Feeling Well Place (2025)

07/03/2023

📢 There is ancient wisdom in everything, once you dig a bit deeper.

❓ Why in every culture men share the same demand for a firm handshake? Because the person capable of strong firm hand grip is supposed to possess certain character qualities, such as motivation, perseverance, courage, grit.

👶 With newborn babies we want to check a Robinson Hand Grasp Reflex - when stimulated the skin of a palm, we want to feel the fist closing and the grip firming.

❗ It is untaught unconditional primary reflex, given to us by nature for a survival and protection.

❗ Fast forward few years from a newborn state - if Grasp Reflex ends up being pathological, dysfunctional or simply unintegrated and doesn't develop from a baby level - we usually see:
🔸 lack or speech development,
🔸 lack of motivation,
🔸 very uncertain gross motor skills, such as throwing,
🔸 and bad development of fine motor skills, such as writing.

We also see:
🔹bad grasping ideas, in other words, slow processing.
🔹 strength and muscle tone on a somatic level are underdeveloped as well,
🔹getting dressed is problematic for children with unintegrated Grasp Reflex
🔹 they may also be scared to climb somewhere, or to swing from something, since their grip is not a tool that they trust,
🔹 and with newborns pathological Grasp can be a part of bad sucking, swallowing, and chewing!

Did you know this? Share your thoughts with in the comments

06/02/2023

📢 Today we are starting a new column named "Parents Corner - PEP TALK"

🥁 Remember to ask yourself this question:

❓ DO YOU WANT YOUR BABY TO BECOME BETTER OR NOT? ❓

❗ LET YOUR BABY BECOME WINNER AFTER THE STRUGGLE! ❗

❗ DON'T ROB THEM OF THEIR VICTORY! ❗

19/12/2022

Here you can meet us, Feeling Well Place team - Ekaterina and Alex, learn the modalities we work on and see how we can help you or your child!
Be healthy!

15/12/2022

One of our favorite clients Nick not just got therapy but also learned it and demonstrated that at the end of the 4th day of intensive therapy becoming Ekaterina's therapist!

Unbelievable results!

21/01/2021

If you missed or shortened your milestone of crawling, its never too late to return to it and arm your brain with all the tools that crawling gives us in childhood!
Its quite technical though, so make sure you ask how to do it properly

28/08/2020

As new parents, we all want to be excited and proud about what our kids are doing even as infants. However, oftentimes when parents start showing off :

“Hey, here is my daughter/son doing this! At this age, isn’t it awesome?”, in return they hear from us “Ummm… No. Not awesome. I would be very worried”

Right after that we have to answer millions of questions from a confused parent, who all of a sudden has the ground kicked from his feet and isn't sure what to think/do next.

We decided to put together a list of possible responses for these parents and educate them on what their babies are actually trying to say and do. It is by no mean an exhaustive list, but it gives a good coverage of common points that you should watch out for and shows the thinking behind our worrisome responses.

What you, as a parent, want to pay attention to:

- If your newborn holds head right from birth. Please, don’t think that your baby is so strong and cool. They have no coordinated nervous system to operate muscles properly at this age. It’s a huge stress that their little bodies try to deal with by spasming!

- Same if your baby grabs your finger like a vise and never lets go. This isn't a gift of awesome strength at birth, this grabbing could very easily be from stress and anxiety!

- If your baby never cries and sleeps a lot, or is very sleepy even if awake – there is something to look out for. Nervous system of a child needs stimulation to develop. Refusing any stimulation can mean that this nervous system is incapable of processing it properly

- If you notice that your newborn is scanning for your presence all the time and is always watching you – just as much as it can make you happy that you are so important in this little human life, you should ask yourself “what kind of fear is this baby experiencing that he/she is afraid of losing sight of me?”

- If a breastfeeding mom doesn't produce enough milk, and/or constantly suffers from plugged ducts or even mastitis, oftentimes the cause is not just the mom, it's actually your newborn. Because the baby can’t latch efficiently, this leads to your disrupted milk production. Further down the road inefficient latching can lead to all kind of issues, from the overbite/underbite to developmental delays, dyslexia, ADHD, etc.

- If your baby falls asleep right in the middle of breastfeeding, it's a warning sign that the baby spends too much energy eating and literally passes out from exhaustion until nutrients break down and refuel her.

- If your baby is 10 days old and he is holding very tight fists that are hard to open – it is time to worry. If the baby is over a month and the fists are still very tight – it is time to panic. When the baby looks like a little boxer holding fists under the chin – go get her checked.

