Difference between La Stone Therapy and Hot Stone Therapy???

Dear Cola,
I am about to take my exams in May 2009 with ITEC Hot Stones
I was wondering if you can recall any questions from your exams?

Never done an ITEC Hot Stone exam, so I've nothing to recall. LaStone exams have more questions about using cold, so would not be applicable for a hot stone exam, none of the other courses I've done have had exams.

LaStone UK

Hi my name is Lesley Masterson and I and my partner Anna Spaul now run LaStone UK. Can I say now that our emphasis at LaStone UK is teaching how to apply alternating temperature to the body in a safe and effective way using the medium of Stones, both Hot and Cold. Yes we do this with ceremony and the energy work does figure in the treatments that we give, but ultimately we train in Geo-Thermal-Therapy. If anyone feels that they are not confident in using either the hot of cold stones please contact us at our website. LaStone is the leading educator in Hot and Cold Stone massage and our training is second to none. We are the only company to offer unique advanced courses in Sports and Reflexology plus our advanced course with Mary Nelson herself.
This year we are opening our convention to all stone trained therapists. Come and meet Mary Nelson and experience what we have to offer. Check on our website for the location and date.
I would be glad to answer personally any questions or queries that you have regarding LaStone training for the future or in the past.
regards Lesley Masterson

LaStone Stone Techniques

:confused:I can must answer the post on the teaching of stone techniques within LaStone. I teach LaStone and we certainly concentrate the majority of our time to make our therapists both competent and confident using both hot and cold stones. There is energy work but only to enhance the treatment and the ceremonial work is only a small part of what we are about. If any LaStone therapist is not happy with their past training please contact us on via our website.

LaStone UK Convention

I have attended 1 Jing Hot stones course.

Once completed, I realised that Jing did not give me the complete picture and wanted to know more, so I then went on to do 7 LaStone courses. 🙂 So I really do know that LaStone is more than just hot stones.

🙂 I'm going to the 2009 LaStone CONVENTION in a few weeks time.
This is a chance for anyone interested in stones massage to come & spend a day picking up lots of info on exactly what it's all about.

The Convention details are here:

It'll be at Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, which is just north of London,
on 19th July 2009.

I've noticed some confusion about what Stone training courses offer.

I have completed 7 LaStone courses - yet there are still more LaStone courses that I could do:

Here's an indication of the variety on offer these days;
If you like energy work and native American influence - you can do that.
If you want a more Sports therapy based course - you can do that direction too. A 'Physio-Medical Stone' course or a 'Deep stone' course.
If you want a Beauty based course for Spa work - there is a special course for that.
If you want to use stones for your reflexology work, there's even a course for that too.

These courses have different "flavours" and characteristics. They use the COLD stones to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon the need. It's good to gather course information first, and bear in mind the length of time it took you to first learn your basic Swedish for example, then you'll realise that you cannot learn Stones massage in one day.

For you to do your own research to check out my hints - go to:

It's much more than just hot stones.

Hi can you tell e what you felt you missed from the Jing Hot Stone Massage course & what extra you got from the La Stone course as I have been geven mixed views & opinions on both & am very confused as to who to train with. The opinion I have made having read up is that Jing offer more medical massage procedure with the stones, to work on areas of the client where required to resolve a muscule or joint problem. With La Stone I feel it is more holistic mind body soul, more a pampering Spa treatment & a superficial relaxing massage, please give e your opinions on both.

Also can you tell me which heater & stones you have been advised to use as again I have been given different info from therapists that offer Jing from those that offer La Stone.

Thank you

If you're after more prescriptive therapeutic results, someone presents with a condition you treat accordingly their condition changes, I don't think you can just use a hot stones only class. The basic Jing class seems to be hot stones only, you would need to the jing basic class AND their Masterclass where they seem to introduce cold (going off the course descriptions on the website). The use of cold stones is critical for therapeutic results, it's not so important for a fluffy spa routine.
LaStone use hot and cold in their basic courses, though I'd recommend you plan on 4 days of courses to get the therapeutic angle covered properly, the VERY basic 2 day course, covers a bit of cold, but just due to time constraints of a 2 day course it doesn't cover that much cold hands on, though it does cover it in the theory.

A stone class you have to learn about how to safely heat the stones, how to handle the stones, how to clean the stones, contraindications, temperature considerations, and THEN you need to learn how to massage with a lump of rock between your hand and your client - it takes more than a 2 day course to get all of that info across.

