Hot Stone Massage in Australia
So you want to add it to your menu - what you need to know and links
Heaters and other supplies
stones
courses
Books, Videos etc
So you want to include some
form of hot rock therapy in your business? It is a wonderful treatment, you
should investigate it. If you scroll down you'll find info on
Stone, Stone Heaters and Courses with some links. The lists of links are
only provided to help you research the subject. Listing a link
does not endorse them in any way. All the following are my opinions, you
may or may not agree with it. I urge you to do your own investigations
beyond what I offer here.
This page is about the nuts and
bolts of incorporating stones into your business. You can find the
information on the energetic and etheric qualities of stones and stone massage
from almost any stone massage site, you're probably finding lots of that kind of
info already with no easy to find concrete facts of what you might be getting
into. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions about the how to's
around the stones.
I did my first stone course in
2000. Ever since I've been refining my treatments - I've come up
with some ideas on my own, some I've found on the web. The following is some
information I've collected over the years.
To help you decide if hot
stones are
for your business, consider the following:
Stone therapy is much more
than just a massage with a few rocks. Rocks are placed under the
body, on the body and are used for the massage. Crystals may also be
used. All those rocks being placed means you need a LOT of stones.
I use almost 20 under the back alone.
The rocks are heated in a
water bath. If you have a lot of rocks, you need a lot of water
bath.
Just on the practical
physical level, hot stones add a LOT of set up and clean up time to a
treatment. You need to provide a lot more than a good pair of hands
and a massage table. You need to put the heater on at least 30min before the
session. If you have another client in the room for a non-stone
treatment beforehand, you need to heat up the stones before they are in
there. I suppose it is a more complicated version of having wax pots
ready, or having the paraffin dip for a manicure on. You need to gather
the stones together, put the stones in the heater, add the water to the
heater. Afterwards you need to clean the stones and empty the
water. Depending on what you have in the water (from spa sanitizer
to nothing) , you may or may not need to empty the water between
clients, but I usually do because the water does get a bit on the oily
side and I am a bit oil-phobic. I allow 30min between clients, and
that can still be a bit on the frantic side. At least the heater
doesn't need to warm up from cold. Once you get past the
heating/cleaning challenges, there is also the energetic care of the
stones required - putting them outside really does help them hold the
heat. Maybe it is just putting them somewhere cold make something
shift so they heat better, or it is the moonlight, whatever you choose
to put it down to, they do need to go outside every now and then, like
changing the oil in a car. Then you have to bring them inside....
The stones make deep work much easier for the therapist and more
comfortable for the client, and make the treatment incredibly relaxing
for the client, but the setup and care of the stones, does add to the
therapist's load.
You don't need to get into the
energetic new agey side of stones to get results, but it can help explain
results to clients. You know your market, you know what they will accept,
you decide how new agey to make the explanation of the treatment. I don't cover
the energetic aspect of the stones in the following, that info is easily
available elsewhere.
Recently there have been reports that natural
stones are not safe because they heat unevenly leading to burns - it is not the
stones that burn, but heating incorrectly and using them for placement/massage
incorrectly. If you are heating wax for hair removal in a rice cooker and applying
it directly on a clients legs you would expect the wax to burn, it's the fault of
the technician heating the wax incorrectly. If stones are heated to that same
temperature they will burn. If you use equipment that heats to a safe temperature,
using stones, or any other instrument, is safe, it's the temperature that is the
concern, not the material.
There are also reports of hygiene issues with natural stones, rather than highly
polished man-made surfaces. If you set up your heater correctly with sanitiser,
and clean you stones each day, this is not a concern. The same care should be used
with stones, natural or polished, as with bowls used for pedicures etc. If OH&S standards
are not followed, OH&S issues may occur.
If natural stones are used with the same common sense applied to other tools that
are in contact with the skin, there should be no issues.
Still interested? Then read
on......
top
stones
courses
Books Videos etc
Heaters and other supplies
At long last, someone is
importing heaters without a ridiculous mark-up. The most affordable (less
than $200) and reliable stone heater
we have come across is the
Firm 'n' Fold 18 Litre Massage Stone Heater "
They've got distributors all over the place, so you can probably avoid shipping, and
makes warranty concerns easier. They have an enameled coating, easy to
clean, without any non-stick concerns.
