I am blessed to have amazing teachers in this lifetime – from India, from South America, from the reservations of our own Turtle Island.
My favorite teachers are the everyday people who teach just by being who they are.
I think of Ronnie, our Navaho guide for our Wilderness Fasts in Canyon de Chelly. Ronnie…
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Honoring the Spectrum of SelfÂ
On May 20, 2016 the Wild Heart Gallery hosted the opening night of "Honoring the Spectrum of Self," an exhibition where Southwestern College staff, faculty, and students were invited to investigate the sacred pieces that have shaped them as an individual or within the collective. The show featured a variety of…
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Santa Fe has over 300 restaurants to choose from, and chances are whatever your tummy craves, or whatever diet you are on while studying here, Santa Fe has something special for you to eat! I can’t go over every restaurant or type of food offered in town, but I can give you the list of…
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Technology, particularly device and computer apps, is a wiz-bang fabulous time saver to help you get your grad school life sorted and into maintenance mode. Plus, the entire campus is wired, which means you have access to your SWC email, and the world wide web, from any device while at school.
Being an über organized…
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 My heart has been heavy this past week as yet another African American man was brutally murdered by a white police officer. The brutality has once again sparked outrage, grief, shock and demand for change. The persistent legacy of institutionalized racism, combined with the lack of national leadership condemning such overtly racist acts, leaves…
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By Deb Schroder
I’ve come to really value small moments of joy. My life isn’t lacking happiness but on many days it gets crowded out by stress. One night after work as I dragged myself through the grocery store I found myself staring at the usual row of healthy cereals that do seem to be…
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Why Putting Things In Boxes Doesn’t Make You a Wimp                    Â
by Laura Bailey, Student at Southwestern College
There’s nowhere in the world quite like Southwestern College; that’s just scientific fact. The students who attend Southwestern are striving for authenticity and conscious transformation, and the faculty and staff of this institution are striving even harder to…
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Life is fragile
How do you continue functioning on a day like today?
How do keep studying for your matriculation exam when thoughts of terrified people keep flashing in your mind?
How do you even move, let alone do the dishes?
- You just do.
Our society does not allow for the proper amount of…
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Khira Korpi has been a successful business woman for the past 22 years, creating and operating MAYA, a Santa Fe retail store offering home décor, gifts, clothes and jewelry. She now consults with her team of buyers and managers. Prior to that, Khira supervised 60 employees of Jackalope Pottery. Before that she was a Head Instructor…
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This list is meant to give you an idea of the range of housing possibilities in Santa Fe. Please check each website for more information on rent, lease and deposit requirements, or call each office, as these details are subject to change.
Anasazi Village Apartments
6921 Airport Road, (505)474-7205
Located around the corner from…
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Helping comes in many ways here at Tierra Nueva, Southwestern College's Counseling Center, magic comes in many ways too. We see so many people in so many different situations looking for help, support, caring and love. In addition to our human clients, we were able to help two little beings that were in desperate need,…
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When we stop trying to control ourselves and others, what happens? Perhaps that depends on the extent to which we're resting in love. When we're resting in love, the distinction between ourselves and others evaporates. We start getting attentive to all needs that arise—both for ourselves and others.
When we stop trying to control, we…
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Why do I rush? Often, it's because I'm trying to finish up something tedious I've been doing (so I can get to do something I actually want to be doing!) I want to get through the boring stuff so I can move on to the good stuff. The problem is, the good stuff never really…
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Counseling student at Southwestern College, explores his own gender, and which gender language best suits him. …
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(This piece is based on a journal entry of mine from January, 2009.)
The last couple weeks have been very challenging for me. I've been feeling anxious, off-center, low on energy, and afraid. Lots of things have changed in my life all at once.
Watching Everything Fall Apart
The nonprofit that I've been leading for…
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At Southwestern College, in the first year of classes, the instructors and the curriculum invite us to look deeply at ourselves. We are invited to become more aware of both inner sources of strength and unconscious patterns that may not be serving us. I'm very grateful to have had this opportunity for self-inquiry. I'm sure…
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Several times in the past, I've gotten excited about the latest spiritual practice I'm doing, and I've lost my sense of discernment about it. I start thinking "It's the best thing ever—everyone should be doing it!" I become a true believer, thinking it's the right thing for everyone; the world would just be a better…
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When I'm angry (that is, "triggered"), I'm often tempted to gain relief from my triggered state by protecting myself in some way—usually, by setting a boundary. The problem with this is that setting a boundary tends to be a unilateral decision that's unlikely to meet the other person's needs for care, consideration, connection, and inclusion—especially…
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I had a life-changing moment in my early 30s. I'd just moved to a new city, I was lonely, and I was looking for people to hang out with. One Sunday morning, I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of a church I'd recently started attending, an hour after the church service…
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Dr. Nolan answers the question "How do I become a professional counselor?"…
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I value generosity on several levels:
On the physical or material level, generosity could take the form of giving money, food, shelter, etc.
On the emotional or heart level, generosity is about giving others my attention, love and compassion.
At the level of intellect, am I willing to share my ideas and perspectives? And…
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I view my meditation practice as a process of surrendering to my "true self." (My true self is the same as your true self.)
Surrendering to my true self is related to the practice of doing nothing. Doing nothing doesn't mean that my mind stops or my body stops; it means that my personality isn't…
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I'm in my second year of a Masters degree program in counseling at Southwestern College, finishing up my last quarter of classes before my internship. Having been here a while, I think I'm now qualified to say a bit about what Southwestern College is all about, from a student's perspective. So here's what I'm going…
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I'm really liking a practice I've been doing: noticing what's about to be born. This works both alone and in conversation.
Alone, this practice goes with reminding myself that I don't know what I'm going to do next. Not knowing makes me curious about it. What actually am I going to do next? I start…
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