Stones

hotstones

the beach is the best place,for getting stones.

Thank you 🙂

I would shy away from getting them from the beach. The stones used in hot stone massage are basalt and the ones you pick up from the beach may not be. Basalt is a volcanic rock which holds the heat - others may not stay hot as long and could crack.

I bought mine a few years back now but they were from thermalstones.co.uk. Reasonable price, delivery time although I would have preferred to have bought them in person so that I could have chosen the stones myself individually but they were good quality.

Firstly a proviso that hot stone massage is not my area of expertise - so Lavandula and other practitioners can correct me here.

Is it necessary to use Basalt rock for hot stone massage? I realise that it is a bit different, but in Japan where ganbanyoku is popular - you lie on a bed of hot stone - black silica is used, and they also use it in other areas. This stone does not need to be heated to such a high temperature but is still able to heat the body through to its core.

Hi Lewey,

I think you raise a very valid point.

There are different forms of hot stone massage. I personally do hot/cold stone massage and therefore use 2 different types of stone, basalt for heat and marble for cold.

I think it's important that practitioners should work within their competance and knowledge and this stems their training.

If unknown stones are used then then there are risks associated with their unpredictability, which could result with invalid insurance. It's not just a case of stones splitting or cracking, some stones are porous and therefore could hold oils, a virus or bacteria.

Therefore IMO using unknown, untested stones is too greater risk. Having said that, I would love to learn all the different techniques and styles of hot/cold stone massage because it's such a huge subject in itself.

Do many reading this use cold stones?

Namaste,
Myarka.

You can use any kind of stone that holds heat (or cold) for working with stones. Basalt does hold heat well so it is often mentioned. Anyone that says that you can ONLY use basalt is usually either selling basalt or believes what someone selling basalt said. You can get granite sets, those people usually say that basalt is too porous, and granite is the only safe stone. Shiva lingams hold heat incredibly well and don't break, even some marble holds heat well, haematite holds heat incredibly well. You can use things other than basalt.

As for porous stones, by their porous nature, they don't conduct heat well, so you probably wouldn't want to use them anyway. Dense stones conduct heat better than stones with air bubbles. Quite a lot of basalt stones sold in sets have small cracks in them which are just as much of a concern as porous stones, they need to be cleaned well.

I use cold stones and hot stones, and room temperature stones.

Hi there

I just wondered if anyone had bought any stones recently. Where did you get them and are they good quality? Would anyone have any tips on what to look for when buying them? I did the course today, but wondered if anyone had any other tis since buying theirs.
Ive looked at hotstone.hut but delivery is 4-6 weeks 🙁

Any help or advice would be greatfully recieved
Thank you

My hot stones are from this American company. I love all the stones in my set.

I got mine from Physique.co.uk, haven't had a chance to use them as not many people want to pay me lol