Kuldip Quinterno is a somato emotional therapist and the founder of Helsinki Healing Arts Center. We caught up with him to talk about the healing process, his system of somatic body therapy, and what events that led him here.

Tell us a little bit about who you are, your background and your relation to healing

I am a father, husband, martial artist, yogi & somatic therapist with a passion for natural health and healing. I own and run the Healing Arts Center, where I facilitate healing sessions, teach martial arts, and kundalini yoga classes.

I was born and raised in a pretty rough part of New York. From being a sensitive and contemplative child, as a teenager I had a lot of anger built up in me that I didn’t know how to channel in a constructive way. What helped me transform then was getting introduced to martial arts as ways of funnelling the negative emotions into something positive and beneficial instead.

I always loved the study of music and sound, and in my late teens, after returning from the navy, I began studying sound engineering. One day, I was introduced to kundalini yoga, and had such a profound embodied experience, that I got hooked. I began studying and teaching kundalini yoga, and then got certified as a yoga teacher. That got me further interested in Reiki and other types of healing work, which led me to enroll in massage school and into seven years of intensive studies in neuromuscular therapy and somato emotional unwinding. I am certified in massage therapy, neuromuscular therapy, Shiatsu, acupressure and basic osteopathy. Additionally, I hold a 4th degree black belt in Tora No Jutsu, a martial arts style that focuses on the internal movement of chi.

A longtime dream of mine had been to open a space dedicated to somatic and holistic healing and education. Together with my wife, we opened the Healing Arts Center in August last year. We wanted the environment to represent what healing feels like; spacious, calm and free. When you walk through the door, you can feel it’s a completely different frequency than outside — simply stepping into the space has a relaxing effect on the body and mind. The ultimate goal is that the space and the community can serve as a communal container of support, knowledge and inspiration for wellbeing and healing.

“A big part of healing is looking at the obstacles and acknowledging them as opportunities to know oneself better, grow, shift and transform. In the healing sessions we work synergistically with the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of a person. We are not only unwinding the physical trauma from the body, but we are also giving the mind space to process and heal.”

What does healing mean to you, and how do you incorporate it into your work?

Healing can happen on different levels, from individual, to social and structural. On a personal level, I would say that healing is a deep sense of letting go, of trusting and allowing yourself to face the source of the pain, in order to be at peace both with yourself and the world. Not fighting or pushing, but letting the location of the pain guide you towards healing. Etymologically the word healing means “to make whole”, i.e. to unite and unify.

In the work I do I face mostly congested energy, tension or pain in the physical body. Emotional pain activates the same regions of the brain as physical pain does, and so the source and reaction to pain can be both physical and physiological. A big part of healing is looking at the obstacles and acknowledging them as opportunities to know oneself better, grow, shift and transform. In the healing sessions we work synergistically with the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of a person. We are not only unwinding the physical trauma from the body, but we are also giving the mind space to process and heal.

The somatic unwinding system that I work with consists of a few different approaches. One is Polynesian footwork, that has a deeply grounding and balancing effect on the body. Another is an actual unwinding of fascia that gently opens up the connective tissue in the body. The sessions also include acupressure, which is gentle holding at certain vital points in the body to stimulate the body’s circulatory systems, as well as Reiki, which is a gentle hands-on healing that relaxes the body and mind.

What are some of the most common challenges you see amongst your clients?

Something very common that I see a lot and that clients express is stress and the inability to reach and be in a relaxed state. I believe people are being exposed to overwhelmingly much input on a daily basis. The body’s response to all these impressions can be to create an armory, as a way to manage and protect oneself from stress. In a healing session, we begin by relaxing the body and then moving to opening up and unlocking the muscles and the connective tissue. As soon as a person comes into a relaxed state again, they can get back in touch with their body and gain emotional balance.

To find and receive a form of healing that one benefits from is as important as finding tools that can be practiced in between sessions, ideally as a daily practice. Moving, breathing, stretching and hydrating keeps the internal energy flowing, prevents stagnation and maintains the healing process. Personally, I see great benefits from a daily energetic yoga and meditation practice.

What are some of your daily practices for healing?

I stretch, I pray, and I make small positive changes in my habits every day with the intention of healing. Dry brushing, cold showers, herbal tonics, rebounding, a plant based diet, and resting are other things that support my wellbeing. I also practice kundalini yoga and meditation daily — I like the versatility, the dynamic rhythms, the heavy breath work, and also the Sikhi based mantras.

What inspires you?

Authors, podcasts, nature and people inspire me. I get inspired both when I study and when I teach; and I believe it is extremely important to be open to taking the role of the student, to acknowledge that you can always learn something new, instead of believing that you already know enough. I'm very blessed with amazing teachers from which I am grateful to have learned and continue to learn from to this day. I also get inspired from receiving healing sessions myself, for massage I work with my friend Ion Boian who is an excellent massage therapist. We have very skilled healing students at the center that know the alignment work and the footwork system. I also work with Susan Hedman for spiritual healing. Additionally, I go to my prayers that teach me to stay in my heart, and of course my children are my biggest teachers.

What are you looking forward to in the future?

I am looking forward to continuing my healing practice and expanding the communal platform at the Healing Center. I am currently studying herbal detoxification and am looking forward to incorporating that in my healing work in the future. My intention has also always been to share kundalini yoga and martial arts as tools of empowerment and regaining self confidence. The martial arts is an internal yin style martial arts that teaches us how to embody different elements and tap into the different qualities of our spiritual nature. It also shows us how to conquer the mind and the fear, and instead embody the spiritual warrior part of us.

Learn more about the somatic healing work here, or learn with Kuldip in our upcoming events. You can also join the weekly online classes in kundalini yoga or send Kuldip a request to join the martial arts study group.

Meet the team: Kuldip