Stone Therapy: the Myth, the Reality & Everything in Between

STONE THERAPY IS A “SACRED PLACEMENT” OF STONES ALONG THE BODY’S CHAKRA SYSTEM

FALSE Some therapists work with Chakras (body’s energy centres). Some therapists do not. Some therapists do not believe in Chakras. And so on…

Our training materials make a distinction between two basic types of stone therapy treatments: Yang Treatments (more active stone massage, myofascial work, trigger points work etc.) and Yin Treatments (placement and holding of the stones, restorative protocols, Chakra /energy work).

A typical stone therapy treatment usually integrates both a Yin and a Yang approach, while also incorporating the therapist’s individual set of skills and, especially, their unique set of beliefs. This is one of the main reasons that every single stone therapy treatment has a distinctive flair.

In many destination spas, a placement of the stones along the body Chakras is gaining popularity. Many clients visiting destination spas are already “elevated” and detached from their usual daily grind, which makes them open to the more subtle types of bodywork.

In the city, however, clients definitely need more of the Yang treatments. The urban stress and tension that sits on our shoulders, head and neck has to be released vigorously, quickly and on schedule.

YOU NEED SPECIAL STONES TO PERFORM THE STONE THERAPY TREATMENT.

FALSE  There are many therapists who harvest their stones in pristine rivers and bays of Canada, United States, South America and Europe. They look for stones that will fit their hands, and when they find them, they cherish the stones unique properties. They are very careful in the treatment rooms and they do not mind low heat retention. Those therapists usually perform beautiful and uplifting treatments while using “a wrong-kind” of non-basalt, sedimentary river stones.

However, in our classroom and treatments we use only one kind of stones, basalt or volcanic stones. Basalt stones come in all kinds of colours (black, green, reddish etc.), do not break easily when heated, and are excellent as a cooled tool as well. For convenience and especially safety, we do not use any river or sedimentary stones. Sedimentary stones may break on high temperatures and are known to provide an inconsistent heat.

YOU NEED SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THE STONE THERAPY SUCH AS SPECIALTY HEATERS, SERVING SPOONS OR MITTENS.

FALSE As a therapist you can save quite a bit of money on your equipment if you do not buy into this one.

Anything that heats food will heat the stones (with exception of microwaves and slow cookers, do not use them): oven roasters, crock-pots, rice cookers, toaster ovens, regular ovens, regular pots and pans. It does not matter how expensive your equipment is: whether it is $19.99 or $99.99, the heater will last no longer then three to five years.

What sometimes matters is the size of the heater. If you anticipate a lot of treatments you will be better off buying a bigger heater. Also, you have to make sure you consider the size of your treatment room and the amount of humidity your heater will create.Serving mittens are very impractical to say the least; there is no need to use them ever. Serving spoons (to fetch the stones from the heater) can be purchased in any department store (or even Dollar Store for budget minded therapists).

FALSE Native American healing tradition did not use massage stones* (also see the comment bellow). Stones were used in sacred ceremonies in sweat lodges but with minimal physical contact with the human body.

This belief about origins of stone therapy in the Native American Tradition was established by the encounter of Mary D. Nelson, the founder of LaStone Therapy, with Native American guide, San Juanette. Mary Nelson channeled the information of the usage of the stones in massage therapy and significantly contributed to the renewal of the method.

Historically, the closest to the true origin of stone therapy is probably a Chinese (and Japanese) medical tradition. Moe then 2000 years BC Eastern tradition was simply more evolved in terms of providing and inventing a variety of tools for massage therapy.
In general, because different types of bodywork were more popular in the East then in the West, the East was also more creative in designing new tools and techniques. Some of those involved stones, especially volcanic stones and volcanic sand with which Japan is abundantly blessed.
Even today, in Ibusuki Volcanic Field in Kyushu, Japan, many people come just to enjoy being buried in the hot steaming volcanic sand for a half an hour or so to improve their general health.

I AM CAPABLE OF LEARNING STONE THERAPY BY MYSELF.

FALSE You will also probably lose a lot of time or money by being ill prepared or not feeling competent enough to perform even an average treatment.

There are many great educational tools available to us, both therapists and consumers: educational CDs, DVDs, video and audio material, do it yourself massage books and charts.However, there is something in learning with your hands while experiencing on your skin and participating in the group of people that greatly accelerates the learning process.

If you have a chance, attend a stone therapy class.

Classes are better then books, better then CDs or tapes. Even a substandard class gives you some insight into how you like information to be presented. The classes are a great way to socialize and network and learn a thousand small details about what other people in our field do, and sometimes, do better then we do.A good class will make you eager to start practicing. A good class will stretch your limits and take you out of your self. A good class will make you uncomfortable with your old ways, motivate the necessary change and eventually propel you to new level of practice.

THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT WAY TO DO A STONE THERAPY TREATMENT

FALSE As you probably expected. However, there is a right and a wrong attitude in the treatment room. There are clients who were literally burned by therapists (we call them “stone therapy survivors”) because the hot stone was left on the skin without confirming with the client that either temperature or stone placement is appropriate. They never sued the therapist but they did change the clinic and they shared their bad experience with friends and families. There are places that provide new massage therapy grads with a four-page manual on stone therapy and hand them over a $130.00 client two hours later. There are also places where stones are laid on the client’s back and clients are left in the room by themselves. The list is long but as a client you always know (or should we say, you feel) the rightness or wrongness of the situation. As a client you do not really care about the protocols, about supine or side position, but you always do feel deep down if the treatment was right and genuine, and a therapist was present, compassionate and responsive.

The issue of trust and genuine service are basic premises of any manual therapy, the service industry field and even more, in life itself.

But that would bring us to the whole different topic.