Friday, November 25, 2016

Holiday Season

Happy Holidays for everyone!

Although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe, I do appreciate this wonderful time to spend time with families and friends. I think we all need a break once and awhile. I was happy to have my daughter home for a long weekend and start some baking of Finnish goodies.

Today is Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be followed by Small Business Tuesday, but I will not have any sale or campaign now nor closer to Christmas! I have set my pricing to a very reasonable level considering my specialties, and there will be no change in my pricing next year. I do appreciate my clients tremendously, so I will have a tiny Christmas present waiting for you when you if you are having your appointment before Christmas. I do not wish to get any gifts: Your appointment or referral is the best gift I can get!



I am working normally until December 22nd and I will have a week of rest right after Christmas. From January 2nd I have appointments available Monday - Thursday so, that on Mondays and Wednesdays I have an availability to work late at the evening (last appointment at 6 pm). This scheduling is valid as long as I am in the Ballantyne Village (our lease is ending in April).

I am looking forward to a new year and some changes although I have no idea where I will find myself. I can promise for sure, that I will have all my services available for you also 2017!

I wish you Happy Holidays and please make sure, that you will some relaxing time for yourself too!

P.S. I do have Gift Certificates available if you want to give to someone special a treat to the best treatment in town... It's Kata's Way where Balanced is Painless.


Monday, October 24, 2016

Happy October!

October is a month of enjoying life. Enjoy the weather here in NC, enjoy the routines that has set back after the hectic summer, and enjoy the quiet time before holiday season. That's what I have been doing! The morning walks at the greenway are the best thong to do especially in October.

I also took a trip to Washington DC since we had to renew our passports, and I fell in love with the capital city. I can't wait to go back and visit some more museums and learn more about this nation! The first trip was just wandering around and taking a tons of pictures to show my friends back home that this really exists; the capitol is not made just for movies and television series... maybe you don't know the feeling of  'living in the movie' that is pretty familiar to us who have moved here from another country. At least for us who have grown up following the American television shows and movies.  'Living as in a television' was a constant feeling the first year and half in US, but it's getting rarer all the time. At this point (4,5 years in US) I probably need to pinch myself when I'll be back home in Finland next summer!

My work is still my passion and you can check my availability on the right column of this blog, or just call/text me. I am working some Fridays, so please feel free to ask those too. Unfortunately I am not available on weekends, I truly need at least 2 days off in a row every week.

Some of you have heard that Ballantyne Chiropractic Wellness might be moving out of the Ballantyne Village, which is true. We don't know the schedule yet, nor do I know if I'm following Dr. Snipes, but I will have an office and availability to serve my clients all the time whatever happens! In case of transition period, I will be seeing my clients at my house in Blakeney area. So, exiting new things are right on the corner.

I think this is a perfect time of the year but 'cold' season is on it's way, so I want to wish you an amazing fall, and please, stay warm when you prepare yourselves for the holiday season. I'm planning some specials towards end of the year, but at this point there's no more workshops to be planned at Ballantyne location. Don't wait until last minute to feel your body aching, call/text me now to make your appointment to a very special care.

It's Kata's Way and it means: balanced is painless! Come and let's check your balance, you deserve the best care in town.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Staying on top of Things: NEW TREATMENT

The fall and everything in pumpkin spice is here! I do like the colors of the fall (orange is my favorite), but I don't like pumpkin spice at all, so what a pathetic beginning of the post...

After the loooong and hot summer I have been trying to put together all the things I have recently learnt and make some kind of the synthesis in my head. I still haven't finished the Principles of Osteopathy, the book I have been reading for a long time. That's because this book is not an easy read at all, and I really want to understand what is meant in each an every page. I will get through it eventually, when my brains are ready for it.

But at this point I am very satisfied to look my life a few months back and see how much I have learned! After the move to US and struggling to begin and develop my business in the new country, I am so pleased to be in the point of my career where I can say that I have learned some new treatment techniques. I am developing  a new way of assessing and treating the rib cage area as a synthesis of everything I have learned so far.

In my original training in Finland the treatment of the ribs is mostly done in a seated position, so that the therapist sits behind the client and glides his/her fingers from sacrum area up towards cranium. When erector spinae and rotatores of the spine are softened, the therapist gently glides his/her fingers laterally to open up intercostal and serratus anterior muscles. This part of the treatment is one of my all time favorite (as a therapist, but also when receiving treatment myself), but that's pretty much what was taught for me about ribs.

This spring I learned basics of Total Body Balancing in the Ambrosio Institute, where a lot more emphasis was put on the front side of the rib cage. It is so amazing, how delicate, passive movement of the arm can affect the tissues on the surface of the sternum and ribs! In the Ambrosio Institute I also truly understood the meaning of parasympathetic nervous system in massage. Now I have more concepts and words to explain, what needs to happen during my treatment  from the nerves point of view!