- If the opposite happen that the baby lies flat with very little tonicity – you should also have it checked out.

- If baby arches the spine and refuses tummy time viciously – watch out as it can be an indication of dural tension (spinal membrane)

- Colics, night screaming, excessive burping, and projectile vomiting are not the norm, but rather signs that the baby may have issues that he/she needs help with. A lot of people may tell you “it’s a stage, they will grow out of it", however unless these issues are addressed, they may manifest into something entirely different later on in life. Anxieties, depressions, hyperactivity, dyslexia, are all related to untreated baby issues.

- A quick note to new dads out there, because they are very prone to think this way – if baby wants to be held very often, refuses to fall asleep in the crib, or can only fall asleep while being held – it DOES NOT mean that this is a spoiled child that needs to be disciplined! At this age they don’t get spoiled yet!!! It can mean that something bothers the baby, on physical, emotional, psychological level, so they resort to the ONLY safe place that they have at this stage of their lives – your hands!

- Pay attention to the milestones from 0 to 6 months. You can look up a chart, and if something doesn't match, define how far your child is from the chart. If they are just slightly off, it can be nothing to worry about, if its more than one milestone delay, or the milestones are off quite a bit, please don't wait for your baby to grow into the next stage, act asap.

To conclude, PLEASE, keep an open mind and don't take this list as a rock solid prescription for personal panic. We wanted to educate you to pay attention to what your baby is doing and to not dismiss the warning signs, if there are any!

We understand that sometimes when we suggest a certain behaviour may be a sign of a bigger problem, parents may not like us very much, but as health practitioners we want to alert you and dismiss the worst case scenario because we know that if we help our little patients in early stages of a potential issue, we can often help alleviate it.

Remember, it is always better to catch and address any issues early rather than late to make life better and easier for everyone. The effort is always worth it!

P.S. Next we will have a similar list for children from 6 months and older. Stay tuned!

24/08/2020

Announcement!

We bring back our postural correction classes and classes for young athletes!

You have been asking for it and we finally delivering it in a new and the most exciting way:
- Class members will be grouped by similar issues, but at the same time everyone will have their own program
- Age is between 12 and 16
- Once or twice a week, optimally Tuesday and Saturday
- Every new client goes through a thorough assessment, performed by two specialists of our clinic, after that the individual plan for the class will be written
-The treatment plan will include individual exercises and stretches that your child will do during class, as well as exercises and stretches for the homework
- If your child has scoliosis, hyperkyphosis, hyperlordosis, swayback posture, forward head carriage posture, rounded shoulders, growth pains, cracking or sore joints, frequent headaches - all of these will be addressed at our class
- The individuality of such a program will not allow for large groups - we are limiting classes to four people maximum
- The class will be supervised by our very own certified athletic therapist Victor, who will ensure the compliance to the program, but will keep the plan flexible in case if changes are needed
- Victor Lanzillotta , our athletic therapist , worked with professional athletic teams, will also guide classes for young athletes - general physical preparedness, injury prevention, injury rehabilitation and prehabilitation. Something that gives your child a competitive advantage in their chosen sport
- The length of the course is 8 weeks, and the cost of it is 40$ per class, plus assessment cost (can be covered with insurance)
- Methods that will be used in these classes:

Positional Isometric Contractions

Muscle Activation Techniques

Schroth Method

ELDOA Method

Fascial Stretching

Respiratory Activation

Functional Range Movements

PNF Stretching

Primary Reflex Integration

Classes are following all COVID-19 safety rules and will be designed to prevent spreading of it.

For further inquiries and to register, DM us or email info@feelingwell.ca!

27/06/2020

Scoliosis Saga... or brief history of Everything

Looking at this picture, you can easily explain in more than one way what forces were acting on this tree while it was growing up. Human body is very much alike when it comes to adapting to forces and compensating. Especially with orthopedic issues, like scoliosis

Today we will repeat the main mantra of health, when we see a person with scoliosis:

"Everything is connected to everything"

This statement has at least two meanings, that we address at Feeling Well Place:

The first one is a Geometric connection. Instead of taking the typical approach that “the concave curvature of the spine is where muscles are overtight, and convex curvature is where muscles are overstretched", we believe that the spine curvatures changes according to the demands of the body to function in the best possible way.

