Greetings!

A whole year has passed. And what a year it has been!
I hope you have been well and healthy and starting this autumn season’s beavering strong and forward looking.

Last autumn I was eagerly encouraging you to improve your immune system by following the suggestions in my Wellness-book that was launched in the spring of 2010. Though the book is now sold out, bar a few copies on our shelves, these same recommendations are timely again and I hope that you will look after yourself and stay protected from the autumn bug-attack.

The first UMG Wellness-Spa magazine saw daylight in the spring 2010 and the issue number four was published last week. Have a look on our website. There we introduce the newly qualified UMG-Wellness therapists and look at the fast advancing wellness-boom.

February this year saw the coming out of our Lady Grace range at the SPA & Beauty exhibition in London. Much of my time has been taken here in Turku and travelling between Turku and London quite frequently to advance the launch of Lady Grace and UMG-Wellness to the British market.

The fourth UMG-Wellness therapy student group started in the spring and group three is qualifying by the end of the year. The eager joy and commitment to the work has been really positive especially as they all study whilst carrying on a full time job. The feedback from the students tell us that the UMG-Wellness therapists feel, when they have qualified, that they have real tools to start a professional practice or that the have gained much to offer to their clients’ in the existing profession.

The first faze of the data collection pilot at Kaskenlinna hospital long term elderly patients ward was a success. The results are promising. We continue and expand the giving of the treatments and collecting more data during this autumn and next spring. I should have the report ready by next autumn.

Here’s wishing for some more sunny autumn days and a glorious flush of autumn colours to gather strength, light and joy for the coming winter.

Ulla-Maija

What makes you feel joy?

What a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and even Thursday! Joy from sunshine, the clarity of autumn and the first little frost in the morning to awaken and bring a smile on my face. The changes of the seasons are a joy to me. A tiny drop of joy is necessary for every day. Everyone has personal experiences about the stress reducing and feeling of well being that joy and laughter bring. Joy is catching and enough drops make a stream.

We are at the end of September and still the sun is warming and bringing light. So far the the darkening of the evenings and the mornings has not been a strain. Though in the evenings already before 10 pm it feels as if one should have gone to sleep a long time ago because it has been dark for so long. It would not be a bad idea to go to bed before ten o’clock. The Chinese philosophy keeping well says that we need those two hours sleep before midnight to keep up our health.  It also helps to get up a little earlier in the morning to start the day without rushing.

What makes you feel joyful? A smile on a child’s face, a warm hug, exercise, good food, a new make-up, a good book. Look for and do the things that bring you joy. Joy gives energy and keeps you healthy.
Joy brings a smile on your face and activates the facial muscles. Smile is a beauty treatment, a continuous face lift. Look in the mirror and see for yourself!

Learning something new can also bring joy. Autumn is a particularly good time for that. My harvest of learning this autumn so far has been to listen to top professionals at the Turku University of Applied Sciences ”Hot Stones of  Wellness business”  and at the Hameenlinna Univesity of Applied Sciences ”Approaches to Multisensory-work” international seminars. It is truly inspiring to listen to experts, who are dedicated to and burn for their work, and be lit  up and be thrilled by the knowledge and insight as fruits of their hard work.

In Aromatica we have been given joy by all the people who have been enthused by the UMG-Wellness therapist course starting in October. The course is full and there are aleady many waiting for the next one to start.

Joy and autumnal light 
Ulla-Maija

What you can do for your own wellbeing

Autumn is coming and with it all the horror scenarios about the flu epidemics. How many of us now worry again about “should I take the jab, have my children take it, or my old mother”! What ever you decide, you will feel guilty. Wouldn’t it be nice if the papers would start the day with happy, good things.

I read some writings by a wise lady about how we each have something that fires us to do and to act. She advised to be still and listen – even for a short moment – to what is your personal burning flame, that draws to action. Once again, as so many times before I realized, that I my wish is that every one of us would trust ourselves and the power of our bodies to upkeep and enhance our wellbeing. I want people to be well and healthy!