As a topping to all this, I had an honor to meet Dr. Bruce Rind from Washington D.C. and see the treatment pattern he uses to help his patients. His technique is a result of years of practicing medicine and osteopathic treatments and contains many elements, which I do not or can not perform, but he gave me much information and confidence to put all my skills together! I do know how to relieve muscular tension in thoracic and abdominal area and along the spine. I have a training and skills to use Total Body Balancing technique. I can learn to utilize more kinesiology (I don't have kinesiology training in U.S. yet, only in Finland). And everything I have learned is under the principles of osteopathy.

I am so excited to help you with any structural or functional issues in the rib cage! You will be in safe hands, because I do work at the Chiropractic Office, so if we run into any questions I can not answer, there's more expertise advice in hand. I have developed a pretty large assessing tool to test the structural/functional differences between left and right side and in my treatment plan this assessment will be done in every 5th treatment, so we can monitor the change. I am anxious to test how this really works, so please contact me, if you feel like (or know) that there's a structural imbalance in your ribs! I will never use force or adjustment, my technique is gentle, massage and movement based soft tissue relaxation technique. I look forward meeting you soon!

This is Kata's Way and it means that Balanced in Painless! 

Monday, September 5, 2016

How am I doing this?

That is the question that I have to make myself every once and a while, and it's also a question my clients ask me, when they are worried about my fingers handling this job. My fingers and hands are doing really well, what sometimes bothers me, is actually my lower back. And that, my dear clients and friends, is the reason why I started my career as a bodyworker in the first place.

Let's put it this way: when I no longer have any low back (hip issues actually) trouble, I'll probably be dead. Because the truth is that all amazing bodyworkers' and therapist' have (had) some issues, so they are able to relate how it feels to be in pain and frustration. On our path of growing to a healer, you need to face different bodies, different issues and different situations, because you need to learn! You need to learn from books, from others, at school, in different situations and learn to make connections! That's actually my main thing: how different things connect to each others and what my role, as a facilitator for healing, in that process is. So, I am, actually, happy, that I need to face my own issues.

I also believe that everything we have experienced in this world, is stored in our body. The tension of the body, in it's simplest way, can be described as a guarding mechanism from pain. That is actually the most important function for muscles (together with moving the bones). Simply to keep a pain away. Sounds simple enough, but get s a bit trickier, when emotional and psychological pain is taking into consideration. An that is something I have tried to avoid for the longest time. I have always profiled myself as a healer of the physiological body. Recently I am getting to understand that you really can't separate the different parts of our being.

And that is the biggest lesson to learn. Don't get me wrong, I am, and will always be, the healer of the physiological body, but I also need to see the bigger picture: tho whole body and how it works. I, and you, need to respect the body's own ability to heal. When I will be a brilliant 88 years old grand old lady with all the knowledge and information about human body, I can still only be a facilitator for healing! That has been a big step to comprehend and some days I am still uncertain about my role as a BODYworker. 

So back to my body: I have these layers and layers of past experiences stored in me and everything seems (at this point) to linger around my (left) hip. It's like an onion (yes, it makes me cry) that I need to recognize and peel off, to get to the innermost. And I needed to learn all I have learned so far, to get to this point, and, I needed to leave my country to be able to see things more clearly. There is so much left to learn, but what I know now is the factual respect to our own bodies: nothing is left to undiscovered nor without consideration. My body knows the (different) truth (than my brains).

The wisdom lies not in the brain, but in the body. And that's why I need to do what I do! But I would never be where I am without this great network of mine. Because I'm so Finnish and modest, I won't list any names here. But you all who gathered to my house, live in my house, or who I met or messaged during past few days, are essential for me to keep developing in my path.

This is Kata's Way and that's Balanced just because Balanced is Painless! 

P.S. Our First Workshop this Fall is right on the Corner!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Being a self-employed

AI have worked in US for about 2 years and 3 months now. I am so lucky to have found the best possible people to help me with this journey and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart! You all know who you are, so I am not naming anybody here in public.

I am also blessed to have a bunch of open-minded, super-nice and wonderful clients, who challenge me and my knowledge, but most of all, who grow with me and are patient to take in my learning experience as a body healer. I could not do this without you!

But I am still a sole proprietor, which means that at the end of the day, I got to make all the decisions and I am the only accountable person in my business. That has led me to do certain decisions like starting my LLC to be sure that I am covered if anything would happen. I am also adamant to make my living out of this (that my friends, as a massage therapist is everything but easy), so I need to be able to compete with all the other massage therapist in the surrounding area. And I want to be able to work in this business for years even if I am not getting any younger, so I have made some plans to take care of myself.

