Hot Rock Massage

Warm, comforting basalt stones are used in this deeply relaxing treatment rooted in the Native American healing tradition. It utilizes elements of nature in combination with a nurturing touch. You are warmed and massaged with the heated stones, relieving the muscular tension throughout your body, giving one a sense of grounding connection with the earth. The heat makes the affect of this treatment very profound. This is why it has quickly become one of the most popular Spa treatments.

In this massage treatment, the healing stone ritual incorporates Aromatherapy and tension releasing effleurage, starting with warm sculpted river stones used as an extension of the therapists’ hands to bring you deep relaxation, grounding and perfect balance from head to toe. Cool stones alternately re-energize and stimulate muscles.

Since the birth of time, many ancient cultures have used the healing power of stones for medicinal and spiritual purposes. In Bali it is believed that stones are filled with the vitality and energy of the water that flows over them in an eternal stream. Our stones are gathered from local areas such as the Sunshine Coast and Squamish rivers. Harnessing the properties of the stones, they are heated in warm water, and placed on key energy points of your body, to balance the spirit. The deep penetrating heat of the volcanic basalt stone is combined with traditional massage to release muscular tension. Aromatherapy can be added to the treatment to further add benefit. Enveloped in warmth, you can achieve a deeper dimension of relaxation, to harmonize your energy and invoke a meditative state.

Basalt and Marble Stones produce sedative and re-energizing responses to the body as we incorporate both energies of black and white, hot and cold in the treatment. This wonderful massage creates a feeling of well being, a sense of wholeness, that one might not have felt for sometime.

Stones are placed under the body, on the body and are used to massage you, warmth reaches deep into your muscles, melting tension and stress. A stone under each hand opens your hands, the warmth melting up your arm. A comforting stone on the belly, feels like a hot water bottle, the lightness experienced when the stone is removed needs to be experienced to be believed. Chilled stones are used on areas of inflammation. Warm rocks and hands warmed by the rocks massage away tension. Stone therapy is a holistic treatment, working on mind, body and soul (spirit).

Each rock used has been individually chosen to be used in a hot rock/stone treatment. A warmed customised aromatherapy blend can be used to oil the body before working the stones along muscles and the meridians and energy points of the body.

Benefits of Hot Rock Massage

A contemporary approach to alternating temperatures in massage. The physiological benefits of alternating hot and cold to the body have long been scientifically and medically proven.

Basalt and marble stones are the medium and the hot and cold temperatures are the message. This "vascular gymnastics" of the circulatory system assists the body in self-healing.

The application of heated rocks helps to prepare the body for a more efficient and effective massage. Using heated rocks as massage instruments causes vasodilatation. Following these massage strokes with chilled stones causes vasoconstriction. The effect is a form of circulatory callisthenics for the body. The gentle weight of the rocks, combined with manual manipulation of muscles, helps to push toxins out of the muscles and into the lymphatic system, stimulating the detoxification process.

The application of heated rocks and their use as during massage is ideal for flexibility work because they increase the elasticity of collagen fibres. They also ease muscle tension which assists in the prevention and recovery of sports injuries.
The application of chilled rocks has an analgesic effect on injured muscles, acting as painkillers by reducing the ability of the nerve endings in the affected site to conduct impulses.

Often called hot rock massage or hot stone massage, stones of varying temperatures may be used - hot, warm, room temperature, cool and chilled stones, and occasionally icy stones. The various temperatures of the rocks allows different experiences during the treatment.

Tips

Whether you are a first timer to massage or the Spa experience, or someone who has regular massage/treatments, here are some things to keep in mind to enjoy your time:

• For any oil massage, you will have to undress and slip between the sheets on the massage table. It is your choice whether you undress completely or you’re your undergarments on. Depending on the temperature of the room, there will also be a blanket that will cover the sheets. Your practitioner will direct you as to whether be on your back or front. Once you are settled on the bed, make sure that the covers are up to your shoulders, covering your body. Your practitioner will give you enough time to settle and then knock on the door to see if you are ready or not. When you give the signal, then they will enter and get ready to start the massage.
• For non-oil treatments such as shiatsu and thai, you will either wear your own clothes if they are loose or use clothes provided. The treatment will be done over/through the clothes.
• Once the treatment begins, what experience you have is between you and your practitioner. You determine how it goes. If you want more or less pressure, then communicate this to the practitioner. If you want a particular area to have more attention, then communicate this. If the practitioner is good, they will continuously be asking you questions, to determine these. The clearer you are, the more personalized your treatment will be. If the practitioner is not open to you communicating your needs, then they are not worth continuing with.
• Many people ask how much they should talk in a treatment. The answer is that it is completely up to you. You are paying for the service. If you need to chat, then chat. If you wish to be silent and fall asleep, then go for it. The practitioner will respect this. Again, you are paying for the treatment.
• As the practitioner moves around to different areas of your body, they will be moving the covers on and off. They will doing this while keeping your private areas still covered. The technique of draping is taught in all the schools and is essential part of a treatment. The experience should always be a comfortable one for both you and the practitioner.

The length of time of the massage

Usually places will give options of 30/60/90/120 minutes. A 30 minute massage is considered a “teaser”. It is used if you have a specific area that you want worked on for a short period of time. A 60 minute massage is considered the standard minimal for a full body massage experience. Both 90 and 120 are better if want the full experience as well as concentrate on a specific area. These times mean that the practitioner can take their time to really focus on areas that need attention. For the specialty treatments such as: hot rocks, salt exfoliations and body wraps, 90 minutes is considered the minimum. 120 minutes is considered the standard. These treatments take time and need the extra to have the full experience. It is well worth the extra time!

Timing – our guarantee

Many spas will take 10 minutes off the massage time and use this as part of the preparation time. Therefore, a 60 minute massage, becomes a 50 minute and so on. At Nibbana Healing Spa, we believe that you get what you paid for and a full body massage is a full 60 minutes. Instead of the time taken off of the time taken for you to prepare, we absorb that time in our schedule. We want you to have the maximum benefit. So, you have an extra 10 minutes to enjoy.