EmbodyForYou.comthe online guide to health and beauty
EmbodyForYou.comthe online guide to health and beauty
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 and reduce pain or discomfort, boosting a healing process.
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 can help in the treatment of for following problems; muscular aches, pains, and strains, rheumatic and arthritic conditions, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, back pain, and insomnia. It also helps to improve circulation and can help reduce stress, anxiety, tension and depression.
In certain cases cold stones can also be used to help muscular injury and inflammation. Warm 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.
During a treatment the client lies on a couch or a series of flat hot and cool stones - covered by a thick towel - that trace the spine. The therapist applies oil to the skin and glides the stones across the body’s meridian lines. In some treatments large stones are placed on the body, in the palms of the hands, and coin-sized stones are lightly wedged between the toes. Heated Chakra stones align and balance chief energy centres, benefiting the whole body, not just specific areas.
Use the links below to search for Hot Stone Massage/Therapy practitioners.
Massage Courses
Directory of CThA approved
Massage Courses
www.complementary.assoc.org.uk