Heaters: everyone will say what they are selling is the best. Personally, I don't think a digitally controlled thermostat is that big a concern, thermostatically controlled yes, but not the need for digital. There are other threads about heaters with lots of different options, the important thing is to use equipment that is designed to be used at a safe working temp for stones, that means rice cookers and slow cookers and frypans aren't OK, they are designed to cook food, trying to keep them at a safe temp is difficult, if not impossible.

Stones: LaStone have amazing sets. I'd recommend try and see a real LaStone set to compare anything else against it, it's a balance against quality vs price, LaStone stone sets are like the Rolls Royce of stone sets, but not everyone can justify a Rolls Royce, some people will.

Hi there,
I was at the convention on the 19th July 2009, did we meet? I do hope so! The Lastone course with Mary Nelson & Lesley and all staff where just wonderful & so helpful!

I have my resit with ITEC Hot Stone Therapy on 3rd Sept 2009 (Am) Massage. I can not wait to do Lastone course, as I feel there is much more to give to my clients, after all that's what we trained for!

Lots of love Maggie xxx

Sunstone sorry to hear that you didn't get what you needed from the Jing course.

I've not done a LaStone course but have done the Jing Hot Stone Fusion course so hopefully can help with info about that,

Both the 2 x 3 day and the 4 day intensive courses do show you how to use cold stones in a treatment. The masterclass is for a recap to go over things that you might have forgotten and I believe is also open to people who have done hot stone courses with other organisations. The focus of Jing training is to help treat pain conditions but the hot stone treatments can also be done just a luxury pampering treatment too.

Slow cookers are the suggested rather than specific hot stone heaters. The stones sometimes get a bit hot but by dipping them in cold water before using them cools them down. The stones are bought from a company in the states but I don't know which one.

It is much better (for ease of work AND safety) to have stones heated to a safe temperature, rather than cool stones down by dipping them in cold water. Dipping them in cold water is NOT safe. If you use hot stones enough, your hands desensitise to the heat, it's why babies bottles are tested on the inside of the wrist not on desensitised hands. If your hands do become desensitised, it means you could put a stone that is too hot on the client, yet it feels perfectly OK in your hands. This isn't really a concern if you are using stones once a week or something, but if you are doing lots of stone treatments every day, your hands do become desensitised.
I was on a hot stone course with a beauty therapist, she was used to so much waxing that her hands were desensitised from that, she couldn't readily tell when a stone had even cooled down enough to slow down. Heating stones above a safe temp is not safe. Get the right equipment correctly and it is safe. In America, most insurance won't cover you for stone therapy if you are not using a hot stone heater.

Thank you Cola, I realise that I may have given the impression that after I cool the stone I use it straight away on the clients body. Although I use the cool dip method I will double check that the stone is not too hot by placing the stone on my arm before I massage the client with it. I will also massage down the clients arm with the stones to take off some of the heat.

LaStone and developments in Geo-Thermal Therapy

The big issue that lots of therapists do not take into account is the safety aspect of the stones - I do not in this instance mean using heat on clients who have conditions that are either contra-indicated or have contra considerations. I am referring to sanitation of the stones both during use on the client, between each session and also at the end of each working day. The SWA (The Stone Walkers Association - search on google to find out more about them) are striving to work with insurance companies to find the best and most effective way to stop the risk of cross contamination of the more common and rarer but never the less potentially lethal bacteria and other organisms. We at LaStone are doing all we can to help this vital area of research.
You really need to know that the companies that you are training with have all the up to date information and research on what is happening in this vital area of our profession. Potentially insurance companies could refuse to insure us and then this wonderful therapy will be lost to all the clients that benefit and we as therapist will loose a important tool to help keep our working lives as long as we need it to be.

I have recently completed the first part of my Hot Stone training with the Jing institute in Brighton, and can highly reccomend their course.

Although I could have trained locally, I chose Jing as they have the most fully comphrehensive Hot Stone training in the UK. Set in two modules of three days, the course covers the use of both hot and cold stones, and covers many advanced techniques that just are not available elsewhere. The trainers are all about producing exellence, and it shows.

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone else done recent training with either La Stone or Jing? as I am thinking of adding Stone therapy massage to my repertoire.

Any comments or suggestions would be most appreciated.

🙂