It also means that I need to do everything myself for my business: I do my laundry (yes, I hate those sheets once and a while because I am washing them every single day), my bookkeeping (I don't like numbers at all, but I like being in charge), my marketing, networking and all the planning. I know that I could easily pay someone to do certain things for me, but here comes the truth: every penny that I pay for someone else, is out of my salary and I can not afford losing those pennies. I am simply trying to make my living here. And yes, I like learning new things; especially I like it, when I figure something out and manage to solve some problem.

I am in a good place in my life because I have supporting husband, life skills and something special to offer. The most important thing in my business is my wide range of massage therapy skills to help and heal my clients! For me that is simply giving them the best possible care each and every time they come in. I can not have bad days (but if I do, I'll let you know and apologize). I also believe that one happy client will bring you two new ones if I do my job well.

And still, this is just a tip of the iceberg. I also know that having a successful business you need to keep on track with the newest marketing tools and inform your potential clients about my way of doing this work. Because my way is original Finnish and it is different.

Recently I have put some effort on marketing and learning new skills, since I haven't been using my computer too much lately (except wandering around in facebook).

Today I am especially proud of myself because I have been able to handle my facebook business page, opened my new business instagram, and was able to create pdf-files to embed into my web page, which actually is my blog. All these business tools, that we should be able to handle, and this it my decision: I only use free marketing tools! So please, understand how much effort a middle-aged massage therapist has to put to all these new tools and then: share, like and let your friends know that I exist and arrange these workshops!

To get any coverage with these free tools, my posts need to be liked! If one person likes my post, it will be shown to dozen others. The facebook, of course, wants me to pay for this coverage, but I refuse to. So, please, keep helping me out and hit that like-button for me

Thank you all and it is Kata's Way (or no way).

My facebook
My Instagram

And check out our Workshops this fall!
Pure Haven Essentials Workshop
Breast Health Workshop

Thursday, August 11, 2016

New Pricing 9/1/2016

My new pricing includes 30 and 90mins sessions to serve you better. If you wish to have the whole body treatment that would be 75min appointment for $95! 

You may buy your sessions with the old pricing if you book your next appointment in August. 


New Client Special $75 / 60-75 minutes

30 mins treatment
$40 
3 x $115 (38.3/session)
5 x $175 (35/session)

45 mins treatment
$60 
3 x $165  (55/session)
5 x $250 (50/session)

1 hour treatments
$80
3 x $225 (75/session) 
5 x $350 (70/session)

75 min treatments
$95
3 x $270 (90/session)
5 x $425 (85/session)

90 min treatment
$110
3 x $315 (105/session)
5 x $500 (100/session) 

This is Kata's Way and Balanced is Painless. Take care of yourself! 

Friday, July 22, 2016

Take time to yourself and believe in what you do!

Two of the most important and the most difficult things for me, and I believe I'm not the only one with this, are to remember to take care of myself and to believe in my skills. It's easy to say, but sometimes difficult to achieve, to stay in a balance with your work, social life, taking care of yourself and free time. Yes, taking care of me just can not be considered as free time, not in this profession.

My work is quite physical, but even more intentional and staying in the moment. My job is to discover misabalance and disstress in my clients' bodies, and to be able to do that, there cannot be a huge misbalance in my own body, nor distress in my life. Or, I should say: there shouldn't be, since I'm struggling with the same issues as you are. I have muscle tension, overly stretched ligaments, reduction in lymphatic flow, my hip tends to rotate on one side and I do have a tension neck most of the time. Not fun, since I cannot treat myself.

So how do I cope? Of course I have a bunch of  great therapists around me and they certainly help me a lot, but I'm also getting better in taking time to be with me. For me and my overly sensitive body, it's a necessity to recognize why I get stuck. Sometimes it's just an amount of clients I take care of some week, but most of the time there's something else happening in my life, that I have ignored. Let me tell you an example.

I'm living one of my most interesting summers at the moment (I have only once been more excited than now and that was four years ago when we moved to States in the beginning of July). I had visitors from home to take part in my daughter's graduation and they stayed for over three weeks. On that time we drove to the beach and to the mountains and arranged a party for my daughter and also for Midsummer celebration (this is my family's tradition; to bring a piece of Finnish roots with us and celebrate the midsummer sun). And I was working. In a week I will travel to Minnesota, Duluth, to teach Finnish language at a week long seminar. After that I will be moving my daughter to the dorm for the first time.

I am super excited about all this, but it is taking a toll on my body. So what can I do? I just need to make sure that I have enough time to do nothing and enough time to exercise. I have just joined back to my book club, so I'll actually read something interesting (besides Principles of Osteopathy) and I have also started Pilates classes to challenge my body to work in a different ways. How exciting! To have someone guide me on-in-one for a couple times of week.

