Inspirational Spa Life conference England 2012

How one person can keep a 300 strong audience of spa operators, suppliers and staff holding their breath for an hour.

Frank Dick OBE, gray haired gentleman arrives at the front of the hall… mumbles something and I strain my ears to hear. Did he say something? … and then loud and clear
“When you have a name like Dick you do not want to say it out too loud” and the whole audience roars out laughing. He got us all!

He is giving a talk on how to run a successful business.
“ Probably the only sustainable competitive advantage you have is the ability to learn faster than the opposition”.( Arie de Geus) appears on the wall. There was tension in the air – an anticipation – What? - is this what I came to hear? how am I going to achieve this? this is not going to be easy!

You are responsible for you own performance to always be the best you that you can be. You are responsible for your own development to accept to be a coach and to accept coaching. You are responsible for coaching the others. 

He goes over to someone in the audience, takes her hand and says. “You have a great team working for you and together you created something superb and get great success and recognition with it. You bask in the glory and get all the thanks for a great job done. You go back to your team glowing of your glory and totally forget that it was not you alone who made the success possible, giving no credit to the rest of the team! Do you think they will be giving you the same performance THEIR BEST the next time you need them to?”
 
You need to and you must free every member of your team to take hold of their responsibilities for themselves. No one gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says “ I am going go out there today and screw up well and good” Everyone wants to be successful at what we are doing. So you need to be the light to every member of your team to guide them to find the best in themselves. And at every stage of their development reflect the light that they have within them right back at them. When they are ready, be the wind under their wings, get out of their light and let them fly to take the responsibility for their own performance. To be the best they can be!

You have a place in this world that no one else can fill. You have task in this life that is yours to perform. If you do not do it, no one else can take you place. Your unfulfilled mission in this life will leave an empty space.

It is not going be easy. If you have had hard challenges up to now they will get harder. You can learn to climb the mountain only by doing it. Not going round it or using a ladder. You need to go there face the challenge and climb. You will fall but you will try again. Success is not a straight road. It has many bends, twists and turns but it is possible.

If you do not do it – who will?  If not now – when?

He enlivened his talk with cuts from films about different sporting events to show how the worlds best won the races and got the goals by doing their best at every stage of the way.
 
He is famous, received the Queens medal of Order of the British Empire. He has been the most successful football and sports coach in England for many decades. Now I know why.

He is inspirational!

Successes for this new year 2013 for all of us.
Ulla-Maija

SPRING IS HERE

and I have woken up

The first crocuses were peeping out of the ground when I was at the Professional Beauty exhibition at Excell in London in early March. Tens of thousands of women (mostly) looking for inspiration to brighten up the body and skin after the winter. I was spending my time at the Spa Business Association stand making contacts with Spa professionals. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

Now back here in Finland and the spring is showing its first signs here too.

The early light makes waking up in the morning a joy. The wonderful feeling of the warmth of the sun brings a smile to the face. Something stirs in you as if to say move! Get your body going and enjoy being alive!

So after the lazy, dark winter evenings on the settee we get up and start jogging, hiking, biking and whatever we feel the need to do. … and get our muscles aching … and then it is not so much fun after all … Do not give up though!

The muscles are telling you they are alive too. They are telling you that you need to keep up the movement. But you could start by being kinder to yourself. No need to bike for 20 miles on the first day or to aim for the marathon next month… And even if you are kinder to yourself and do less the muscles may still get tired and cramped. Your mind would love to do more but…

I love dancing, swimming, yoga, gardening, Zumba® and playing with my grandchildren.

My passion is essential oils and products made from them. It is my life and my work and over the years I have developed many wonderful products to help us to make our daily life easier, happier and healthier.

So to make the best of this wonderful need to awaken our body, our senses and feelings there is the Sport-Fitness set of four products that are just the ticket to keep you going. I know for I and thousands of others have used them and kept on moving irrespective of age. Kept on getting fitter, happier, stronger and slimmer!

SO ENJOY THE SPRING

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