Endless Flow

I was always intrigued by this concept and it has guided me thru all my life. On and Off the ice. That is why I love watching the ocean , besides the view being spectacular(especially when you add a sunset to it)…

That is what I always tried and still try to create on the ice. The blade allows us to create endless flow thru the gliding. BY itself it does not create endless flow. Every part of you has to be fluid (mentally and physicially)

There are many levels to this. Right now I want to stay with the physical. All the small muscle groups have to be educated . You need the awareness to feel what you are doing during movement and motion. (kinesthetic awareness) then you need

Balance – agility – flexibility – strength and endurance in all the muscles (large and small groups)

After you understand body alignment it takes lots of work and persistence. You must educate your body so it becomes a precision instrument of movement and motion .

Then you can add your creative side and become the artist that you could be with the right mental understanding ,toughness and willingness to work at it.

Everybody that has been willing to do this and has reached the level of being “in flow”, will tell you that it was all worth it!!!

meeting up with friends at Worlds in LA

appreciation and the power of a smile

To be appreciated is the greatest need of all human beings.
Nobody wants to be taken for granted and we want to be appreciated for what we do , accomplish and who we are.
It seems so strange to me, we want to get the appreciation, but have a difficult time to give it.
It is really true, whatever you want , give it away and it will come back to you 100 fold over. But this is not a ping pong match. It is giving with no strings attached.
The getting back does not usually come from the same source. So the main thing we should be getting back for giving is appreciation.
I remember one morning going to the rink, I felt depressed. I had to get gas and the attendant at the station had the greatest smile ,some kind words and really cheered me up. When I got to the rink I was in a cheery mood and tried to have the same effect on people I saw . I have been trying to do this now for many years, to try to brighten up some ones day. I do remember telling the man how much I appreciated his smile at that very moment. What he got was my appreciation, but he has influenced many situations in my life that brought a little sunshine into situations, that might have been otherwise pretty gray.
Try to notice these small gifts in your life, appreciate them and then share them with others. My Motto has always been, when in doubt smile….
Please tell me about situations in your life, where a little kindness went a long way.

New clinical trial for breast cancer vaccine

Based on the impressive success of his previous clinical trial, Dr. Czerniecki and his staff at the University of Pennsylvania are excited to announce the 2nd clinical trial for a breast cancer vaccine. and
This study involves using your own cells to develop a vaccine that will attack cancer and prevent it from growing. Upon entering the study, your blood will be drawn in a way that allows us to collect only your white blood cells. These cells will be used to create a vaccine, which you will receive weekly over a six-week period. After you receive the vaccine, you will undergo the standard surgical procedure to remove any remaining DCIS in the breast.

The trial has opened, and we are actively looking for eligible participants.

For information please contact:
Jeanne Schueller
Research Project Manager
Department of Surgery
(desk) 215-349-8399
(cell) 215-882-4676
(fax) 215-662-4322
jeanne.schueller@uphs.upenn.edu


Jeanne Schueller can also put you in touch with lay volunteers who have knowledge of the vaccines.
Please tell all your contacts about this, so that anyone diagnosed with breast cancer can find out if they are eligible for this trial prior to surgery!!!

ISU banquets

No more banquets at ISU competitions…
I returned a week ago from LA. I had a wonderful time…
It was great to see so many friends. This is the wonderful thing about skating, to be able to stay in contact with your friends that you made in your life-time.
After the events, when we had the awards banquet ,we could get together with the athletes from other nations and start friendships that last a life-time.
I was sorry to see that at Europeans in Helsinki and Worlds in LA they did away with that great tradition. I know they want to save money, but I hope they will reconsider in the future. It leaves the events so unfinished.
I hope the IOC will not follow suit and have no more opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympic Games. What a great loss that would be…!

the corvette

My grandson Corey likes cars since he is a baby.
When he was three we were riding in the car. In his car-seat he had a bag of matchbox cars . He pulls out one and says. “What kind of car is this Omi?. It has a different kind of spoiler." I said “it is a corvette”
He looked at it for a bit then said” I think you are right , but I haven’t seen one like that in years.”
Mind you he was three years old.
As you can tell from my blogs I love my grandkids and enjoy what they have to say…

alignment in skating to prevent injury

In Skating we have had lately a lot more injuries than ever.
Since we do not do figures anymore I feel the correct body alignment in relation to the edge is not as good as it used to be. We use a lot of forced edges and lean in order to control the blade, which puts undue stress onto the joints.
Thru figures we used to learn the art of gliding. Thru proper understanding of gliding and the law of physics involved, skating becomes most of the time low impact, because thru the correct suspension all the impact gets transferred over the whole body. But with all the forcing of the blade and lack of suspension it has become for the most part ,high impact. The body cannot endure this kind of abuse over the long haul. We are seeing more knee, back and hip injuries (abuse injuries) than ever.
We in the skating community have to get together to come up with a way to re -introduce proper alignment.
Figures I am sure will not come back, but we need to come up with something that will solve the problem .