Hot stone therapy

What is the hot stone massage?

Hot stone massage is a variation on classic massage therapy. Heated smooth, flat stones are placed on key points on the body. The massage therapist may also hold the stones and use them to massage certain areas of the body.

Origins of Stone Massage

Massage is perhaps the oldest form of hands-on-healing known to humans, easily pre-dating written records. For more than a millennium, people from virtually every culture have used a combination of touch, heat (thermo therapy) and stones as therapeutic tools. The three main cultures which have heavily influenced how stone massage has evolved are the Chinese, the Native Americans and especially the Hawaiians.

One of the first recorded uses of stones for healing was by Ancient Chinese medical practitioners who regularly used various shaped/sharpened stones (Bian Stones) to treat disease. Native Americans are well known for their Sweat Lodges, which are similar modern-day Saunas. The use of heated stones on the lower abdomen to relieve cramps was another common Native American practise.