I'm leaving the rest of this info
here to see the alternatives and why some of the alternatives aren't
recommended......
Rock heating supplies in Australia
are not cheap - basically you're using commercial food equipment. You
can use electric fry pans or crock pots, but they just aren't big enough
to be practical for a full treatment. If you just want a few warm
rocks to rub on someone's back, they will probably suffice.
What kind of commercial kitchen equipment? I use to use a
Roband Bain Marie BM2
with 2 half size 15cm sections. This is not a standard Roband Bain
Marie configuration. I got the unit when I did my original LaStone
training and had no idea what was available, but have changed over to an
electric chafing dish $300 and it is absolutely perfect, there is even a
cheaper $250 model available.
Most massage classes don't say "go to a commercial kitchen equipment
supplier and find something that suits your decor", they will say "here is a
stone heater for $nnn". Personally, I'd recommend going to a kitchen
supply place just for the warranty support. Ever tried to return a
bulky appliance to a busy trainer? Ever tried returning a unit to an
interstate supplier? Deal with a local outlet. Some commercial
kitchen equipment suppliers will have a similar unit they can lend you if
your ever needs to be repaired. Of
course if you do some stone training and they don't use big cumbersome equipment
that comes from a commercial kitchen supplier, it is probably worth considering,
I've just not seen any safe non-commercial kitchen equipment yet. (as
mentioned above this is old info left here for historical purposes, the Firm 'n' Fold 18 Litre Massage Stone Heater is non-commercial kitchen and safe)
I've been told about someone using a $99 chaffing dish with 2 flame burners
underneath working very well - for an occasional treatment, working from home,
it is probably a good option. I've seen these at kitchen shops in shopping centres (Victoria's Basement etc).
In a professional clinic environment, naked flames, going all day.... not so sure, but possibly a place to start. I
have also seen chaffing dish electric heaters where you can convert a naked
flame burner chaffing dish to electric, but these were in the $300 range anyway
- I think I'd just go for the electric chaffing dish if I wanted to
upgrade. Your local supplier might have different equipment.
The chaffing dish
operates in the same manner as what is sold as professional stone heaters. These are what "turkey roasters" look like,
often with a more clinical stainless steel exterior.
The advantage of a chafer over a stone heater is that a chafer is designed
to work at a much lower temperature - than a turkey roaster. The
turkey roasters do have more control over low temperatures than a rice
cooker/electric frypan/crock pot/etc BUT the chafer has even more control -
they are specifically designed to keep food WARM, not to cook it. I
recommend an appliance that is designed to function around 50-60degC
reliably rather than heating to a higher temp and hoping you can cool the
stone down to the correct temp when you want it with bowls of water/leaving
it sitting on the counter top/etc. The "stone heaters" all seem to
have non-stick interiors, but their inserts can be changed. (as
mentioned above this is old info left here for historical purposes, the Firm 'n' Fold 18 Litre Massage Stone Heater ioes not
have a non-stick interior end of concern)
Another alternative I use when I
just need a few stones for a facial or pedicure, is a paraffin heater. Paraffin needs to be heated to
the same temp as hot stones, perfectly controlled. Points to consider:
-
the paraffin heater instruction book
ALWAYS says don't heat water in it, so if something goes wrong,
don't say you heat water in it.
-
slow to heat up,
they're usually about 150W compared with 1000W for a bain marie.
They warm paraffin up gradually, they warm up rocks and water
gradually. This is also a little bit of a problem with
returning rocks that have cooled down to the heater as it cools down
everything, but carefully working between 2 heaters, keeping the lid
on one and letting it get hot, then alternating with the other, you
can work it quite easily
-
plastic - most paraffin
heaters are plastic. May or may not be a problem for
you. There are some larger paraffin heaters with metal linings
which I imagine would be a bit better, but they're not easy to find.