It means that a way a person walks, sits - with one foot inwards, one outwards, or sticking the phone in the back pocket of pants can alter the spine. Chewing with one side of the jaw can translate the spine into corkscrew. Things like teeth braces, mattresses that are too soft or too hard, or even a wrong sports activity, can push the delicate balance of symmetrical spine functioning into diagonal adaptations. Once it’s set into motion the body will continue growing and functioning with a curve unless the underlying issue(s) are addressed.

The second meaning is Time connection. This approach is a continuation of our previous post about baby milestones. Did a client with scoliosis hit all developmental milestones growing up, such as holding head, turning over, crawling, sitting, standing up and walking? Were there any issues in pregnancy and at birth? Were primitive reflexes functioning at birth and how well they were integrated through childhood? How about mental and cognitive development, delayed speech or sleep issues?

We investigate whether any of these issues could affect the posture and trigger muscles on one side of the spine to start pulling harder, while on the other side to be inhibited using the most revolutionary method out there - Muscle Activation Techniques.

We pay attention to and ask questions to get the full picture of physical body, psychological and emotional health, history of life... Everything matters because when we start working with scoliosis, we are absolutely forced to step outside of micro-vision of "only spine" and start building a very complex relationship between a patient and a therapist, searching not only for a tool to improve the spine and posture, but also for a initial trigger and a source of function altering.

Treatment, therefore, becomes much broader and global in its effect, if we step away from the spine itself and start treating the human as a whole.

21/06/2020

From birth to around 4 years old children make a mental development leap that can be compared to getting a PhD. Getting from few cells stuck together to full social functioning, and being ready to interact with the world on every level takes an incredible amount of resources.
We, as parents, have the best intentions to help our children make this trip as easy and efforrtless as possible. Sure enough, by trying harder we screw things up harder as well.

One of common misconceptions is that “a baby needs to be entertained and needs alone play in order for proper development".

In our practice, we have noticed that this belief can take a really weird turn, which you may have seen as well. In fact, we have a new term called “Container babies”. These are babies confined in the car seat, swing, or bouncer (or taking turns in all of them) with too many bright colourful squeaky sensory toys right in front of their faces. The worst part is that the “containers” are entertaining babies all day long.

These babies are deprived of a need to look around and find something interesting themselves, they are deprived of cross-reaching that is foundation for brain development, emotions, future comprehension. They are are also deprived of sensory equipment fine-tuning, that develops baby's cognitive development in the future. Remember that baby needs to search for stimuli herself/himself!

When multiple sources of nervous stimulation are thrown at poor baby's nervous system at once - rattling, red, spiky, yellow, soft, swinging, clicking and so on - the nervous system loses its drive to search for new type of information.

Babies need to reach, search and crawl for new stuff, be interested in, hearing new sounds, react on new colours... you get our point right?

Please give babies a chance to learn it themselves! Wear them on you, give them one toy at a time, put them on the floor and help them explore! Let your baby enjoy the road to learning! Yes, sometimes it may feel like they are suffering without entertainment, but this beautiful struggle is equipping our tiny children with conquering the world one day.

Don't worry, they are not too bored. And if they are indeed bored, they will learn to accept it and find creative outlets for the boredom. Their creativity is boosted significantly when information is scarce.

Tell us about your early parenting experiences, we would love to hear!

10/06/2020

New parents! This one is for you. (Although it’s not just for parents, and applies to everyone... Anyways, keep reading!)
You all know the developmental milestones - turning, sitting, crawling, standing, walking? Lets talk crawling today.

Very often, waaay more often than we would want to, we meet kids of various ages with developmental deviations who had a very short or altered crawling phase.
We cannot stress it enough - crawling phase for a little human's brain development is like primary education. Just as without learning your ABC's you will not be able to accomplish a university degree, without crawling you won't be able to successfully tackle complex tasks, such as walking, running, coordinated movements and neurological tasks. Lack of crawling also affects emotional intelligence, cognitive abilities, learning sharpness, memory and so on.

Now, please don’t read this message the wrong way! Of course everyone learns how to walk, run and dance eventually! The point is - if during early development the utmost important phase is skipped, cut short, dysfunctional or pathological - we are risking to see a poorly coordinated child later on. These children are at higher risk of scoliosis or kyphosis, feet prolapses, bad knees, bad walking gait, and other orthopedic issues. Crawling doesn’t just affect just orthopaedic function, but also cognitive! These connections are astonishing.

In a nutshell, please don't be one of those parents who proudly say "my baby didn't crawl, but tried to walk when he/she was 8 months old!" Don't rush your babies into walking, in fact, knock them off their feet often and let them explore the crawling!