Because there is so much more to learn about human body. There is things you can learn from books, but that is not the only way, especially if you are a bodyworker. We all need touching, palpating and sensing what happens under our skin. And at least in my case, sensing needs time, you cannot rush the tissue for a quick reaction! I have decided to take that time and slow my process, feel the touch. If you feel like I am rushing with your treatment, please tell me that immediately. I believe that only working slowly with your tissue, in your body's allowance, all the sensations can reach the brain, parasymphatetic nervous system will activate and channels for refreshing and healing blood can flow to help the tissue.

I know, that this is the truth. Sometimes I still keep rushing and trying to prove that I can treat your whole body in an hour. Well, I can't! That is why I have added 90 minutes treatment to my services:
until the end of August, you can get 90 minutes treatment for $100 (or 3 sessions for $270, or 5 sessions for $425). I will update my pricing September 1st!

It is still Kata's Way and Balanced is Painless. 

Monday, June 20, 2016

Summer time Greetings

Hello everyone!
Yes, I am working even if I haven't posted anything for a while. I just haven't been motivated to create new informational blog posts because there has been some more interesting things in my mind. 

Like my daughter's graduation! You can consider me as a proud parent of UNC Charlotte freshman. Ardrey Kell High School graduation seremony at Time Warner Cable Arena was a great experience and we also celebrated with sparkling drinks and Finnish pastries at our house. I am so thankful for all who could share this milestone with us; and special thanks to my sister and nieces. They came from Finland to celebrate and help us with all the baking.

With our family visiting, I will be absent from work next week (June 27 - July 4th)! We are going for a relaxing week to the mountains. I am back to work Tuesday 5th and there is 2 open slots that week. On July I won't be working on Fridays, so take that into considerations when you plan your scheduling.

I wish you all a very nice and relaxing time! We all need some time to recuperate because Balanced is Painless and that is Kata's Way.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Some concepts

This time I want to explain some of the principles that are important to me. I have learned these concepts already in my original training, and they all came back when I was taking my Total Body Balancing -class. These principles originate to osteopathy.  

We all tend to get some biomechanical dysfunction and lesions in our tissues (by that I meant all the tissues: fascia, muscle and joint). What is a lesion? The lesion is an abnormality of tissue that prevents us achieving optimal BALANCE and FUNCTION. How do we get these lesions? By living our life, spraining an ankle, having inflammation either in systemic or local level, suffering from allergies or other sensitivities, having hormonal imbalance etc. 


How can we get rid of these lesions and dysfunctions? We simply have to remove the restrictive  barriers in fascia, muscle and joint, so that our incredible self-regulating and self-healing body can heal itself! 

This means simply:
- Increasing range of motion (this is a functional treatment),
- Improving circulation (arteries, veins, lymphatic and axioplasmic flow) and reducing impingement of nerves,
- relieving pain and other possible symptoms,
- reducing swelling,
- balancing any asymmetries in your posture (the structural part),
- relieving tension and
- stimulating parasympathetic nervous system.

By doing all this bit by bit, we are also creating a better enviromnment for healing and total body homeostasis. In one word, we are bringing (both structural and functional) BALANCE back to the body. And your body will know how to do the rest, but only if you allow that to happen by reducing stress and allowing a balanced mind set with enough rest and optimal activity.

During the treatment it is crucial to stay away from pain, since while in pain you are also in the state of symphatetic overload. Overload means not just pain, but also an excessive tension when you are unable to relax (part of) your body. Calming down the nervous system will create a homeostasis to allow more healing to happen. Triggering a pain by trigger point therapy is kind of working against this principle, so there is the reason why I rarely do really deep muscle therapy. Believe me, muscle tension can be released without pain in a very efficient way and that is my way.

I am here to help you to achieve your goal! And my way is painless, because Balanced is Painless and that's Kata's Way.

I wish to see you soon! 


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

You want to know a bit about me?

I think (well at least I hope) that you, who are reading this blog already know bit or pieces about me, but since I also hope that you refer my blog to your friends and colleagues, I want to tell a little bit about myself.

I am originally a Finnish Language Teacher from Finland and I never thought that I'd move anywhere farter away from my home than Tampere, where I lived over 20 years. And yes, I found my hubby at that city and my daughter was born there. She is our only child and currently a senior at Ardrey Kell High school, so we are soaked in a process of trying to find a great (and reasonable) college here.

So, what does a Finnish Teacher do in Charlotte, North Carolina? She is learning her way to resolve some physical issues that are causing a discomfort or even pain in our bodies. I started my way to this second profession because I had some back pain of my own, and I certainly did not like the way my doctor treated me. There had to be a better way to help than give a bunch off pills and tell that it's just a matter of growing old. I was in my early 30's at that time! I tried some massage (it helped me a ton!), some foot reflexology (so relaxing if it is done that way) and then I finally found a therapist who was called a Bonesetter.

