a community of practitioners

Stone Therapy - good therapy for therapists

I've got 16 years of practice (and two years Canadian training) under my belt - with the wear and tear on my hands to boot. I took a course in Stone Therapy in February and look forward to the bookings.

I find that the heat is incredibly healing and restorative for my hands, and when I do hot stone therapy I use Biotone Gel which keeps my cuticles in incredible shape. Deep tissue hot stones are a godsend!

If anyone is on the fence about learning hot stone therapy I say "Do it for yourself. Your hands will thank you."

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Angie Anderson on July 6, 2009 at 8:47pm

I know I wish all of my clients would use it! I can do twice as many massages with stones than with my hands in a day.

Permalink Reply by Angie Anderson on July 7, 2009 at 9:00am

I know that sometimes after you are a therapist you can take corespondant (pardon my lack of spelling) courses. All it does is teach the contraindications and a basic idea of how its done with a video. Once you know how to give massage it is just adding a bit more knowledge. I took a course for something else in Institue of Somatic Therapy and I really enjoyed it. They are really helpful and the materials were good. Try to get a course that gives stones and CEU's.

Mikki said:

I'm currently a Massage Therapy student and have been thinking about doing a more in-depth course in Stone Therapy. Does anyone know of a good course in the Philadelphia area?

Permalink Reply by Shanna Schultz on July 7, 2009 at 5:56pm

I agree about doing massage with stones being easier on me both physically and energetically. I find that I can do the deep work that I lvoe to do without being sore at the end of the day (since starting to work exclusively with stones, I find that I am only sore after a very heavy day of work, or after a particularly busy week.)

I highly suggest learning to work with both hot and cold stones. My work with cold stones has been invaluable for my clients with chronic pain or reconvering from injuries (and feel great in my hands after the heated ones). La Stone therapy teaches very comprehensive classes that include the use of the cold stones.

Permalink Reply by Lee Anne Thorson LMT on July 11, 2009 at 7:10am

What exactly are deep tissue hot stones?

Permalink Reply by Shanna Schultz on July 11, 2009 at 10:09am

Lee Anne Thorson said:

What exactly are deep tissue hot stones?

Hmmm, not exactly sure what context you mean "deep tissue hot stones" in? I use my hot stones for deep tissue work sometimes (though I feel that the cold stones are more effective for this). La Stone therapy teaches a great class on doing deep tissue work with stones (www.lastonetherapy.com)

Some shapes of stones themselves are more condusive to doing deep tissue work (for example, some flat stones seem to work well for working under the scapula, and I have some great "pointy people" stones that are long and skinny and are great for trigger point work.)

Shanna

Permalink Reply by Jenny Ray on July 11, 2009 at 1:52pm

WOW what great conversations about the Stone Nation!...
If anyone is interested in some history behind Geothermal Therapy visit this site for an article recently published... http://www.handsontrade.com/news/issue7/article1.html

In our traditional ways the term Inyan Pejuta means Stone Medicine and it refers to all types of stone therapies...but in modern times the word describing hot and cold stone therapies is Geo=stone Thermal= temperature and Therapy for body work....

We Indian people say Shaman Stones for crystal and gem stone work, because it is the mystery of their energy that serves the client, so these stones are working like a Shaman. For working on animals we say Wakan Huntopha Inyan which means 'Sacred Four Legged Stones' and can mean heated, chilled or crystal/gems or any stone used for any purpose with animals...(Winged Ones and Swimming Ones also like the stones but we lump it all together as being animals served by the stones.) There are too many to list here but you get the idea...

Geothermal Therapy is the only generic term for this modality...most other terms such as 'hot stone' 'lastone' 'sacred stones' 'stone medicine' are all brand names ...our industry needs to shift to using the generic modality name as it is more professional than using a brand name to describe this work...

I have never stopped learning in over 40 years of study with the Stone Nation and recently I have been fascinated with how the prophecy about Inyan Pejuta is being fulfilled..... Black Elk a famous Medicine Man (1878-1949) spoke of a time when the Stone Nation would awaken humans to the pain of Mother Earth.... he was speaking about the difficulties our planet is having due to pollution, global warming and other serious environmental issues. The reason the earth has been damaged is because us human parasites forget that we are related and 100% dependent on her....the message from Black Elk was that we "...The masters of Inyan Pejuta will bring the Bones of Mother Earth to the people when they lose connection with her...." (the Bones are the Stones)...if we connect people to the land (by touching them with stones) they begin to recognize their relationship with her and become more conscious of their actions. When the people in power around the world who make the decisions that effect the environment are receiving Geothermal Therapy they will shift focus and begin caring for our Mother in new ways...

Happy Stone Walking,
Jenny Ray
www.SacredStoneMedicine.com
www.StoneWalkersAssociation.com

Permalink Reply by Mary Ellen Derwis-Balaz on August 30, 2009 at 2:18pm

I agree with you about the Stones being therapeutic for the practitioner. I love them. I tell my clients to go to their local landscaping supply and purchase basalt stones the size of their palms and have them use them at home when they hurt and cannot get in to see me quickly. They love them.

Permalink Reply by Travis Alligood on August 30, 2009 at 3:00pm

Catherine,
I have been practicing for 8 months and I am about to fall off the fence with excitement to learn Hot Stones. I have been integrating them into sessions, but I would really love to get more formal training in them, which I will do after I complete 2 other classes of interest.

Permalink Reply by Darcy Neibaur on September 12, 2009 at 5:15pm

I just finished a CEU course today in Hot Stones Massage that my employer paid for me to take. I have dabbled with the Hot Stones as well during some massage sessions. Now I know the correct portacall which is important. Now on to the next class.

Permalink Reply by Bruce Baltz on October 11, 2009 at 5:55pm

Mikki, many of the top educators in stone massage travel the county teaching there technique and they do vary. I would suggest you look into where your interests may lie from deep tissue or energy work. Looking at DVDs might help in deciding who you would like to study with.

All the best in your new career

Mikki said:

I'm currently a Massage Therapy student and have been thinking about doing a more in-depth course in Stone Therapy. Does anyone know of a good course in the Philadelphia area?

Permalink Reply by Judith Smith on January 5, 2010 at 5:39pm

Add me to the list of those excited to learn hot stone techniques. I have watched every stone video on youtube and can't wait to find a class near me to get some hands-on training.

Permalink Reply by Jenny Ray on January 6, 2010 at 1:45am

yup the stones help heal the healer...I have been at this for so many years my grandkids think i am a stone!! I could never do this kind of work if I had to rely on my hands alone...
As folks talk about seeking CE education it is important to think about the difference in course content...it can not be fully described here but it is important to research the methodology you plan to study. Like Bruce mentioned if your interest is energy or deep tissue it may lead you in one direction or another....but an important thing to remember is,...If they do not teach both hot and cold stone use, then they may not have a full understanding of the science behind the use of therapeutic temperature on the body. Without fully understanding what temperature to use, where to apply it, when to use it and how to apply it, you are simply not getting the full benefit of this modality. There are always add on courses for technique and focus on style, but be sure your foundation courses teach you the complete range of temperature with the science and physiology to help you know how to best serve your client. There are hundreds of 'expressions' of Geothermal Therapy on the market, NCBTMB has given them all CE provider status (a pet peeve of mine) but I know of only about two dozen methods that teach enough science to set you on the right path.