SWIHA Blog

Come walk with us

Let me tell you a little bit about myself - my name is Aidale, my friends know me as Lee. I am married to my amazing husband called Bear and we both harvest and make some medicines and forage edible wild foods for our family and friends here in the Northwest of CT. After witnessing the healing properties we were gifted from our land, we have created BearLee Essentials to share the magic Mother Earth has gifted us right from our backyard. We feel self-care, wellness, and connecting back to our wilderness souls and Mother Earth is so important especially after experiencing the many changes we have gone through during the Covid-19 pandemic. I feel we found ourselves wondering how we can be more proactive in our self-healing and health for ourselves and our family.

In a world where there is so much uncertainty and stress, it is easy to forget the power we still have in managing our own sense of wellbeing. This is why creating a program that is truly holistic in nature has been incredibly important to us! When we treat a fellow human being as already whole, they can connect with the part them that knows what they need—this is how people create lasting change.

You are standing in line at the grocery store and look over to see a fitness magazine. The front cover dons a woman in the latest workout clothing, smiling, with dew kissed skin, shiny hair, toned muscles and exuding a strong sense of self. You look down to consider your basket of grocery items and realize your selections aren’t going to get you to that place of wellness you are reaching for and this woman smiling at you from the cover of the fitness magazine is not helping.That woman, however, is a model, touched up and made-up and dressed up to give a certain vibe. You are feeling that vibe as you gaze at the picture. It makes you want more for yourself, yet how do you get there and do the recommendations within the pages work? Will they work for you? Are you considering every aspect of health and wellness when you look at this magazine? What we can’t see is what’s on the inside of a person.

Veronica Wright, a graduate of SWIHA’s online Holistic Nutrition Wellness Practitioner program, has long held a passion for teaching.

“My life before SWIHA consisted of teaching my boys at home, managing a field trip based homeschool group, and working part time as a retail manager. Before homeschooling my boys, I taught early childhood education for 10 years,” she shares, “I loved my life before SWIHA, though I always knew I was destined to do more.”

Many of us have the goal of making wellness a priority in 2019...but why not start today?

The Holiday season is busy with travel, shopping and plenty of get-togethers. We're often giving so much of our energy, that we may not even notice when our reserves are low until we're exhausted, foggy-brained and sometimes even sick. By remembering self-care, you can be more present (no pun intended!) for your loved ones and let the Universe know that we're ready and open to receive the good that's in store for the new year.

We created a 12-day challenge based on some of the programs here at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. If you decide to embark on this journey with us, let us know how it's going by using #SWIHAWellnessChallenge on social media! (Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see posts from our commUNITY!)

The brain is such a complicated machine that we’ve barely scratched the surface of its mysteries. In the last five years, however, many researchers have focused heavily on how our minds are affected by things such as nutrition, environmental pollution, screen time and multi-tasking. They’re exploring beyond mental health and now observing brain health—the ways in which the organ is physically responding to our fast-changing lifestyle.

With every new study, science uncovers a facet of the relationship between our body and our body. Optimal brain health will be at the forefront of wellness in the upcoming years, so today we'll look at some ways that holistic healing can help support mind, body and spirit.

Mindfulness is an ability we all possess. Just like a muscle, the more often that we choose to utilize it, the greater the ability grows. At its most basic definition, living mindfully is making the choice to be fully present in each moment. By bringing awareness to what you’re directly experiencing (sounds, scents, sensations) you can reduce ruminative thinking, improve your memory, and find a greater appreciation for both positive and negative experiences.

Meditation is a tool for becoming more mindful. It is an exploration of our internal landscape, where we unleash our natural curiosities and suspend our judgement. Often times, we’re not even aware of how busy our brains are, so by making the time to “check-in” and observe our thoughts, we can learn to better problem-solve and discover the root cause of our daily stressors and discomforts.

What has the power to monopolize your time, relationships and even your thoughts? You’re probably holding it in your hand right now.

The science of how an abundance of technology influences us as human beings is still in its infancy, so we actually know very little about the long-term hazards of a screen-to-screen existence. However, we can inuit that constantly monitoring our email and posting Facebook status updates is making us less productive, more disconnected from our real lives, and less satisfied with ourselves.

Dr. Paul Bernitt, a Board Certified Doctor of Holistic Health and founding member of Trivita Clinic of Integrative Medicine in Scottsdale, has worked in a wide variety of health care entities including long-term care, OB/GYN, children’s hospitals and family medicine since 1998.

“My life was all about how much I could get done,” he says, “raising my family, being active in my church and trying to ‘get ahead in life’.”

In a turn of fate, Dr. Bernitt fell ill. He was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and, at age thirty-six, was already experiencing atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries. The traditional allopathic doctors he spoke with told him that he would have to reduce sugars and carbohydrates from his diet, increase his physical activity and that he would need to take medications to help him manage his condition.