SWIHA Blog

A mudra (Sanskrit for “mark”, “seal” or “gesture”) is a sacred and symbolic gesture found in yogic, Jainist and Buddhist traditions. Hasta mudras, meaning hand gestures, are performed with varying intentions and believed to impact and direct the flow of prana (vital energy) throughout the body.

Early yoga systems were available, accessible and heterogeneous, offering a wide range of philosophies, meditations, and rituals designed to liberate the mind, body, and spirit from suffering. However, over time it became a tool of oppression in India’s caste system under British colonial rule. It was during British rule that the Indian elite were given the power to enforce colonial control, and the upper caste implemented systems that eventually criminalized the practice of yoga altogether.

Yoga mythology is full of stories of love and war, enlightenment and disillusionment, victory and defeat. Like all mythos, the epic tales from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana provide important insights for understanding our cosmic place in the universe, exploring the depth of human experience through a spiritual lens, and what it means to be engaged and connected to the unexplainable.

Yoga means union: The union of oneself and the divine source; the union of mind, body and spirit; the union of your internal Self with the self that manifests in the world. Yoga is not intended to be a passive practice of self-mastery, it’s a system for living that provides us with an ethical framework — the Yamas and Niyamas — for how we should treat ourselves, and how we should treat others.

The first pillar in this framework is Ahimsa (nonviolence or non-harming) which is often used to justify veganism as the standard diet for yogis. Stopping here makes ahimsa a one-dimensional practice focused on reducing violence against some beings (animals), while failing to look at the broader picture of reducing our harmful impact within society.

Editor’s Note: In keeping with SWIHA’s commitment to uplift BIPOC voices in the spiritual community, today’s guest blog is by Kimberlee Morrison, writer, yogi and founder of Love Revolution Yoga. She uses her voice and her yoga to create inclusion, understanding and empowerment. This blog gives insight in to ways that BIPOC folks in spiritual spaces are made to feel uncomfortable when speaking about injustice within their community and the anxieties unique to their experience. Thank you, Kimberlee!

What do we do after experiencing a tragedy? How do we come back from a major setback? Is there hope after living a life of self-destruction and despair? Is it possible to heal and move forward in a positive direction after our deepest hurts? By taking the initiative to make positive changes, to let go, and to say ‘yes’ to transformation and growth, we can connect with our truest self, and spare ourselves even more suffering.

Carolann Soltz, a Spiritual Life Coach, has spent the last fifteen years fundraising, consulting and supporting non-profit organizations. She tells us: “While this is great work and has provided well for me financially, it never felt like soul-filling work; the work that I am called to do.“

In August 2018, Carol took steps towards her yoga certification and, in January 2019, enrolled in the Life Coaching program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. While she didn't necessarily know what she wanted to do with all of this new training, she did know she wanted to take steps in the direction of her soul's longing.

There are many people who hear the words “alternative medicine” or “holistic wellness” and meet it with immediate skepticism. However, as recently as one hundred years ago, what we now classify at “alternative medicines” were the only medicines available.

The scientific advances during the European enlightenment brought us antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, serotonin inhibitors and other drugs, which caused decreased popularity in so-called “natural” treatments. While the advances in medicine are truly revolutionary and the solution to many previously hopeless health problems, it also brought about the belief that science would eventually cure all mental and physical disease. As a result, “natural” treatments were deemed ineffective and old fashioned in the minds of many people.

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.”

From a very young age, Quantanique Williams has desired to be a mentor and teacher to those around her. Initially, this manifested itself as serving in the U.S Air Force as a Fitness Specialist. Quantanique was then called to SWIHA’s Holistic Nutrition program, and soon after completing her program, she found herself also drawn to Life Coaching.

“I took a resiliency course earlier in the year and it spoke a little bit about the coaching concept of helping people arrive at their own answers and staying away from ‘should’, ‘you need to’ or giving advice,” she tells us.