The words of the teacher who led the morning yoga practice at the Wanderlust Mindfulness Marathon in Denver, Colorado still ring in my awareness:“What do you need to put down that was not yours to pick up in the first place?
Chelsey Korus is quickly becoming one of yoga's foremost teachers and philosophers. She's been featured in PopSugar, Prevention Magazine, Yoga Journal, Women's Fitness, Mantra Magazine, Fitness Magazine, Shape, and is one of the top teachers on Yogaglo, an online venue for the top yoga teachers in the world to offer video-based asana and philosophy classes.
It’s no surprise that the California-based yoga teacher has been traveling the country as part of the Wanderlust staff. She's been teaching yoga since the age of 15 and has been a lifelong student of various yoga practices, including Anusara, Power Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Acro, as well as martial arts, free form dance, and ballet. The surprise was the way she cued and invited deep inquiry in the middle of the mile-high park setting.
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Mindfulness,
Meditation,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Mindful,
yoga teacher,
yoga classes,
transformational yoga coaching
After twenty-five years of helping people to discover their gifts through life coaching and other holistic practices, I’ve heard an awful lot of stories about how some friends and families of our graduates weren’t exactly thrilled hearing them announce they were becoming a Healing Arts Practitioner of any kind. And yet, most who have made the “leap of faith” say they wouldn’t go back for anything!
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Reiki master,
Massage Therapy,
holistic entrepreneur,
Guided meditation,
Reiki,
Yoga Teacher Training,
guided imagery,
integrative healing,
integrative healing arts practitioner
In 2015, my uncle suddenly passed away from a heart attack. Because I was at his house when he was found, I had the terrible and sad experience of seeing him after death in a state that I wish I could erase from my memory. I dealt with nightmares and trouble sleeping, and so I decided to see a therapist to talk it out, as I could not get the images out of my mind.The therapist had a list of suggestions and tools to help me cope with this trauma. On this list was a familiar word: yoga training.
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Topics:
yoga,
Yoga Teacher Training,
PTSD,
Yoga for PTSD,
Deep Healing
PTSD paralyzes, terrifies, saddens, and dulls the senses. We have long known that our mind and body record everything that happens to us. These highs and lows create Richter-scale size memories in our minds, with our emotional “seismograph” documenting the most crystallizing and paralyzing events of our life. If we were to take a metaphorical scan of the mind, we would clearly see PTSD appearing on the “map” as a series of dark, sharp peaks — indicators of turmoil from which it is very difficult to escape. Those dealing with PTSD get mired in those dark spots.
Grieving through the “Dark Spots”
Recently, after over twenty years of distinguished service to his country and three years of trying to reconcile the battles in his mind through intermittent psychiatric hospital stays, my stepson Todd made the permanent decision to end his life.
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Topics:
Life Coaching,
Yoga Teacher Training,
PTSD,
mind body wellness pracitioner,
Veterans
For some people, the traditional college route is not the road to success. Amanda Petro is one of those very people.
After spending a year at Arizona State University, Amanda wound up feeling completely unfulfilled; she was beginning to lose interest in her path of study and was increasingly aware that she was not resonating with her classmates. In her search for more like-minded friends, she ended up connecting with two soul sisters here in Tempe, Arizona, who were soon graduating from the Yoga Teacher Training Program at Spirit of Yoga. “It was there at their YTT graduation ceremony that I realized I wanted to be apart of this incredible and seemingly magical school. I started off staying at ASU while I began my 200 YTT. Mid-way through, I quickly realized I couldn’t handle the workload of both. ASU was taking me away from diving deeper into my SWIHA education, so I decided to go full time at SWIHA and leave Arizona State University behind. It was the best decision of my life.”
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Topics:
Sound Healing,
aromatherapy,
yoga therapy,
Holistic Nutrition,
yoga,
Nutrition Coaching,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Prenatal yoga,
Yin Yoga,
Yoga for PTSD
When Gila Shire moved to Phoenix in 1997 after serving as a nurse in Germany for 14 years, little did she know that she would eventually end up teaching Prenatal Yoga at SWIHA. Once here, however, she made the bold decision to become a Certified Massage Therapist through SWIHA and build her own private practice.