I then started to study the, oh so conflicting, reports by the experts about the benefits and problems of inoculations. Of course those thoughts and information that supported my own understanding of WHAT YOU YOURSELF CAN DO FOR YOUR OWN WELLBEING, sank best into my consciousness.

When we grow potatoes or salads of flowers, we go to an expert and demand the right kind of nourishment for the plants. We want our plants to grow, to be full of goodness for us or to bloom beautifully. Animals are fed with carefully planned and selected diets for them to produce more and the kind of food that the grower wants. There are also always new kinds of “nourishment and protective substances” made for our machines. What about us people, whose bodies are infinitely complex organisms with all the feelings and thoughts affecting it? Often those who so happily and readily give us pills and inoculations one after another say that one cannot influence health or lack of it with food, vitamins or other supplements.

I disagree. I am very much of the opinion that our protection against all kinds of bugs is a strong immunity. This we should support in all possible means. Naturally produced food is one of our very best building blocks. Some years ago I read an article headed “ Do not eat anything that your Grandmother would not recognize as food” Simply the closer to the original substance our food is and the less it has been processed the better chance you have of getting the building blocks for a strong immune system.

Just now at the time of ripening harvests is the right time to fill up with energy with antioxidants and vitamins. All colourful fresh vegetables and fruits are packed with them. From fish oils you will get the necessary fatty acids and vitamin-D and vitamin-C and E will also boost your defence mechanisms.

Any kind of movement and exercise will strengthen our metabolism and heart and help to balance our moods. It also helps us to sleep better and reduce stress levels. Stress too is a great drain on our immune defences.

Take the reigns in you own hands, think, find out and act and you will feel better both physically and emotionally.

Wishing you health and joy
Ulla-Maija

Spa matters form home and beyond

The Finnish spas have changed noticeably over the past ten years. I have been following their progress whilst developing UMG-Wellness treatments and products for their customers. Some Spas have reacted to the reducing number of the veterans and developed their approach towards offering wellness services.
Again we are facing a big change as the Spa users become more knowledgeable about what is on offer and grow more demanding on quality. The ability and will to change are the prerequisites for the Spas for staying in the run and for increasing the number of clients.

Wellness and Spa are a rapidly growing service in the world. Following these trends I have noticed over the past two years that all around the world clients are increasingly aware of the professionalism of the staff. Also the flow of the treatment from the first contact with the client to the comfort of the treatment room are under demanding inspection. The pleasing memory and the effect of the treatment and fulfilling the given promise must continue beyond the treatment room all the way home in the form of a self care product.

Another trend in the Spa world is ecology. The changes in the global climate have awakened the clients to choose those Spas and treatments that take into account the different aspects of how it effects the ecological systems of the whole world. This also means that the closer home one finds a favourite Spa the more likely the eco-aware client is to choose it.

The visual change in the Spa architecture and interior design shows how exotic moods and images are borrowed from all corners of the globe to all corners of the globe. Simple beauty from wood, strength form stone, soft shapes and fabrics, flowing water designs and the subtle and inspired use of the colours of the rainbow are the building blocks of the Spa. Esthetics are high in the development of the Spa worlds.

My visit in a Spa in England is a good example of the various aspects of good service. An architecturally peaceful looking building stood in the midst of lush greenery. Inside soft aromas, gentle music and harmonious space awakened my senses and invited forward.

On entering every member of the staff lifted their eyes to give a welcoming smile. Beyond the reception, before the dressing rooms was a beautifully framed text that welcomed into the silent space where every ones privacy is respected. From there on the silence was tangible, only the distant sounds of flowing water kept company. The treatment rooms greeted with flowers, candles and welcomed in with carefully prepared treatment beds. Complete well planned treatment rituals help the client from the first moment into a calm and restful trusting feeling from which you awake when the door closes behind you on leaving. The pleasurable satisfied feeling continues for the rest of the day and resurfaces at home each time when using the product recommended by the therapist and purchased from the spa shop at the end of the treatment.

Welcome August

In some languages the names of the months are written with a capital letter. This morning I felt that it should be the case also in Finnish, as each month has it own “personality" and aroma. In the summer months the aromas are easier to recognize than in the autumn and winter. June is full of apple-, rowan- and meadowsweet flowers and the sharp freshness of the nettles. July smells of drying hay and meadow grasses and in August the aromas anticipate the ripening seeds, berries and fruits.