Specialists rarely mention this, but developmental milestones play a crucial role in mental development. The scenarios "skipped crawling -> has ADHD few years later" happen way too often to ignore. In short, while brain goes through shaping of neurological patterns, it is vitally important to coordinate left and right brain hemispheres and synchroize cross-lateral connection between the brain and the body.

We can definitely talk more about mechanisms of such connection. Comment below if you want to hear more from us

18/05/2020

Did you know that a grown up man has over 2.5 square meters of skin? And every inch of that has hundreds of nervous endings that read information about temperature, pain, touch, pressure, shapes, texture and so on and pass it upstairs to the central nervous system.

Tactile and proprioceptive systems sometimes can give too much or too little information to brain to analyze, and this extremely delicately coordinated structure starts falling apart. It can be manifested as overly sensitive skin, painful touch, achy body, and other tactile sensory deviations. They may lead to nervous overstimulation, anxiety, restlessness, worries and fobias.

Have you ever seen a person that bumps into every damn corner, very ill coordinated, stumbles and falls easily? Yes, that is also proprioceptive system disorder. The brain simply doesn't know where each body part is located in space. Proprioceptive receptors are located primarily around joints, in ligaments and tendons.

Recently we stumbled upon service of a local craft woman, Dawna, who makes weighted blankets for kids. Well, there is your nervous system calming effect in its purest!

Using simple things like weighted blanket retrains brain to receive more adequate skin stimulation.

The proprioceptive pressurizing gives a child feeling of safety. Nervous system lowers guarding, reduces anxiety. Under this pressure child can feel her/his body better.

We want to thank Dawna
https://www.facebook.com/dawna.designs/
for an amazing experience and a great product. Thank you!

Disclaimer! We are not sponsored by her, we are just extremely happy with the weighted blanket that she made for us.

10/05/2020

We witness the most aggressive promotion in fitness activity these days, when everyone is encouraged to exercise and be active one way or another.

While we are VERY supportive of the idea of an active and healthy lifestyle (especially while you are confined at home), and we also contribute to promoting it by offering our zoom kettlebell classes, we want to reiterate number one warning:

if you have even the smallest discomfort while trying new exercise or challenge - STOP IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

Slightest whisper that something is not okay can very easily turn into a scream, and its our job not to let it go this far. Be mindful and very respectful to your body.

No matter what exactly you are doing - running, walking, yoga, lifting, Pilates, Zumba, calisthenics, cycling, whatever - none of these modalities can guarantee you being absolutely injury-free. If something is off, stop and let your instructor know. Don’t worry about hurting your Yoga or Pilates instructors’ feelings or keeping up with everyone else, don't buy into peer pressure, or into "one more rep!" mentality, its YOUR body you need to listen and hear, its your joints, ligaments, muscles, and all systems of health!

08/05/2020

A quick reminder - today Kettlebell Immune Boost Zoom workout has been rescheduled to 5:10 pm!
If you didn't have a chance to join us at noon - now is your chance!

01/05/2020

Happy May 1!
Our Kettlebell Immune Boost workout is happening right on the schedule, at 12 pm! Tune in on Zoom to join us!

27/04/2020

Our family fun with kettlebells for immune boosting starts at 12 pm today! Join us!

24/04/2020

Update of our Kettlebell Workouts!
We invite you to our online classes that are on regular schedule from now on:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday
- at 12 pm
- only 30 minutes
- tailored to strengthen cardiovascular system, respiratory system and immune system!
- its your chance to join rapidly growing community of positive like-minded people
Link to the Zoom meeting:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/6636446783?pwd=SlJoNVowUzRqakhTazBmck9aNHVxUT09

Meeting ID: 663 644 6783
Password: 022292

22/04/2020

Did you guys know that our very own Alex has recently graduated from an ELDOA Level 1-2 course?
Now you know!
Have you heard about ELDOA method?
In short, it is the most specific way of decompressing the spine exactly at the spot that you need it. By assuming special position and holding it for a minute, you can decoapt (create space) in exactly the region where its most crucially needed.

22/04/2020

Tomorrow at 12 pm we are exercising on Zoom again! Info is in the bio, lets boost that immunity by raising endorphins!!!

Feeling Well Place

07/03/2023

06/02/2023

19/12/2022

15/12/2022

21/01/2021

28/08/2020

24/08/2020

27/06/2020

21/06/2020

10/06/2020

18/05/2020

10/05/2020

08/05/2020

01/05/2020

27/04/2020

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