T. Smith created a life coaching business that helps clients look inside to reach their fullest potential. A graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) Associate of Mind-Body Transformational Psychology program online, Kelly combines the many tools she learned in her program into the work she does in her business, Intuitive Life Coaching With Kelly. “I feel my intuitive abilities really came forward because SWIHA was a safe place to honor this side of me,” Kelly says about her journey with SWIHA. “I am a life coach, intuitive and hypnotherapist and I use all these tools together to work with people to reach their fullest potential, discover their spiritual gifts, and move past their limitations to live life to the fullest.”

Kelly says that she found the online program at SWIHA through a series of “synchronistic events.”

By Janet Lee, Guest Blogger

While the holiday season brings happy times and wonderful memories, it can sometimes be challenging when it comes to maintaining a healthy diet. During this busy time of year, most of us have been on the run completing work commitments, eating at the mall while finishing holiday shopping, attending holiday parties with friends while eating plenty of food and drinking a little too much eggnog! It’s quite possible that the only exercise experienced is walking from the couch to the refrigerator, or running from store to store.

If, you are experiencing low energy, headaches, or lack of motivation . . .

or if your pants are fitting a little tighter than a couple months ago . . . it is probably time to begin again with some healthy reminders!

Let’s get back on track and begin some healthy habits in 2015 to help us feel our very best!

Every year, almost half of Americans (45%) make a New Year’s resolution. Of that number, 24% do not succeed in keeping their resolution. What if there was a method that could help us follow through with our New Year’s resolutions and succeed at accomplishing them?

Hypnotherapy is a great tool for clearing away resistance, something that is a common factor when trying to succeed at accomplishing New Year’s resolutions. Linda Bennett, Senior Curriculum Specialist and the Hypnotherapy Program Director for both On Campus and Online Hypnotherapy Programs at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA), provides her students and clients with many tools and guided meditations to help “clear away the clutter.”

However, there are some misconceptions about hypnosis that are not true. Many people think that hypnotherapy is similar to what we see on television or in the movies… the facilitator controlling the subject, trying to put them in a trance by swinging a pendulum in front of their eyes. Although that perception makes for a great movie plot and an entertaining stage show, it’s completely untrue says Linda. When someone is in the state of hypnosis they are still completely in control and will only go along

Warming Ingredients for Winter Meals

Dee McCaffrey, GUEST BLOGGER

As the colder weather of winter approaches, our bodies naturally crave warm and grounding foods. Using thermogenic spices in our foods is a great way to warm our bodies and our taste buds. Thermogenic spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, increase the body’s core temperature and speed up metabolism. Warming spices of the holiday season have many health benefits as well—they increase circulation, support efficient digestion, boost the immune system, regulate our blood sugar levels, help with weight loss, and even ward off cancer and Alzheimers.

Spices also bring the aroma of the holidays into our homes and make recipes taste delicious. Here’s a guide to some of the best warming spices, from cinnamon and nutmeg, to more exotic spices such as star anise and cloves. Discover the healing benefits of these warming spices, and how to use them in winter cooking.

As fairytail-ish as it sounds, Diana Atenco knew one of her life’s callings was tobecome a Toe Reader. She just loved the opportunity to sit with people, listen to the stories of their lives, often pray with them, and always have the opportunity to help them make new choices about how they would step forward powerfully into the world.

Diana completed a series of classes at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) starting in 2007 and became a Registered Toe Reader. From the very first class she realized she had a gift; without ever fully understanding how she knew even more than what the toe tissue revealed, she was aware that Spirit was using her as a messenger to people of all ages. Before long she knew she needed to deepen the way she was serving her clients, so she returned to SWIHA to take the Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching programs.

Around the time Diana began her journey at SWIHA, her then teenage grandson horribly injured himself in a motocross accident. He became seriously dependent on prescription pain mediation, which developed into an addiction to heroin. For years Diana suffered as she watched her beloved grandson slowly fade into the dark depths of drug addiction.

It started as an idea, as many businesses do - a spark of heartfelt inspiration. In December 2010, Krysten Aldridge and Ann Cabano hit the streets of downtown Phoenix to find folks in need of a hug and a cup of soup… what they ended up witnessing was way beyond what they expected.

As the two women walked around Phoenix that day, they were amazed by something that they couldn’t quite put their finger on. It was something they never felt before; it was big, it was beautiful, it was tragic. They began to document what they were witnessing on video. People, mostly homeless, approached them and asked what they were doing, asked if they could be part of the video. Krysten and Ann turned the camera and people quickly began to share their stories. The truth they heard from people shifted their perspective. They learned how and why the people wandering the streets of Phoenix were homeless. They learned about their families, their forgotten dreams, their fears. Most importantly, they learned about how these unique souls experienced love. And they knew they couldn’t just sit back and observe through the lens of a camera.

By Melanie Albert, Guest Blogger

“Eat your vegetables,” is a common phrase that most of us probably heard from our parents growing up. Many people, especially children, believe that vegetables are boring, or that they have no taste. That only “health nuts” eat raw or plain steamed vegetables. This is where “finishing vegetables” comes into Whole Food S.O.U.L. Food cooking techniques. Read on for tips and recipes about how to make veggies fun and delicious for the whole family to enjoy!

Add Culinary Interest to Your Veggies

Finishing steamed vegetables with organic oils, toasted spices, fresh herbs, toasted nuts and seeds, and finishing salts adds delicious taste and culinary interest, with beautiful colors, textures and aromas.

Steam carrots, cauliflower or broccoli in a bamboo steamer and then finish them with different combinations of oils, seeds, salt or spices to create exciting, tasty dishes!