On the week-end before mid-summer we held the phytotherapy course which is a part of the UMG-Wellness therapist training. As is usual on the phytotherapy courses we visited the Pharmacy museum by the river Aura here in Turku. The old tools used by the surgeons, the different distillation equipment and the dried herbs that are so dry and old that they have become unrecognized all awaken the curiosity of the students. This year we could not visit my own herb garden due to the fact that our house was in the middle reparations. In stead we went to visit the herb garden at Turku university botanical gardens in Ruissalo. There we found several aromatic plants that essential oils are distilled from around the world.

We pondered on which herb would be the best for self care for each of the students as homework. Having decided on them we all, including me, wanted to try out the cleansing programme worked out by Leila. We will be comparing the results in the autumn when we meet next.

Try it
- Yarrow tea for general cleansing and stamina.
- Meadowsweet footbath or compress for excess fluid.
- Nettle powder improves immunity.
- Bilberry unsweetened will normalize the intestinal function.

If herbs are not your thing, try the Lady Grace products. You will be getting similar physical benefits plus emotional uplift and wellbeing plus a delightful scent to your body. Energy boost for vitality and Fluid balance to reduce fluid retention.

In the summer time one tends to eat differently and less regularly than normal and the body reacts! You feel bloated and your elimination is sluggish. This in the end will often lead to cellulite. To prevent this use Aromatica’s cellulite gels. They are powerful in reducing centimeters and getting rid of the cellulite and excess fluid as well as activating the elimination of waste. You will feel better fast.

In July we visited the new Vierumäki Resort and Spa. It is a beautiful, stylishly restful and definitely international standard with friendly and professional staff. So far I have trained them in the Stress neck massage treatment method and for later in the autumn we have planned the cellulite treatment training. Near the Spa reception there is a small shop were you can find Aromatica’s Sport- and Lady Grace products among others. You can find the large variety of activities and programmes offered by Vierumäki and Vierumäki Resort & Spa at http://www.vierumaki.fi.

The uncommonly warm summer has nurtured us Finns as it has done to the rest of the Europeans and smiles have been easy. The sun will still be caressing, giving its light and strengthening us for a few weeks yet though the days are drawing shorter. Now the forests and the gardens are full of ripening fruits. We can fill our tanks with their vitamins and flavonoides in store for autumn and winter to keep us feeling well and satisfied by nourishing our senses and bodies and by improving our immune defences.

Wishing you gentle, warmly aromatic summer sensations

Tending the summer needs

Summer here in Finland means light night and day, abundance of scents, feeling good and vigorous movement.

Sometimes there just is too much of even the good things. So to keep up your summer feeling I have picked for the subject of this blog some products that I have developed.

For the moment my favourites of course are the Lady Grace products. The deliciously soft and feminine scents caress our feelings even if we are not particularly aware of being in need of it. I did mention in some earlier blog that they are like precious perfumes – and you can use them as such. Give Positive Spirit lotion a try, it will drive off the summer blues if they happen to come on.

I picked another two Lady Grace products that, in addition to bringing on a good mood will also give you physical wellbeing.

When there is an abundance of light one really does not want ot go to bed. Sometimes the next day may demand activity and then you will need the Energy boost lotion. Roll it on your calves (they are the ones that move you along), lower back (when your lower back is tired you are tired and nothing feels like anything) and finally onto your chest and throat so you mind will also get wings.  

I love reading and doing sudokus when I have the time. The problem is that when one concentrates deeply the postures one settles in can be difficult to say the least and cause tension in the neck. So Tension Neck lotion is just what the doctor ordered, it eases the discomfort in the neck muscles and brings about a feeling of calm like summer sauna by the lake. 

In the summer time particularly with the children small mishaps are bound to happen;  grazed knees, splinters in fingers, stings or bites by bugs. For all of these Tea-tree Plus is the answer. It is plus because we have added to the essential oil of tea tree some lavender eo. to care and nurture the skin, olive leaf extract for it antiseptic qualities and diluted it in the right proportion for safe, easy  and effective use. You know essential oils are not to be used undiluted on the skin.!

