“The stones are an active part of the process. Each one is distinct with its own gifts – warm and solid or gentle and light as a feather or pointy, moving deeply into tight muscles. I feel their energy working on my behalf.” from a client
The stones used in my Stone Medicine sessions are as diverse as the locations that they come from all over the world!
Before our modern times, when these treatments were done by the Native American tribes who started using them, they were done outdoors, often on the banks of a creek or river. The hot stones were river stones that had been heated by the sun, and the cold stones were taken directly out of the water.
This simple, elegant treatment has been enhanced in modern times by the availability of a wide variety of different kinds of healing stones from all over the world.
The workhorses of my massage stones are my basalt. These are the dark, heavy river stones stones that heated and used for much of the hot stone massage. Basalt has a higher iron content than some other types of stones, enabling it to hold onto its heat for a longer period of time offering more therapeutic benefit to the body.
The hot stones are like the warriors. They move rapidly over the skin,
Hot stones have a relaxing effect on the nervous system, and they help to loosen chronically tight muscles by increasing blood flow.
The fixers of my massage stone tribe are my marble stones. These are carved into various shapes for use on different areas of the body. They are used chilled on places on your body where you have pain and inflammation.
When your body experiences cold, it is programmed to try to remain at an even temperature, so it sends extra blood and oxygen to the rescue to try to warm that part up. The extra blood and oxygen flush out the metabolic wastes that have accumulated in the stagnant muscle and help to heal the pain and inflammation. This is why cold is usually even more effective than heat in relieving sore, tight muscles (really, if I didn’t know better I would say that it is almost magical!)
The cold healing stones relate to winter and the elders. Winter is the time when the children would scurry to gather around the fire to hear the elders tell the old legends and stories, just like the blood scurrying toward the cold stone to heal an area of injury and heat. Winter and elders both move slowly, just like the cold stones do, bringing wisdom and healing.
While the idea of cold might not sound appealing, most people’s actual experience with the cold stones when used on sore, tight muscles is unexpectedly pleasant.
If at any time during your hot stone massage session the temperatures are too hot or too cold, or the pressure that I am using is too deep, please tell me and I can adjust immediately. It should never feel like it is so much that it is making you tense or uncomfortable.
I use members of the crystal tribe during certain sessions, depending on your needs and what stones ‘speak’ to me during our stone massage session. The abundance of crystals from all over the world adds incredible beauty and color to Stone Medicine sessions.
Sometimes, I don’t even understand why a certain crystal or stone ‘calls’ out to me during a session, but I trust my intuition and trust that whether we understand or not, that stone is coming with the healing needed by that client at that time.
White ocean stones from a beach in Nice France, granite from the shores of Lake Superior, little round spheres from Estonia. My little tribe of Stone People has come home with me (usually in full, heavy suitcases) from all over the world. Each one has a different shape, a different purpose, a different healing gift to add to my Stone Medicine sessions.
Experience the wonder of a hot stone massage by booking a session at my studio in Lonsdale, MN!