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Topics:
Certified Yoga Teacher,
Certified Massage Therapist,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Prenatal yoga,
Restorative Yoga,
Yin Yoga
Mathina Ross has always been a healer and philanthropist at heart. Though her background is not necessarily one you would expect from someone who now has a bustling career offering signature massage experiences, throughout her life she has mastered the art of caring for others. In fact, before attending SWIHA and completing our 1000-hour Massage Therapy Program, Mathina cultivated a profoundly rewarding career in cosmetology, in which she chose to specialize working with children who experienced spectrum disorders toward the end. She shares that the work was fulfilling to her soul, yet left her feeling drained. “I loved the work, [however, I] got ‘burned out.’ Given my specialized status, when I chose to move on, my options were very limited. Prior to specializing, I had worked in hair, skin and nail care, and had been massaging much of the body, so the transition to massage seemed an appropriate one.”
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Topics:
aromatherapy,
transformational,
holistic,
wellness,
Massage,
yoga,
Self-care,
healing,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Transformation,
asana,
health,
Spiritual,
Alternative healing,
Namaste,
Yogi,
Om
Over the past 15 years, Melissa Kim Corter, a graduate of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, has extensively studied many facets of intuition, including science, metaphysics, and various energetic practices. As part of her diploma program at SWIHA her completed various specialties – Life Coaching, Hypnotherapy, Yoga Teacher Training, Yoga Nidra and Transformational Yoga Coaching to name just a few.
On her journey she has mentored and worked with shamans, metaphysicians, psychics, and even law enforcement to hone and perfect her own gifts of intuition. Now stepping into her power, Melissa has launched a successful business as an author, psychic medium/coach and shamanic practitioner, weaving the world of spirit into her daily life and taking that gift out into the world to share it with others.
It is through the sharing of these gifts, Melissa has taught others how to drop-in deeply, to connect to that place where their inner spirit speaks to them. To bring forth insight, information and physical and emotional healing to those she touches. While her path has been filled with many obstacles and challenges Melissa has chosen to turn these into opportunities and possibilities. She now uses sensitivity and compassion as a gift instead of seeing it as a burden as she once had.
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Topics:
transformational,
Life Coaching,
SWIHA,
Spiritual Coaching,
Yoga Teacher Training,
yoga nidra,
Hypnotherapy,
Spiritual Teacher,
Metaphysicians
SWIHA has one of the most divserse college communities; one classroom may hold veteran soldiers, nurses, policemen, school teachers, scientists, fitness coaches, or freshly grduated teenagers. The wonderful thing about thaving this kind of eclectic student body, is the diversity of stories of how everyone ended up at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.
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Topics:
holistic,
Massage,
Polarity,
SWIHA,
yoga,
breathe,
energy healing,
Reiki,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Breath,
asana,
releasement
Today we are sharing a breathing technique taught in our Yoga Teacher Training programs! It is commonly used during yoga practice and meditation. It can also be a great way to start your day, recharge midday, and unwind at the end of the day.
It is the Ujjayi Breath or Victorious Breath. Ujjayi (pronounced oo-jai) breath creates a sound that helps synchronize the movements with the breath during a yoga practice. In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali suggests that the breath should be both long and smooth.
Begin by sitting tall and comfortably and you can close the eyes for more focus. Start to take deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Then, start to exhale like you are trying to fog up a mirror. Continue breathing like this. Notice the contraction you are creating in the back of your throat. Half way through your next exhale, begin to close your mouth while still exhaling like you are trying to fog up a mirror.
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Topics:
yoga,
breathe,
Yoga Teacher Training,
Yogic Breathing,
Ujjayi Breath,
Breathing Techniques,
Patanjali,
Yoga Sutras,
Breathwork,
Pranayama,
YTT
