As her 50th birthday approached, Sandy Flores knew she wanted to do something special to honor the next stage of her life, now that she and her husband, Bill, had an empty nest. She always dreamed of completing her college degree and thought this would be the perfect time to focus on her and her passions. As she looked at schools and curriculums, nothing seemed to fit her personality, interests, and goals. That is, until late one night, while looking at schools on the internet, she stumbled upon the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). Just reading the College’s name alone seemed to bring a stir of excitement. Each and every class she scrolled through sounded interesting and life-affirming, which was something she desperately longed for during her mid-life crossroads. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she read that the school offered online classes for distance students. She began …
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William Mauzerall’s transformational journey from military service to massage therapist is an inspirational testimony of accepting and leaning into life’s opportunities. William, an honored military veteran, completed three years of services to our country and found himself at a crossroads after completing his military career. Having been fortunate to have the GI Bill assist with funding his educational dreams, William asked for guidance from his brother on the educational direction in which he should travel. William, a strategic thinker with an openness to consider many educational endeavors pursued the Massage Therapy program at SWIHA (Southwest Institute of Healing Art) for a few reasons: He would earn an associate’s degree from an accredited institution, he could enjoy the climate of the Southwest and it was a program that gave him man options to choose from in developing his gifts. William describes a peace and serenity in making his decision to pursue …
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Kristen Burkhardt-Hanson had always been a troubled soul; she spent most of her life addicted to substances, alcohol, and making poor life decisions. She worked equally as long in the spa and salon industry and was over-worked, under-paid, and stressed out. She was longing for a different kind of life that gave her a sense of meaning and purpose. Leif Hanson always felt alone and disconnected from the world. On the outside he appeared to be happy and easy-going, however, on the inside he was miserable and lacked confidence. At times he found it difficult to make friends and maintain a social life. He liked his job as a software engineer but he longed to have purpose and live life in an exciting and meaningful way; he just didn’t know what that looked like yet. After both of their divorces, Leif and Kristen met online. After dating for a few …
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Tamira Burns says she got “The Call” around age seven, in the form of a profound angel encounter that many might label as “crazy”, or the imaginings of a creative, gifted child. “My heart felt like it would explode from the love I felt! The angel opened my path before me and advised me to follow my father, as he was a true child of God,” Tamira says of her angel encounter. Tamira’s father was what she describes as a “secular humanist and a naturalist, who loved the earth and cared for all the creatures upon it with a profound love.” Her father felt that “god” was an ego construct of humanity to control the masses, and that churches were no more than a place to be reprogrammed, which confused Tamira as a child, as she did not understand the very personal relationship her father had with what he called …
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