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.