Hot stone massage is a deep massage that uses soothing oils, warm basalt and sometimes cold marble stones to relax your muscles.

What is hot stone massage good for?

Hot stone treatments alternate warmth and cold — a technique which has proven beneficial to soothe an aching body. There’s a method behind the madness of leaping from a toasty sauna into an icy pool, and hot stone massage uses the same principle.

Hot stone massage combines relaxing warmth and refreshing coolness to encourage the body to detox and heal. This also increases lymph flow and helps to flush out waste.

Heat relaxes your body in a short space of time, so your therapist can focus on a deep working of the tissues using both hot stones and hand strokes.

Hot stones also increase your sense of relaxation and calm. They are coated in fragrant oil which is smoothed gently onto your body, and each stone, in turn, is worked by your therapist’s hands.

Hot stone massage can:

• boost your circulation
• release stored tension
• recharge your energy levels
• relax you

Hot stone massage is said to have health benefits for people with:

• muscular pain
• poor circulation
• rheumatic and arthritic conditions
• fibromyalgia
• back pain
• stress
• insomnia
• depression.

As with all spa therapies, never underestimate the feel-good factor. Hot stone massage will help you feel nurtured, pampered and special.

What to expect from a hot stone massage

Hot stone massage begins with placing warm, oiled stones on multiple acupressure points around your body, perhaps even tiny ones between your toes. You may drift off into a dreamy state and lose track of where the hot stones are arranged.

Hot stone massage employs a variety of strokes and techniques using the stones and hands, working over kinks in your muscles. You are unlikely to feel the intensity since your muscles will be relaxed by the heat of the stones. Your therapist may alternate between hot basalt stones and much colder, marble stones. As your body sinks further into a state of relaxation, you may even stop noticing the extreme changes in temperature.

Hot stone massage should trigger a deeply relaxed, blissed-out and meditative state. Some people have reported closing their eyes and seeing bright colours. Enjoy the afterglow — float slowly back to the real world and re-hydrate your body by sipping plenty of water.