He changed my life! He was a welder in his 60's and his office for this bodywork located in his garage. He glanced at me and said: "You little girl (33 yrs and a mother of one) have a major issues with your right knee. That need to be placed back in it's place, so that we can relax those muscles in your spine. Seems like you have issues at your right wrist also." All that in 2 minutes. I was blown away and thougt that he must possess some magical eye! And then he did his assessment and treated me 3 times.

I had seen my chiropractor 4-6 times a year 5 previous years to keep my body functional and able to work, and this man took all my pain and discomfort away in 3 sessions! There was absolutely NO PAIN or discomfort during the sessions, but my body felt a bit 'off' after each treatment for a day or two. I enjoyed every minute of his his sessions (no need to anticipate what's gonna pop next like with chiropractic adjustments) and: I was amazed!
So, I learned that this treatment is an 'ancient' and organic and kinda folklore's  way of massaging people and there has been quite a bit of these masters mainly in the Ostrobothnia area in Finland. I also learned that there's an association whose main purpose is to document this treatment as authentic as possible and educate newer masters to keep this historical treatment alive. There was not two words about it, I headed to learn this treatment myself and found my calling.

It took me 3 1/2 years to master enough skills to get a certificate and start helping my clients. I also certified as a licensed massage therapist and learned some reflexology, head massage and aromatherapy on my way, but there was never a question about what I truly want to do and which way to develop my skills. It is this Integrative, Structural, Functional, Medical, Therapeutic way of soft tissue treatment that I do the best. And yes, sometimes it is called as a bone setting, but I really don't like that name, since we don't set any bones in 21st century. We have a great amount of surgeons to do that; my work is to make sure that your bones have enough room surrounding them and by that I'm talking about muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and lymphatic system among other things. Those are the areas and systems I work with. And my work always includes touching.

Well, life is full of surprises and one of them was a chance (well, chance for someone, more like a challenge to others) to move to U.S. since my husband was relocated in his company. So here we are, and now a Finnish Teacher is re-educating some muscles and kinetic chains to move better, more effortless and painless ways. After 4 years in Charlotte I am definitely loving it and finding my ways to learn and treat my awesome, open-minded clients. I still don't know everything (ha ha, never will), but I am surrounded by these great therapists and co-workers I can learn with.

I had to accomplish massage therapy license here in NC (yes, I went back to school) and I have been working as a massage therapist practically 2 years now. I have done some CE (continuing education) classes and found myself a great office with the best possible chiropractor to work with. I am ready to do this!

But I am who I am, and I need to work my way. I wish that you will challenge my way, ask me questions and make me explain what I do and why I do it the way I do. I am here to learn and since I don't have many colleagues in U.S. (that's not completely true, there is one in Gainesville, Florida), I have to find this way as I go. Step by step. And every step is with a pure intention and an open mind. I have a great background education, but that is only the beginning in this career.

I hope You will enjoy this path with me: It's Kata's Way and Balanced is Painless.

P.S. I am struggling a bit between keeping this blog as authentic as my written English is or ask someone to proof read it. What do you think? Can you manage with my mistakes, this a blog, not my official web page, after all.

Friday, April 29, 2016

How do I work?


"What are you doing during the treatment?" is a valid question to ask me. And I am trying my best to explain, but sometimes I can not find the correct words. At the moment I am studying for my CE (continuing education class) and here are some explanations that I have learnt years ago, but now am reading in this book. This explanation is my own version and will not give the whole picture about your pain or nervous system but explain the way I look at things.

*Tissues want to be in an ideal position of comfort. 

This is both good thing, since the body always is trying to avoid (local) pain, and a bad thing when the most comfortable position is a learnt habit/posture which is not ideal in the big picture. I give you an example: our right leg is so used to be active during driving a car that our nervous system makes an assumpion to use that leg more than the other. That leads to over-compensation which leads to constant rotation of (right side of) the hip. That is comfortable and 'ideal position' for a leg, but not at all for the hip. 

*In an injury of any muscle, protective muscle spasms are activated to guard the injured. This is pretty much a reflex at the muscle level which means that you can not prevent this reflex to happen. 

Reflexes are amazing functions of our bodies and they are switched on instantly, but how can you switch them off, when this guarding function is no longer needed? That is a very complicated question, since our body very well  adapts to it's current levels of functioning (for example, you need to check your blood pressure and blood sugars because you can't feel changes happening). Our body adapts itself in a various, complicated ways and in my work we sometimes find a client's kinesic chain of movement functioning in a weird, adapted way because it is used to do so. In these cases we are trying to re-educate the muscles (and other soft tissues) to function in a better (and usually also original) way. 

