Gratitude Challenge by Bill Gisclair-Sullivan, SWIHA Mind-Body Transformational Psychology Graduate
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 … Read More
Tom Kreienbrink ~ From the Air Force to SWIHA
After retiring from the Air Force and moving back to Arizona, Tom Kreienbrink found the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) through a Facebook friend. Throughout the duration of his Air Force career, Tom was in Graphic Arts and Multimedia, and for the last 10 years he was in leadership and management positions. “I worked in a design position for FEMA in Washington D.C. for a few years after retiring from the Air Force. Bottom line – I was ready to get out of the ‘rat race,’ and when I found SWIHA it was the second career I’d been waiting for.” Tom shared how he’s always had a passion for learning about natural healing methods, nutrition, energy, and spirituality. “When I started studying at SWIHA, I found it was a school that offered practical holistic modalities and techniques that I could take out into the world and help people in … Read More
First-hand experience with the Medicine Wheel Class by Anthony Scarpulla
How do you put into words that which cannot be transcribed? Many things in life become lost in our attempts to capture them, to employ our language in place of direct experience. There is no substitute for experience, which is why I highly recommend you consider having your own first-hand experience, as I have had, with the Medicine Wheel class taught by Heather Principe. As the great Sufi mystic poet Kabir once said, “If you have not lived through something, it is not true.” I entered the Medicine Wheel class with anticipation but no expectations. My girlfriend took this course a year ago, and it was her overflowing love for both the teachings and the teacher that influenced my decision to enroll in the class. Before we entered the classroom at SWIHA, a fellow student was awaiting us at the door, feather in one hand, and sage held in an … Read More
Zoey Greco – a combination of a mermaid, a hippie, and a gypsy
Zoey Greco was wrapping up her studies towards a Bachelor’s degree in sunny, Southern California back in 2012 when she began to feel a bit lost about how she was going to move forward in her life. “I knew I wanted to be a healer, yet I had NO idea how to enter into such a metaphysical field. I pondered how could I tell my family who had poured thousands of dollars into my education that I wanted to be an intuitive channel and energy healer?” All of her friends were applying and receiving acceptance letters to graduate programs or Fulbright scholarships and Zoey was wondering how she could possibly make her dreams a reality. Other careers have more clear paths to success—formal internships, graduate programs, the rat race. Zoey knew that those paths were not for her. As Zoey tells the story, “I confided these concerns to a like-minded … Read More
Alise Holland: Merchant of Hope
Alise Holland, like many of SWIHA’s students, was brought to the school by Spirit. On Labor Day, 2014, she saw a vision of a school for healing and the name, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, came through in her vision. At the time, she had been teaching in a public classroom for eight years, and took a leap of faith and left the classroom in 2011. Alise shared how, even though she had her Doctorate in Education and had a flexible job, she knew that there was something missing and needed to find out what SWIHA had to offer. “It wasn’t until I attended SWIHA to better understand myself and how I show up in the world… That’s when it became simple; my life purpose is to serve others and be a Merchant of Hope.” Although she grew up in poverty, Alise has realized that nothing is truly wasted, and … Read More
Do It Scared
Around SWIHA you hear the word synchronicity used a lot. It seems that either right before people start coming here or after they have arrived they notice a coincidental occurrence of events in their life. There are stories of people daydreaming about a new career and then finding a SWIHA flyer in a parking lot. Also, things like hearing the words synchronicity or aura or manifesting and all of a sudden hearing those words all over the place such as emails, social media and books. Here is another story about synchronicity and SWIHA. Two weeks ago there was a women’s event that involved journaling and sharing. One of the women shared a story about being afraid of the next step in her journey even though she is also excited and knows it is what she wants. Then she said “I am going to do it afraid.” She is not going … Read More
The ‘Reverend Fairy Godmother’ of Fountain Hills Spreads Hope and Support throughout the Community
As fairytail-ish as it sounds, Diana Atenco knew one of her life’s callings was to become 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 … Read More
SPIRITUAL STUDIES – AN ENLIGHTENED VIEW OF LIFE
“If you light a lantern for another it will also brighten your own way.” Although these words were spoken more than 700 years ago by Nichiren Daishonin, a Buddhist monk, the same attitude is reflected within the 14 students who will be ordained in a special ceremony on Dec. 5, 2014 at 6:00 pm at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) in Tempe, Arizona. This will be SWIHA’s biggest Spiritual Studies ordination to date. The ordination will take place during SWIHA’s monthly Gifts and Graces event, held on the first Friday of every month. This event is complimentary and open to the public. Guests are invited to come for the event and stay after to experience complimentary sessions of energy work, spiritual coaching, toe reading and more. The graduates are Sheila Taylor, Carol Valentino, Diana Claybaugh, Keta Baker, Kathryn Beauchamp, Carole Hewitt, Ronald Tobin, Michael McCaffrey, Lisa Pulce, Tammy Gordon, … Read More