Hot Stone Massage

[Ashlie]

Hi all,

I want to learn Hot Stone massage and was wondering if any of you have any thoughts about the DVD they sell at Massage Warehouse or recommend anything else. I've never learned a technique by watching a DVD and am hoping that hot stone therapy might be easy enough that it would be okay to learn off a program instead of paying and taking a class...am I right? I appreciate your input!!

Happy Friday!!

Jen

 

[simples]

First, I have not seen the (or any) hot stone DVD you are looking at. I learned a hot stone routine from a spa techniques class that covered a vast array of servies. I am pretty sure you can pick this up either by getting stones and practicing on your own and reading through all the hot stone threads here, or getting a DVD.

The main points I picked up:

1. Temp of water should be about 120-125 degrees for massaging with stones.

2. Keeping water and stones clean between clients is paramount.

3. There are many different ways to heat and keep the stones, it is a matter of personal preference.

After I took the class I still needed to practice to get really comfortable using the stones for massaging. But I just make up my own stuff and I very rarely do a full stone service since I always have them ready for add-on to a massage. I push this service because then it is a "signature service" and I don't feel I am competing with the Stone Therapy a la "La Stone" therapists out there. Most clients just like the heat and that's what I provide.

Hope that helps. Sorry I don't know anything about the DVD. There are TONS of hot stone threads to learn from on here if you do a search.

Good luck!

 

[Redneck_Girl325]

In my opinion, you really need to go to a hands-on class - it is just so strange to go from working directly on soft tissue to working on the same soft tissue with 2 inches of basalt in between, a hands on class gets you started much further along that way of working than you can easily reach just watching a video. But there are some people that have never been to a hot stone class, got a video, BUT I think you will find most of them made the additional investment in treatments from other practitioners, which when you add it all starts getting close to the cost of a course.....


I've not seen the video available at massage warehouse, but have seen the following...


Healing Stone Massage http://healingstonemassage.com/HealingMassageStonesforSacredBodywork.html includes stones and videos, the first video is not a bad place to start to give you an idea of what happens in a stone massage. It's 80minutes long, so covers quite a bit compared to some of the available 24minute videos! But she does speak v e r y s l o w l y. The second vidoebuilds on the first.


A review of a Bruce Baltz video http://www.massagetoday.com/archives/2005/01/16.html recommended as something to get AFTER you have done some training. Finally got this - it is the best video I've seen on hot stone massage, but I will go along with the 'get it AFTER you've had some training' line. The subtleties that he is sharing won't sink in if you're trying to learn hot stone massage from this video (and it doesn't cover the basics anyway). Very, very, very informative. Buy it here http://www.dtsm.net/cgi-bin/1028/site.cgi?product=&keywords=bruce&cart_id=1148358769.1122 Lots of good info on his site, worth reading the articles.

http://www.hotstonevideo.com/product.html#video I think these used to be the ones with a 24min video, and they've added another routine to make it up to a 55min DVD not too bad, seeing 2 different routines can be worth it, but doesn'go into it in any real depth

http://www.rubrocks.com/Shop_N.mvc?p=sshvideo1 Sacred Stone Healing, they've got a few other videos too. I've not seen the video but did one of their courses, I assume the video will at least have a lot of good info.... Anyone seen it????

I've done training with LaStone and Sacred Stone in Australia. LaStone was much much much more professional and informative. LaStone have been doing the hot stone thing since 1993, they came up with the practice of using hot stones on the massage table in a MT's office, lots of people have copied the idea, added their own things to it, left out bits. I think Sacred Stone did their first stone training with LaStone, Healing Stone Massage did their original stone training with Sacred Stone, etc etc Lots of traditional cultures have used hot stones through the ages.

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Japanese Hot Stone Massage, but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Yahoo User]

THanks VERY much Mel and AKB for your insight. I really just want to know the basics. I'd don't really want to give a full hot stone massage session, but I'd like to incorporate some stones into my normal routine...esp for those who are tight in certain spots. I'm thinking I can use it as an add-on. There is a DVD available from massage warehouse, I know both of you stated that you don't see it, but there are a couple in their catalog and one also that comes with the stone set. I am thinking of getting the stone set and was curious if the DVD would be enough training. Anyways, thanks again...I am going to use your input and suggestions to help me learn it.



Jen

 

[Erick28]

This is something that I want to share about Hot Stone, got it somewhere sorry don't remember the site... hope this could help:

What You Need To Know About Hot Stone Massage:

* The therapist uses many stones of various shapes and sizes.

* The heat of the stones helps muscles release more quickly than in traditional massage.

* You should speak up if the stones are too warm or the pressure too intense.

* Technique is very important. Less experienced practitioners sometimes use too much pressure.

*Hot stone massage was invented in 1993 by Mary Hannigan, a native of Tucson, Arizona. She has trademarked her particular style and calls it LaStone Therapy, but most spas offer their own versions.

 

[Dr. Tabas]

Warm stones

I used the T H Stone video and 4 volunteers I gave each one a treatement within a 2 week period used their feed back and then worked on each one again about a week later, I kept notes of my observations as well as the feed back that was given to me, I am an Advanced Reiki Practioner as well so the energy side to this modality was easier to grasp.
Most people in Spa's usualy just want a warm stone massage not a full energy based experience.

