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! 

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.

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!

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...

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

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).

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 Painless^TM.