One example of this can be a wrist pain after falling down: nothing is broken, but using your mouse on your computer  will be a bit uncomfortable the week after and you will adjust your wrist and forearm movements a bit. So,  first, muscle spasms were activated during the fall to guard the joints of your wrist. Second thing happened litte later, when muscles of the forearm adjusted to this and changed their ’normal’ pathways. Two or so weeks later there is no more pain in the wrist, but your elbow is getting to feel funky... So which one is to blaim: the wrist, where a protectice spasm did it’s job after a fall, or the elbow, which tried it’s best to change it’s movement patterns to adjust to the wrist? 

This is a simple example of one pattern of kinesic chain I am trying to figure out in my work! Each and every part of the body functions with others and sometimes my work is to be detective. And, again, I need your help to do that: You are the expert of your body and your feedback during the treatment is essential! I can not make a change, but I can lead the way for your body to make it’s own changes.
You are very wellcome to experience my treatment: Balanced is Painless and Balance is Kata’s Way!

Monday, April 4, 2016

Open House April 14th!

We at the Ballantyne Chiropractic Wellness had our first Open House April Fools day last year. It is about the time to do something fun and entertaining again! Come to meet us


next Thursday, April 14th @5-7pm! 

We will be serving some delicious and healthy Chocolate from Secret Chocolatier, Wine and Snacks and samples of DoTerra Essential Oils. 

 I will be celebrating not only my b-day (27 yrs again) but also my Green Card by offering some specials, that you can only purchase on Thursday 4/14 5-7pm:

*30 mins Face, Scalp and Head Massage only $40 (normally 50)
*25 mins Hands-on Structural and Functional Assessment and Treatment Plan for $25 for New Clients

These are perfect Gift Ideas for your friends and family who you want to introduce to my Special Treatment! So please, bring a friend and come to enjoy Thursday evening with us!
This is how you feel after my treatment...



Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A couple Testimonials

I love my clients. I love my work. Here's two testimonials:

"Kata my friend I'm so thankful we met. Your hands are healing tools...better than any drug or medication. I feel my body healing with every session. I would highly recommend you to anyone who wants to improve their health of body or in need of pain relief. Thank you and I can't wait for my next appointment." Deborah Clese 2016 


"My sessions with Kata are extremely relaxing, and my aching muscles always feel so much better after I have seen her. She has a friendly nature, is very professional and knowledgeable, and what I really love, is that she genuinely cares about doing an excellent job. 

Kata has a gentle touch, but don't be fooled, the beauty of her work is that I experience tremendous relief without any painful massage. She is a gifted practitioner who is able to listen to my body and do exactly what it most needs to regain balance.

As I do a lot of exercise, and spend hours painting, I see her every month to help maintain good health by addressing any issues that have arisen since I last saw her." Rachel Linnett, 2015

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Where did these months/years go?

Isn't it weird that even if this year's February has 29 days, time just flews by!
But for me it has been that way for past 3,5 years. Time definitely flies faster in U.S. than in Europe...

At this moment I am definitely feeling that this week should just stop and wait a bit. My baby is turning 19 in a week and mommy just can't really comprehend it! Were we in Finland, she would be done with highschool and having a few weeks off to prepare the big finals! And with finals I mean that they are testing EVERYTHING you have learned during three years of highschool. And yes, the tests are standardized, but you really have to write an essey in every subject. If my daughter were there right now, she'd be preparing to show what she has learnt in Finnish (she'd be graded as A), English (A), Swedish (A), German (A), Mathematics (A or B), Psychology (A or B), History (A) and maybe one more. 

In this life, in U.S. her big multiple choices  testing is already done, and she has been accepted to 4 colleges. In Finland she would have to apply and then wait for entrance exams in June, and then wait some more to find out if she'd be accepted. So here the most stressful part is already over, in Finland it's just beginning! Aren't we glad to be here?

And here we will stay! Our permanent residency cards arrived a couple weeks ago and it's time to a reality check: I will be living and working here in States for my future. That means that I'll make some changes in my work, clarify all the legal issues and prepare for my next level of learning! All this means that this is my career now and to keep it going, I need to concentrare even more to these things:

1) Keep giving each and every client an excellent treatment experience each time they come to see me with a specific problem.

2) Take better care of me and find out new ways to help myself and my clients to help themselves also between the treatments.

3) Learn new techniques and refresh what I have already learned, so that my treatment will be ever so painless, effective and comfortable to every clients' needs. I am here to solve your issues in kinetic chains and ease up those non-optimal movement patterns we tend to create in many traumas or after the trauma; a simple sprain in one ankle can change the movement pattern in the whole body!

I am so much enjoying my life at the moment! That is why I just asked myself if I can have some more recovering time and vacation for me this year. And the answer was YES, so make sure that you keep your appointment slots covered. I'm taking my first week off March 24-31! 