 

[~*T!NK*~]

I used 2 different videos, one was definitely the THStone video... I can't remember the other. Plus I went out as a client/practitioner & got a few hot stone treatments. I experimented *alot* on my sister, who is so wonderfully specific with her feedback. She *gets* that I need to learn from the experience & although she enjoys the experiments, she also keeps in touch with *why* I am working on her in those circumstances.

When you say, just get the basics & use it as an add-on, it makes me think this - get one or two of those videos/DVDs. Try it out. But consider going to a class on it. What if you only ever learn or adopt the basics, never finding those "ah-ha" moments that take your work to a place where your clients feel you unique.

I'm all for learning from different sources. People grasp ideas with varying levels of ability. Some need the classroom experience. I have taught myself many things over the years by reading, researching, etc, but its not for everybody. I do well & can excell that way. The next therapist may be even more unique & wonderful, yet they *need* to go through a more formal process. As long as you first stay within your scope & legal/ethical bounds, then work & learn how you are most comfortable, it's great.

For some, the CEUs are needed. For some, the 'safe space' of a devoted learning arena, for some, simply the experience of stretching their offerings. Whether you do official CEUs/certification or invest in treatments & equipment & go for it - all those expenses are tax deductible and valuable to you.

jill/sagetherapist

 

[johnjp10]

I learned from the video, Healing Stone Massage. Melb posted a link to it in a post above. I found it to be quite awesome! I sorta, kinda follow their "routine" (it has morphed over the years into various versions) and my clients absolutely love it!

I seen exerpts from Sacred Stone and would love to see the rest of it. It's one that I'm always considering buying.

I enjoy learning from videos as I can play them over and over again and even practice along side them.

Everyone is different though.......I'd try a video and if you feel that you need more instruction then look into taking a hands on class.

Angie

 

[Angel in the Snow]

deleted

 

[Kira]

Thanks to everyone for their wonderful advice and suggestions for videos. I will be ordering some soon and hope to be able to incorporate in my sessions for the fall. Thank you thank you!!

Jen

 

[stupidone!]

Hot Stone

I would definitely suggest a hands on class. Of coure I would suggest getting one before you even looked into it. The key is to get one that you like, and then model what you do after it.

I keep my water at about 2100 - 250 degrees. I use lots of stones and change them out often to keep them hot. I do not reuse stones. Ihave seen it doen with power as a lubricant, and oil. I prefer oil as the heat penetrates better. I do't do La Stone as I have seen where it is more about the rock, rather than the massage, and I prefer to have my work be about the massage.

I got a massage form someone that had been taught La Stone, then thrown out all the silliness that La Stone does. I took a class that taugh powder as a lubricant, but did not like it as well. I created my own massage modeling it after the one I received, but using much more stone time.

It basically comes down to finding somethign you like and then creating your own routine from it.

Let us know sometime what you end up doing.

 

[Elvis]

I seen exerpts from Sacred Stone and would love to see the rest of it. It's one that I'm always considering buying.

I got their 5 videos, 3 stone, one shirodhara and one mirror massage http://www.sacredstonehealing.com

I think the stone ones are much better than the Healing Stone Massage ones, though they don't go into the how to heat the stones. They do have accompanying manuals that you can buy that go into the heating etc in great detail (I've got one of the manuals from when I did my training with them) I assume the other manulas are just as detailed as the one I have, which provides a lot of good info, and really you don't need that type of thing in a video if you can get the info out of the manual (you do get a quick look at the heater and how it is set up in the video, just not a huge long explanation).

All 3 stone ones, plus the shirodhara one, show the basic layout, so it gets a bit reptitive, so much so when I started watching the stone facial one, I had to rewind to check the title because I thought it was the classroom demo one again! But once you get past the basic layout you get different info. The facial one doesn't show as much stone massage for the face as I was expecting, but it includes a crystal layout on the face and a face masque, I still got quite a lot out of it.

The Mirror Massage one has identical twins demonstating the routine! It's pretty good no stones


I recommend the Sacred Stone stone videos over the Healing Stone Massage ones, though the sport massage in Healing Stone Massage 2 is worth a look if you get a chance, I don't agree with the hot stones for pregnancy massage which is covered in Healing Stone Massage 2 -considering how hot most pregnant women feel anyway, they're not interested in hot stones (I will very very very occassionally use ONE trigger point heated stone around the shoulders of a pregnant client, but that's all, I woudln't call it a hot stone pregnancy massage routine). I think I'd still recommend the Melanie Sachs Shirodhara one rather than the Sacred Stone Shirodhara video, but then that's not hot stone massage anyway



And one of the other videos I mentioned above - Japanese Hot Stone Massage - really great for stroke ideas, very well filmed, you can see exactly what he's doing. It doesn't go into how to heat the stones or what the strokes are good for (they're working on the shiatsu meridian), because all of that is covered in the companion book. You don't need to know what the strokes are working on. The videos and book are out of print, and hard to find, but worth the investment if you can get them.


I still recommend a hands on class, but videos are great for picking up info to make your treatments better and more individual.