-
from personal
experience - DO NOT pour boiling water into a paraffin heater
thinking it will heat up quickly - it will melt some bit of solder
somewhere that doesn't cope with 100deg heat because paraffin
heaters don't go up to that temp, and then it won't heat up at all.
-
very easy to empty and
clean
-
very easy option for
heating up a few stones to just be added in as an extra in a
treatment - good for when you DO just want to add a few stones for
back massage. Easier than a frypan/rice cooker/crock pot since it
heats up to the correct temperature.
And I will just make a few comments about fry pans/rice cookers/
crock pots as heaters - I think it ends up looking a
bit like a home kitchen. Do you really want your clients thinking "I've got that fry pan"
when they enter the treatment room? But they
are a cheap option, easy to obtain, easy to clean, easy to handle, easy to replace,
but they are designed to keep food above the temp used for heating
stones, their thermostats don't function really well at lower
temperatures. You may find a particular brand that does work well around the 60deg mark, but most of them seem
to like being 80deg or more for "warm" - TOO HOT for stone massage.
I think a treatment room should be as far removed from the trappings of
normal life as possible, so I don't agree with frypans, etc. Yes,
you can work with them (being careful about the temp), but for some of your clients you've now brought their mind back to
what they have to cook for dinner, rather than a treatment for them; if
you're not worried about allowing your treatment room to be a little bit
of an escape from every day life, frypans/crock/pots/rice cookers can
be used, just be careful about the temperature. Once you get a few stones you will probably need 2 of the
kitchen appliances because all your stones won't fit in one frypan. (If
all your stones do fit in one frypan, you either don't have many stones,
or don't have many big stones....)
Another consideration is the non-stick coating on most of these
appliances - Teflon was not found in American bodies 50 years ago, now almost every American has Teflon
in their system - I'm sure that the same statistics would apply to Australia. I'd rather avoid them,
but is it worse than the plastic of a paraffin heater? Up to you to decide. Having anything with a
ceramic insert would certainly solve the problem, but you will drop a rock one day. How long will
the ceramic insert last? Stainless steel gets my vote,
so maybe a stainless steel electric fry pan, but then I think I'd opt for the up-market buffet electric chaffing dish,
it's big enough to only need one rather than 2 frypans.
Other supplies to consider:
-
You need a digital thermometer -
again kitchen supplies! You want one with a cord attached to a meat probe.
As you become more used to putting your stones in hot water, you become less
sensitive. Your clients don't. Having the digital readout just makes
it so much easier to be sure it's not too hot (or too cool when you are
starting) Do a lot of treatments and your hands will build up tolerance to the
heat, you can just check the temp on a digital thermometer or you can test
rocks on the inside of your writs like a babies bottle, I prefer the thermometer.
Click here
for a picture of a Weber digital thermometer. I use an Accurite one I purchased in the
kitchen department of Myer for about $50 when they had a "30% off kitchen
gadgets" sale
-
a nice slotted wooden spoon to
dig out that stone down the bottom when they do get a bit hot, once you get
used to your equipment, you should hardly ever need to use it, but you will
find that there is one rock that stayed too long in the hotter side with the
lid on and you'll need something to get it out. You wouldn't get a stone out using
tongs/gloves/spoon and put it on
the client straight away - if it is too hot for you to hold, it is too hot
to put on the client. (A spoon is much easier than gloves), plus the wooden
spoon brings in the element of "wood" if you want to work on the
new agey side of it :) (the Firm 'n' Fold 18 Litre Massage Stone Heater comes with a
slotted bamboo spoon)
-
hand towels for the bottom of
the inserts to dampen the noise of the rocks moving around. You will
probably use dark rocks, so light hand towels make it easier to see the
rocks. Alternatively you might use some sponge or wet suit like
material, but this slows down the heating up of the rocks as it is an
insulator.
-
more hand towels for in front
of the heating unit - you lift out the dripping stones and put them on the
hand towel to catch water running off - at the right temp they will be
almost dry by the time they hit the towel, but you will occasionally pick
up a stone too soon after you have returned it to the heater and it will
still be pretty wet. You will use quite a few hand towels in this treatment.