For a keen mover, summer is the time to move more. Often we can get carried away in the beginning and do over our abilities with the result that no moving is possible for the next few days or even a week. Now I will tell you what happened to me last week end.

My daughter Maija Grace is the top  Zumba instructor in Finland ( though I may be biased in saying so) and last Friday there was a Zumba instructor course at her studio in Turku. Donna Giffen from England had come to do the training. I was one of those to be educated with Zumba! I must admit that after the first hour, the Master classm, on the Fiday morning, I ws not at all sure whether I was going to be able to keep up with the speed and tempo for two whole days … never the less the the last hour on Saturday went with the same gusto to the last jump. Today, Monday only my calves feel a little congested. I must admit that after the first hour I did utilise the Sport Power gel frequently during the two days on my calves,  thighs and back. Now I am an Official Zumba Instructor at the basic step level.

Once again even after all these years these nature’s magic drops have surprised me. I know Sport Power is powerful (I have developed it myself), but I never expected so great and positive experience from it.

Give it a try you, who like to put your body to test – and feel the boost

Every now and then we women want to do something fun and silly. Well I have always found the peat saunas much fun in the summer by the sea or the lake where you can wash the peat off the skin.
In our Aroma Vartaloturve  we  have added vegetable and essential oils to the peat, which is in its natural state only mechanically lifted from its original environment. It is refreshing to the mind and body, cleanses and cares for the skin and due to the vegetable oils it does not dry in the sauna and stick to the skin. Each 250g bag is enough for one whole body treatment.

And finally I want to mention Lavender water and the essential oil of lavender. They are the first aid for most everything. Lavender water cools and soothes the skin if one has enjoyed the sun too much. It is suitable for everyone from 7-years upwards. I do not recommend though that pregnant or lactating mothers, or little babies use essential oils on the skin. Moskitoes avoid lavender oil but it is not a 100%  repellent, but if one does happen to get you it is excellent to calm the irritation of the bite and itch. For the smallest in the family I suggest the use of the Tea-tree Plus, one drop carefully directly on the bite.

With these one should manage through the little worries of the summer. Sun, light and joy for us all.

The abundance of summer sensations

Here in Finland it means light day and night, it means an abundance of aromas and a feeling of joy. 

This week on Monday, the eve of summer, we started off towards Peurunka fitness and wellness centre in the braking light of the dawn at four am. Soon after five the sun was shining from the clear blue sky and awakened the spring green colour of the trees. Looking at it my thoughts brought back to mind other sensations of this spring. 

The last weeks overflowing rains soon after the leaves of the silver birch had swelled up into almost full size. After the rain I stood on the stars in awe of the clean colours of the garden and how the rain had coaxed the aromas of the silver birch out through the still fragile surfaces of the leaves.
The songs of the birds filled the air with the same abundance.

In Turku attached to the new library there is a Café that opens out to a bright courtyard where it is a pleasure to lunch underneath the light sunshades. At the next table sat a little boy enjoying a delicious looking and judging by the boy’s face just as tasty strawberry ice cream. I only needed to look at him and now writing about it my mouth starts to water.
  
Walking back along the riverside my nostrils were filled by the aroma of newly cut grass. But I did not hear or see the usual noisy mower. Some distance in front of me I saw a relaxed looking young man pushing what looked like an old fashioned ordinary mower. It made me feel good. No noise, no exhausts. Only the aroma of the freshly cut grass. 

Some small distance ahead was the Café that has the reputation of making the best and mos,  but I did smell the freshly brewed coffee. What is it that makes it smell so good…

Back to Linnankatu, less than 20 meters. What a change. There the aroma was exhausts and dust and the ambience the noises of the traffic and hurrying people.

At Jyväskylä, the mirror calm of the lake reflected the light of the sun that had risen high up the sky and brought my thoughts back to the moment and the approaching meeting with the clients.
A moment of thought and concentration on the coming meeting and freshen up the looks…