I will be taking my CE classes learning Positional Release Therapy (PRT) in D'Ambrogio Institute in West Palm Beach FL in the beginning of May and I am super-excited to learn this technique to help you! That puts me off work May 3-11 since I'll also visit my friend in Florida.

I am also hoping that some of my family from Finland will be spending some time here in Charlotte this summer, and in that case I'll restrict my hours during summer. Maybe taking the first week of July off. And then I'll be in Minnesota teaching Finnish the first week of August and that is just an amazing opportunity to go back to my past life for a while. I am beyond excited to fly there and be teaching my language again (if you didn't know, I was a Finnish language instructor for 17 years).

As a self-employee my list of absences this spring and summer looks a little bit scary for me, but on the other hand, all this is preparing for the future, spending some family time and keeping myself challenged. I am convinced that taking some time off, I'll be taking care of me and that is the main thing in this profession! I want to be able to give my ultimate best for each and every session with You.

Next fall my daughter is starting her college career and this mommy has all the time in the world to put in her business. Until that, let's keep the flow going and enjoy this moment. This is Kata's Way and my way is balanced: family, learning and work. Everything right now is here in States (so let me dream about the summer 2017 in Finland).


Sunday, February 14, 2016

How to help your own Posture?

·Happy Valentine's Day!

Those of you who already know me and my work, know how important part a good and natural Posture in my work is. Majority of my Spine Treatment is done in a seated position just to make sure that there is enough mobility in the vertabraes. To keep up with the posture we supposedly achieve during the treatment, it is essential to maintain the good spinal alignment by yourself. Here are my tricks and these exercises are a part of the program that we are doing in my Special Spine Stretching Class every Wednesday @11am.


Maintaining a good posture during your daily activities needs a lot of concentration! Here are my tips:
1. Keep your feet a shoulder width apart, both feet at the same position toes looking forward or slightly outward. Feel your ankles, they should be flexible and feel equal to each other.
2. Think about your knees. They should be slightly bent to prevent locking of knee joints. Both knee caps (patellas) should be looking at the same direction (straight forward or slightly outward).
3. Concentrate on your hips. Hips are the most important piece of our standing structure and it is a huge challenge to give any individualized suggestions since our natural curvature of spine varies from person to person (this is the reason I want to see you in front of me). This is my trick: let your upper body ‘sink’ into your hips.


SINKING INTO YOUR HIPS: Stand on a one leg and let your opposite side of the body sink down. This is not a healthy way of standing on one leg, so please, bring your hips back at the same level (hopefully you have a mirror in front of you) still standing on one leg. Try the same thing with other hip. Now: pretend to do the exact same sinking and rising both feet down! Play with it. Imagine your sacrum bone (that is the base of the spine) sinking into your hips. That is sinking into your hips. You should feel steady and balanced: rooted to the ground. Now your hips are (probably) on a good posture.

4. Next step is to pay a lot of attention to your shoulder blades (that is scapulas). I don’t want you to contract abdominal muscles, but find (in your minds eye) the lower angles of scapulas. Then I need you to push those angles gently toward floor and ever so slightly closer to each others. That is enough to open up your chest! Don’t over-extend your mid back and relax your shoulders.


5. The last but not least is positioning the head. This is the most important part since we are constantly flexing our head down, which puts too much pressure in our neck muscle (back of the neck muscles get too tight and front of the neck too shortened). The head is supposed to be in the middle of shoulders and on top of the shoulder if you look sideways. Imagine that there is a string pulling in the top your head upwards. And check your chest: don’t over-extend your thoracic spine, but pull those lower angles of scapulas down towards floor! Most people need to pull the chin slightly inward to rise up the front side of neck. Again, in my class I will guide you individually.

And the thing is, You Need To Pay Attention To Your Posture All The Time; not just when you stand or walk, but especially when you are sitting or working. And, please, when you see my posture hunching over while I'm working, say something! SAY IT ALOUD since I struggle with my posture every day and all the help is accepted.

I wish to see you at my Wednesday Class! It’s Kata’s Way and Balanced is PainlessTM.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Love your neck!

Some of you know that 'Text Neck' is fast becoming a huge issue in out health. Not just adults, but adolescent and even children, suffer neck pain and head ache due to excessive use of mobile devices. Everywhere you go, you'll see people looking downwards to their devices and soon the muscles of the neck become extremely tight and stretched or shortened.

More specific info you can read at this great article: 


Opening a spine with my thumbs
Sometimes we need an Advil or too to help with immediate pain, but I hope that you all understand, and explain to your children, that painkillers never correct any factors or issues behind the pain. Any kind of pain is  an important signal from your body that yells: something is wrong!
Client helping with 'wings up'.






Usually neck pain and headache will  just gradually get worse if we don't remove the tightness of muscles attaching to upper spine and neck area and correct the posture. That is what I do in my work: correct the posture with clients help.