-
Net bags - I
confess, I hadn't tried these until recently, didn't need them when I learnt
stones, why should I need to use them now? Anyway I'm a convert, think
they're great, I use 2 bags, one for stones under the body, one for stones
on the body, it's just grab the bag and you've got the stones. I'm
using "delicates" laundry bags - I got the large size at Coles (I
think they were the outrageous price of $3.95) Large is a bit too large, but
I haven't bothered to find smaller ones yet. I have always kept
my toe stones, and other small stones, in a little muslin bag in the heater,
much easier than balancing a fishing net or glass bowl in the heater with
the other stones.
-
oil - I really don't recommend
any vegetable oil - basically with the heat, you end up with a faint cooked
oil odour - smells like a take away food joint. Jojoba is a plant wax,
not an oil. It doesn't break down when exposed to heat, and it doesn't
make the stone slimy. Costs more, but makes the cleaning easier.
Some vegetable oils can build up on the surface of the stones - errrrgh. Jojoba
also makes cleaning your linens easier - being almost the same
consistence as the skin's own sebum, jojoba comes out it the wash very easily, and no take away
food smell. Ordinary laundry washing powder works for my washing. I use a little over
30ml jojoba for a full body massage
with hot stones (I use about 20ml without stones, aromatherapy training).
-
something to cool the stone with
- I've seen bowls of cool water used, but don't actually like this - you end
up dripping too much water on the client - a nice oiled leg massaged with a
hot stone feels great and then the extra water because the stone was dipped
in water starts to evaporate and the leg gets cold - it could just be a nice
oiled leg massaged with a hot stone feeling good. I use a spray bottle
of rubbing alcohol - which can upset some of the purists, but I'd rather be
spraying my rocks with alcohol than waiting for them to cool down in their
own time or mixing water with the oil on the client. (this is actually one
of the things to watch for in treatments). Alternatively you can have a
digitally controlled heater that is always at the right temp, but even then,
you may want to cool down a stone or two for sensitive areas.
-
apron with insulated
pockets. I've only read about this, not used it myself, though maybe
one day...
Heaters
and other supplies
books
courses Books
Videos etc
Stones
You're not going to find stones
out in nature around Sydney, Australia - we're in the middle of a sandstone basin,
almost anything you pick up with start dissolving in hot water. If you
are in a sandstone area you'll have the same problem. You want
basalt or granite. From Sydney it means a road trip, and I don't
really know where. Or it means you purchase stones.
The stones I use are not
hand collected by me, reportedly hand collected by the suppliers. Most of my stones comes from
AML
and LaPolar Stones in
US. Both provide hot and cold stones. There are a LOT of other
suppliers, and a lot cheaper. Best to find out where someone else
got their stones and if they are happy (I'm happy with AML and La
Polar).
Shipping from the US is
silly. It is very expensive, you can't get round it, but there is
a cheaper expensive option rather than the expensive expensive option (FedEx, UPS,
DHL etc are EXPENSIVE). USPS (US Postal Service) have always been less
than half what an international courier charges. Not all suppliers
will deal with USPS (after all they have to visit the post office rather
than have the courier pick it up), and some will give you UPS prices
when you ask for USPS (that first S makes a huge difference in the
price). I now include the link
http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.aspx?Mode=Intl_Single&CID=10013
so they know exactly what I mean. With the rising cost of
petrol, shipping from the US seems to have gone up even MORE!!!!!
Airfreight shipping is now a LOT cheaper (April 07) Basically, from
America (where most natural stone sets come from), there is a 20lb (9kg)
standard box that will ship for $60 US, 9kg means the stones are small,
you can get a lot of small stones for 9kg, you can't get many stones a
decent size to work with for 9kg, so if a set of stones air-freighted
from America to Australia has shipping of around $60US, the stones will
be small. (eg LaStone sets are about 12-15kg for 54 stones, I've
had 66 piece stone sets from elsewhere that weigh 7kg , 58 stone set weighing 8kg ) Decent sized stones, mean more weight, mean
hefty shipping.
You can get very smooth stones (most of the ones on the market),
and you can get very rough
ones. Smooth stones are usually basalt, and they often have had a bit of machine tumbling.
