Introduction to Hot Stones Therapy

Both stone massage, and the use of heat on the body as a therapy, dates back thousands of years, and has taken the form of not only healing, but also worship, and other rituals. This practice has been given a modern day twist and is now a staple part of many salon treatment menus.

Stone massage therapy has been used in many different cultures for many years. Healers used rocks from the river beds and warmed them either in hot coals or hot water. Placing the hot stones on cloth on the body and arranging them along the energy centres of the body would help to relax the muscles.

The placing of the stones can be followed by a massage which can be deeper and more intense as heat penetrates the body and relaxes the muscles. Hot Stone therapy also helps to improve circulation and can help reduce stress, anxiety, tension and depression.

Stones expand the blood vessels, helping to move blood faster round the body, sedating the nervous system. The application of cold stones stimulates the nervous system by causing the blood vessels to contract and increasing the lymph flow of waste materials round the body.

The Spiritual Aspect

The spiritual side of stone massage plays a very important part, and it is important for the therapist to have a good understanding of the clients Chakras and Aura.

Amongst the 300 or more chakras within the body, there are seven main ones positioned vertically down the spine. The lower chakras are considered to be representative of our instinctual side, whilst the highest ones are our mental side. The chakras act as centres of energy that are drawn down and exchange subtle, higher energies from the universe into the Etheric body to help maintain physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance.

Creating balance between the seven main chakras will mean eliminating negative energy, introducing positive energy, strengthening weak areas and neutralising strong or dominant areas.

What is it?

Stone massage therapy utilizes heat-retaining warm basalt and cool sedimentary massage stones, as well as chakra balancing using semiprecious stones and crystals, and aromatherapy. Thermal conduction in the warm stones brings about local and systemic changes in the body, and influences the energy centers for body and mind balancing. The use of massage techniques in conjunction with the stones helps produce energy that assists with and directs vital flow to areas of blockage.

Lymphatic drainage can also be addressed by combining cold and warm stones. As lymphatic flow is altered, the body is transformed on a cellular level. This combination is also effective for increasing general circulation to vaso- restricted areas of the body.

A History of Massage

Massage has been used for healing throughout recorded history (and no doubt before that). There is a natural instinct to rub a sore spot or ache to make it better, and cultures all over the world have built upon this to develop varied styles of massage. Massage is so ancient that the derivation of the word is uncertain – it may have come from the ancient Greek word “massin” (to knead), or the Arabic “mass” or the Hebrew “mashesh” (to press). The earliest written reference to massage is in the “Nei Ching”, the Yellow Emperor’s Book of Medicine (written about 2700 BC in China), which describes many massage techniques and their use. Indian texts on Ayurvedic Medicine from about 1800 BC also describe massage. There are many references in the Old Testament of the Bible to the practice of people being “anointed with oil”, particularly after a long journey. From about 500 BC, there are references to massage in medical texts from Egypt, Persia and Japan.

In Eastern systems of massage, the emphasis is on the idea of balancing energy in the body. Acupressure massage developed in China, based on the acupuncture energy meridians and points. It is often used in combination with other traditional systems such as “Anma” (pressing and rubbing) and “Tuina” (pushing and pulling). In Japan “Amma” massage of pressing, rubbing, wringing and stretches, was traditionally practised by blind practitioners. Shiatsu combines this with pressure techniques on acupuncture points. Thai massage also combines pressure, rubbing and stretches with techniques that work on the energy lines of the body.

In addition to its use by skilled professionals, massage has been used within families throughout Asia and Africa, particularly by mothers massaging babies, and head massage is an automatic part of a visit to the barber or hairdresser throughout much of North Africa and Asia. Massage also developed independently in other parts of the world. Many of the early European visitors to Pacific islands described the use of massage (such as the Hawaiian “Lomilomi”); Captain James Cook, on his third Pacific voyage in the late eighteenth century, had massage (“romee”) in Tahiti to relieve sciatic pain.

In recent decades, many interwoven factors have contributed to a growing public interest in massage – the fashion for fitness (in part, through the need to balance sedentary working lives); growing awareness of stress as a health/illness factor; a desire to receive personal treatment where appropriate (rather than be plugged into a machine; an interest in health maintenance that has seen such a growth in “complementary therapies” (the re-emergence of traditional Western and Eastern approaches, the increasing availability of approaches developed in other parts of the shrinking “global village”, and the consequent development of “cross fertilised” hybrids); and the influence of physically based personal development disciplines (ranging from the purely physical to the spiritual – such as Yoga, Tai Chi and Eastern Martial Arts). These have served not only to bring massage (of all sorts) into mainstream awareness; but have expanded the scope for massage to be seen as a meeting point of these and many other disciplines. In recent years, people have turned to massage not just for general physical relaxation and to release the muscle tension after a “workout”, but also for its relevance to stress management as an adjunct to or even an essential part of counselling, psychotherapy, and personal/professional development; as “touch communication” to enhance partner, family or social relationships; and as an aid to comfort people in ill health, and nurture and replenish them in recovery. One of the important avenues of acceptance of massage has been in hospices, where the quality of care is important

There are four main stone massage movements:

i) Effleurage which starts and ends the routine using the flat surface or side of the stone.
ii) Petrissage, a deeper, more penetrating movement which requires the flat surface of the stone to be pressed into the body.
iii) Frictions, which are deep movements only applied to small areas of the body using the side of the stone.
iv) Vibrations, movements which are used to send impulses down the nerve pathways to stimulate and clear them. This can be performed by either laying one stone flat onto the body and tapping another stone onto it, or by tapping the stones together in the Aura just above the body.

Effleurage

This is the first movement to be performed in any massage routine. It can be a very light, stroking movement or a much deeper movement, depending on the pressure applied. It is also the finishing movement to any to any massage routine. It is performed with the palm pads of the hand and pressure is exerted in one direction – always towards the heart to aid both venous and lymphatic flow. The hands and fingers of the masseuse are always returned to the starting point of the movement with no pressure, but just light contact.

The beneficial effects of effleurage
• Aids and increases circulation.
• Improves lymphatic circulation, thus aiding the absorption of nutrients.
• Eliminates waste products.
• Aids desquamation.
• Aids relaxation.

Pettrissage

This is a compression movement that helps to tone muscles. It is a more vigorous movement than effleurage and includes rolling, kneading, stretching and wringing the muscle tissue. The movement can be performed using the whole hand, individual fingers or a thumb. This movement is performed slowly. During this movement the muscle is gently lifted away from the bone and alternatively stretched, squeezed and then released. This movement will also help soften adhesions, which may be present in the soft tissue.

The beneficial effects of Petrissage are:
• Aids desquamation.
• Muscle tone is improved due to the stimulation of the blood supply.
• Increases nutrients to the stimulated area.

Vibrations

These movements are fine tremulous movements, which are performed with the tips of the fingers or the whole hand. Both the arms and the hands of the manicurist must be relaxed and then contracted to produce the vibration movement which can be static or running.

The beneficial effects of vibration are:
• Relieves tension in the muscles.
• Very relaxing.

Frictions

Friction movements are made up of small circular motions of the thumb or finger pads. These movements push the muscle against the bone, breaking up any nodules or adhesions present in the tissues. The movements are directed at the underlying tissues rather than the surface of the skin. The beneficial effects are:
• Deep movements produce a relaxing effect.
• Aids circulation.
• Have a tightening and toning effect.
• Break up fibrous tissue