If you have neck/head pain, my main goal is to bring back the flexibility of mid and upper spine, which allows your a better, natural, posture. And I am not talking just how you're supposed to constantly think of sitting/standing with your head up, but allowing those deep postural muscles to do their job. And for that they need nutriens, blood and mobilization, since the lack of blood had been immobilizing the deep muscles (think how the motor of your car needs oil, our joints and muscles need circulation the same way).



Client helping with 'wings down'.
With special technique that I have learned the mid and upper body treatment is being done in seated position! That allows the spine movements and gravity to help in the process. The prone (face down) positioned massage  won't allow me to use all the natural movements of the spine (flexion, extension, side flexion and rotation), so that's why I add seated part (15-45 minutes) to my type of spine massage. And I strongly suggest you to join to my excellent spine stretching workshops every Wednesday @11!

Relieving subscapularis muscle - I will not force
it, so there is NO PAIN.


So help your neck and relieve the balance of your muscles. Keeping our posture upright is hard work and I can not do it for you. But I can re-activate and soften the muscles, make sure that joints are moving in their best range of motion and help your nervous system function in its best. And all that I do, in painless, gentle and there is no manipulation of bones! (I can refer you to an excellent chiropractic care in case I suspect there is something out of alignment in vertabrael level.)

Welcome to an evaluation for $25 or just book the first treatment for $60 (70minutes!). It's Kata's Way that keeps you in balance. And Balanced is Painless!



Wednesday, January 20, 2016

No Stretching your Spine 1/27!

But will be back Wednesday 2/3 @11!

(I have some dental issues with my ontodontist...)

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

At this moment

Right now I'm listening to how the sun is shining. It's beautiful. I am lucky that noticed it when most of the day all I have been feeling is coldness and frozen feet. 

In January it's perfect time to calm down, listen to your books and stretch a bit between clients. No planning ahead, struggling with Quicken or worrying about taxes. In the beginning of new year it's time to make new habits. Like listening a book in the middle of workday. Jeff Menapace's Bad Games is almost too scary though! 

How do you enjoy your January?

Monday, January 4, 2016

January 2016

Hello all my friends!

First I want to thank you all for being my clients. I have enjoyed this interesting journey to become a better functional and structural therapist. Past year and a half has been enjoyable and empowering time for a newbie in this business in this country. If you don't know me yet (or long enough), I will just briefly mention, that I got my license in North Carolina in June 2014 and started to work at Ballantyne Chiropractic Wellness for two days a week at that point. I was also an employee in another chiropracters' office for a 8 months (1-2 days a week), but soon realized in which way, with who and where I truly want to work.

My journey in this field is to learn more about human body and it's functions. But I also want to use my original Finnish techniques and that is,  because so far I have found nothing better nor even close to this technique in this country. But I'll keep searching and widening my perspectives, because that's what this journey is about.

At this point of my journey I have also learnt something really important: I need to take care of me better. I love my job and have been giving almost all my energy to it (that's what you are supposed to do when you start a business, right) and enjoyed every single day! But I also have suffered some wrist issues and low back trouble, just like we all. I am lucky to have such a great group of therapist around me, so I am taking good care of, but it reminds me that (even) I am not getting any younger.

So in the beginning of 2016 I will not do resolutions, but I am promising to take better care of myself, find time for my exercise and make sure that I have enough time for relaxation. If all this goes well, it also means that I'll have more energy to search for interesting continuing education, time for my study groups and best of all: opportunities to explore and develop new products and my ways of helping you to feel better!

I am so very certain, that I know the best techniques in the world, but there is so much more we can do together. I am continuing my journey to better and optimal health and will be sharing what I learn to all of you. At this point it means reducing my working hours a bit: I will be available Wednesday and Thursday evenings, but can not take any clients Thursday morning or Friday afternoons. I will stick into my taichi class on Tuesday afternoon, so my last appointment time on Tuesdays will be at 3pm. That will still leave a plenty of options for your care.

Mondays 10-5.30, Tuesdays 8-4, Wednesdays 8-7.30 and Thursdays 1-7.30. Fridays by appointment only (8-2). This sounds complicated, but only thing I did, was blocked 2 hours for taichi, 1 hour for tennis and opportunities for gym and walk. These activities deserve to have a spot in my schedule!

As a reminder, I will continue my awesome Stretching Classes for Spine Health every Wednesday @11am. If you haven't tried it yet, please do so. YOU need to take care of YOU and I need to take care of ME. Let's do this together! If you have any new ideas, please let me know. I am always open to new things.

But my number one goal for 2016 remains the same: Let's balance your body and keep that pain away. I can help you both in structural issues and in functional imbalances. Balanced is Painless: that's Kata's Way!


In this picture I'm checking my clients ankle (joint between calcaneus and talus bones; tibialis and fibularis muscle groups).