A fairly smooth stone with a bit of texture can make it easier for the
therapist to hold the stones, which is particularly important when you
get into deeper work on the muscles, you don't want a glass smooth stone
that will pop out of your hand when you are working a trigger point. Rougher stones may be found as
is. There's smooth as silk smooth and slightly textured smooth,
either smooth with some natural cracks, or a bit more texture. By
rough I mean something almost approaching a pumice stone, if you rub the
stone on your arm and a cloud of white dead skin cells comes off, THAT'S
what I mean by
rough. They can be good for exfoliating and dragging stuff out on an energetic level too.
The problem with rough stones is that you definitely get a lot more skin cells stuck in the rough
surface of the stones. You need more oil because you get a lot more oil stuck in
the rough surface. There is no way you could go from using a rough stone on one client to using it on
another client without a scrubbing brush being involved with the stone in-between, regardless of how much
"kill nasty organisms" you put in the heater water. Smooth stones you can, if you're comfortable with it.
Almost all the stones I use are smooth, but I have a couple of really rough ones which I
sometimes use - but I tend to only use the rough ones if I have no other stone bookings that day, so they get
the good scrub at the end of the day. A set with a variety of textures allows you to work with
the right stone for the job.
Bit of self promotion -
we now have stone sets available to purchase, hot
stones, some cold stones, and crystals :) Click here
for details
eBay - yes there are lots of stone
sets available on eBay, are they any good? Some are, some are not, you've
got to be lucky, I've heard more disaster stories than positive ones.
There are just too many sellers to be able to keep up with the good ones and the
bad ones, some of the good ones over the last few years have stopped
selling on eBay, most of the bad ones seem to be still doing it, and there are
always new sellers that think they can put a few stones from the garden centre
together and sell them to someone as a hot stone massage kit. Only buy
from someone with good feedback from BUYERS - you will find a lot of eBay
profiles with high feedback, and most of that is from purchases they have made,
they haven't sold to many people. Buying from America, you will have
expensive shipping.
Phenomenal Touch US site
Hahana Stone Massage
based in Queensland. They also provide training
LaStone
based in the US but with trainers out here, in Sydney, NSW (me!), will
travel. Stones are more
expensive than other suppliers in Australia, but are exactly what you
need. They've been working with hot stone massage since 1993, they
know what works.
Firm'n'Fold Massageequip and Yogastore the
stones are carved, and cheap, I think these are the Rub Rocks carved sets.
I'm not fond on the cut up coffee table with smoothed out edges aspect of the
stones, I like a bit more variety in the shapes and sizes I work with, but
they're cheap enough to be a good starter set. They do have cold stone sets at a very
reasonable price
Stone Eagle Massage Stones carved
sets, as said above, I like a bit more variety in shapes and texture.
These are EXPENSIVE, but they are hand carved in Australia, rather than
overseas, support Australian made?
Advance
Massage Australasia in Queensland look very similar to Stone Eagle
now.
Stone
Journey US company these actually look pretty reasonable, never seen them
Stone Temple
Institute US company. Stone sets look quite good. No sign of shipping as I type this, though
it may get added soon. They have a student forum where you can get questions answered, you don't need to be a student.
The Student Forum has a lot of answers to stone questions - a lot of
nuts and bolt questions.
Rub Rocks
US company again. Will only use FedEx, ridiculously expensive shipping
to Australia)
AhhhMuse US
company suppliers of crystals for Crystal Light Therapy, one of the LaStone
courses.
Salon Pacific Beauty Supplies in Queensland have
Lish hot rocks.
Hot Stone Hut US company, mixed reports on service but the stones seem to be good,
supply stones fro Sacred Stone in the US
DON'T let people send you oiled stones!!!! They are absolutely revolting, and
oiling your own stones is part of getting to know the stones, plus, every single
pre-oiled stone I've seen has had some really cheap nasty rancid oil on it and
it was
horrible - felt sticky and smelt rotten. It is a LOT of work getting rancid oil off stones.
Heaters and other supplies
stones
top Books
Videos etc
How to Learn
There are a lot of bad and mediocre stone therapists, and there
are some good ones. Go get treatments and figure out what you think works or not. Once you find one that
you think is truly outstanding - find out their training. They might be prepared to share similar information to
what I've got on this page. By receiving treatments you can figure out what can go wrong and avoid it.
Stone massage is such a new modality to Australia, personal experience counts for a lot.
This is not a technique you can pick up off a video or a
book - working with the stones feels very very strange to start off with, without either an experienced mentor to
work you through it or formal courses, you won't believe how hot or how cold the stones can actually be.
Getting treatments is one way to get a bit of an idea, working on someone that knows what it should feel like and
can give you honest feedback is another. Practicing on friends and family, or even other therapists you aren't
going to get good feedback, because they don't know how good it should feel. The stones are tools in your hands, you
can expect to pick up a piece of equipment and be able to use it without a bit of hands on guidance. Have a read of
this
article for another view.
From another
article "It does not matter how long one has been a therapist, the stone will be an equalizer in class because
the student therapist has to massage with that stone as though it is an extension of his hand. This process will take
time before the stone can be one with the therapist's hand. The therapist will need time to adapt the stone into the
flow of his work. When this time is not taken, the therapist will not develop the technique properly."
So get to a course! I've done training with
LaStone and
Sacred Stone Australia Sacred Stone has more
of an Ayurvedic slant, teaching how to handle the stones, stone placement, and a massage routine; LaStone teaches
you how to handle the stones, stone placement and works with you to incorporate
stones into your existing massage technique that you are already comfortable with.
If you are already a massage therapist, you may prefer to spend more time working with the stones than having to
worry about a new massage routine as well. The LaStone basic body training is directed
at experienced bodyworkers, familiar with massage. Sacred Stone does accept healers with no hands-on
bodywork experience into their massage classes, so there are lots of different levels of experience.
This also applies to some of the other courses - make sure they are directed at the level you are
expecting.
I don't think you can walk away from a 2 day workshop and be comfortable
with working with stones - they feel soooooo strange to start off with, you're used to feeling the soft tissue
through your hands and someone says put a 5cm thick stone in your hand and work that same soft tissue? You've
got to unlearn some of what you think you need. You need either a
longer course and/or commit to do a few practice sessions afterwards -
it is not a technique you can do a one or 2 day course finishing on
Monday and be comfortable charging clients on Tuesday, regardless of
what anyone says Like any technique,
once you've mastered using the tools, you will be able to go off and get videos and books and learn more
ways to differentiate yourself.
LaStone are now running 2 day courses, Simply Stones, You learn a short version of a LaStone
Original Body treatment. If you later do Simply Stones
Extended it takes you to the same level as the 4 day Original Body course. A 2 day course is an introduction to stones, just be aware you there is
a lot more to learn than can be covered in 2 days, but 2 days will give
you a start. if you plan on doing a 2 day course, make sure they
offer a next level so if you decide you want/need more info you can get
it.
I'd say one of the most important things you should do before getting
training is go get a treatment from a few practitioners (best not the actual trainer, you want someone they have taught)
- from the one you're thinking of using and someone else. Compare the treatments. If you don't like
the practitioner that trained with the company you are considering, go to another one (practitioner or trainer).
Pretty much all the trainers will try to sell stones/heaters which will almost always cost more than the training.
Add training and stones and heaters and it is a BIG investment. It is worth the expense of getting a few
treatments beforehand. Most people working with stones, outside of a 5 star resort where it can all be a
bit of a production line, will be happy to talk stones.
There is other hot stone
education in Australia, but a lot of it is a standalone complete 2 day workshop - I'm not comfortable with
learn everything you'll ever need to learn in 1 or 2 days, but here
are some links to some sites, do your own investigation....
LaStone Therapy
based in US but has a trainer in Sydney (me).
international guest lecturers also come out occasionally (stone therapy
reflexology , stone therapy lomi lomi, stone therapy manicure and
pedicures, stone therapy facials, etc) but do run classes elsewhere in Australia 4 day course, highly recommended
They also run courses through the International Dermal Institute at
various locations around the world. More shameless self promotion
:) I'm the Sydney LaStone trainer.... Click here
for details. Currently I'm the only LaStone trainer in Australia,
I am prepared to travel. I would also like to say that all of this
info on this page is available for free here, think of the level of info
available on a course I offer..... this page is pretty much written in
the style of how I teach, if you're still reading this page, you're
probably ok with my presentation style :) There are not many
instructors prepared to let you see so many 'secrets' before you even
sign up for a course.
ili ili stones I've not heard anything about them, but they are
loosely associated with Mette's Institute of ka huna bodywork and they are
good, so I'm assuming these are good by association. If anyone wants to
expand on that, let me know....
Advance
Massage Australasia Gold Coast 3-4 day
Hahana Stone Massage
Queensland again, but offers training Australia wide, 2 day course, good
reports from course trained by Phil. Trainers in Sydney/Melbourne
elsewhere soon (I'd be looking for someone with experience performing
the treatment to actually teach me rather than someone who doesn't .)
Lithos Therapy
based in Queensland! but training all over the place - they don't
actually use stones, they use carved marble, which they call 'rock
instruments', annual fees to stay a registered practitioner (may not be
required any longer), rock instrument sets now priced in a more
affordable price bracket (they used to be VERY expensive when there was
minimal competition).
Central
Springs School of Massage and Holistic Therapies Based in Guilford in
Victoria, halfway between Castlemaine and Daylesford. Closest major city is Melbourne. 2 day course
Touch
In-Massage courses are run at Byron Bay, NSW. The training page says
'coming soon', but that page was last updated in 2005......
Blue Mountains TAFE
is now running a 1 day hot stone massage class called Hot Stone Therapy, either over
one day or 2 evenings.
Art of Touch Melbourne, one day
course, training may not be what you are after but the food is good (this is
feedback from multiple students) uses crock pots.
Genisis Bodywork
Brisbane, 1 day course
I'll update as I find more. If you know of any links
for where to learn hot stone massage in Australia, schools, training, details on courses etc, please let me know (email
that is info at melmassage.com) and I'll add them here.
Heaters and other supplies
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courses top
Books Videos etc
Here are some easy links to books you might find
interesting. The Amazon prices are in US dollars.
Sacred Stone Heated
Stone Massage videoes (NTSC) these are good,
I've got a copy, contact me, email
, might be able to lend it to you or something.
Australian Bush Flower Essences home
of the White Light essences
Stone Temple Institute 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 (the videos DVDs can be found in the Amazon links above). It's 80minutes long, so covers quite a bit compared to
some of the available 24minute videos! They use frypans to heat the
stones with. I've got a copy, contact me, email
, might be able to lend it to you or something. As said before, I
think you need either a good mentor or a good class to really get an
understanding of working with the stones. A video is just not going to
give you enough info. BUT it is a good refresher, and may have some new
ideas you like. The second video has some interesting
techniques for using stones, nothing about how to heat/clean/etc as
that's all in the first video. The presenter speaks VERY slowly.
A
review of a Bruce Baltz video - 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. Pricey to get hold of in Australia (RRP is $60US, add the
shipping....) I think he was still associated with LaStone when this was
made, it sort of will give you an idea of the level of knowledge in LaStone
training (and why a one day course isn't enough). I've got a copy, contact me, email
, might be able to lend it to you or something. Other than my LaStone training
and my stones :) , this video is the best investment I've made in hot and cold
rock massage, so far. The information is presented in a very factual way,
still with the utmost respect for the energies of the stones, treatment and
client.
Interesting
article from Hawaii about a couple of different treatments
Articles
by Bruce Baltz: Transition of Stone Massage, Safety in Stone Massage,
Working with Respect
Stone Pages BIG
stones, well not THAT big, but guide to European megalithic sites,
something a bit different :)
Please
I know this is the internet, and as such most people think they can take bits of
info from anywhere, put it together and claim it as their own. I'd
appreciate it if you let me know if you're "borrowing" some of what
I've presented here, not worried about credit for it, I just would like to know
it's been recognised as that useful. (email
)
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