Let’s
Get Stoned—Naturally
9/29/7
Got ya, didn’t I? I just love to play with words and for those
of you who know me—my way of getting stoned is through Hot Stone Therapy. Stones represent the earth element—one of the
four elements in my Couples Elemental Massage.
I’ve included some of the protocol I teach in this particular class.
The
Four Elements: Water, Earth, Fire and Air
Water:
Swedish
term is effluerage which means “to
flow.” Use long connective strokes “to
flow” the warm oil on, completely covering the back and arms. Connect with the flowing quality of water as
you lubricate and relax the entire back muscles. Use these long, flowing strokes to create the
feeling of length in each part of the body.
Earth: Swedish term
is petrissage, which means, “rock” or
“hard.” Next you will be kneading the
muscles with deep, firm pressure connecting with the element earth, which is
firm and deep. Sore muscles love to be
worked in this way and deep massage can release toxins that are trapped in the
muscle tissue causing pain. Check with
your partner often to make sure it is not too
deep.
Fire: Swedish term
is tapotement and/or friction, which is designed to bring
circulation or fire to the surface. Rub
vigorously or use tapping or slapping strokes to bring a warm, flushed quality
to the skin. This helps circulate the
toxins out of the muscles into the blood and lymphatic systems. This can be very invigorating to the body—but
don’t overdo it. Too much tapotement can become irritating.
Air:
Swedish term is etheric which means
“air.” Lightly stroke the body with an
“air-brush” quality. You can use
feathers or massage mitts to assist with the erotic quality of air. This will send your partner “out of this
world.” This also accesses the energy or
etheric field of the body, eliminating any trapped negative energy. Continue
with the massage protocol addressing each body part using the four elements of
massage.
At Breathe Day Spa where I work
we do an exclusive Breathe Hot Stone Massage which is absolutely fabulous. Also at the Bellagio where I worked we
offered The Bellagio Signature Hot Stone Massage. I incorporate many of these hot stone
techniques in my own Nu Yu Body Renewal protocol. The following is a brief history of the use
of stones for healing (borrowed from Breathe) that I thought was quite
interesting.
Most, if not all, stone use for healing has
been passed verbally from one healer or medicine person to the next.
Some cultures teach that the stones of the
earth have the memories of all the events of the planet, if not the
Universe. The stones agree to aid each
human in their own personal journey of healing and transformation by enhancing
our memories and allowing us to view life in a more balanced and spiritual way.
Native Americans use heated stones in their
sweat-lodges, usually the bluish-to-black stones. They also use a sun-heated (heliotherapy)
stone on the belly of a woman when her menses are painful to relieve the
pain. In the Sioux Indian tradition, a
boy going through manhood would lay on a hard rock and put smooth stones
between his toes to teach him the difference between hard and soft, female and
male, a beginning for understanding how important it is to balance ones life.
Many shamans, medicine people, and
spiritual healers from all over the world use stones and crystals in their
healing ceremonies. Each color and type
of stone reflects an energy, purpose, clearing and releasing effect on the
client as it is being used. Very few are
chosen to learn from a spiritual teacher how to use the stones for
healing. Usually a shaman will pass on
the knowledge of healing to one special student before they pass into the Light
to rejoin their creator. This is one
reason that there is very little out there for research purposes.
In Hawaii the Kahunas use lava stones in
their healing treatments, and they wrap the stone with a ki leaf. The lava stone represents healing and
protection. Lava stones were also used
for building altars for religious or magical practices.
In the Philippines it is a common practice
to use a rough basalt stone to slough off old and dry skin.
In Russia there is a tradition using heated
black stones in their bath. They line
the bottom of the bathtub with hot stones and then lie down on the smooth
stones, soaking in the soothing warm energy that radiates from each stone.
In the days of cowboys, it was a common
practice to heat stones in the fire and then place them on the ground under
their bedding. The stones heated
energies not only kept them warm at night, but also the stones were more giving
to the body than the earth for comfort.
An order of Japanese monks use the smooth
black stones to keep their abdomens warm after a meal. It is a custom of theirs not to eat a lot at
one time. By placing two or three warm
stones in the sash that is wrapped around their waist, they have a sense of
being fuller for a longer period of time.
The Mayan Indians use a divination stone to
tell them what illness a patient has and what the treatment(s) should be to aid
the person back to good health. This is
very similar to the use of a crystal ball.
In China the use of heated stones to
relieve tired muscles dates back to before the Chang Dynasty (Circa 2000-1500
BC).
Along with healing, stones have been used
for a myriad of other purposes. The
ancient Egyptians engraved their Book of the Dead onto semi-precious stones
that had been cut into symbolic forms.
The Celts left their alphabet etched in stones called Ogham as well as
building giant stone circles like Stonehenge.
Many North American Indians created petroglyphs in cliff faces and
rocks. Stones have been used for
hunting, cooking and protection. Crazy
Horse carried a pebble behind his ear; this stone was part of his belief that
he was bulletproof. Quartz crystal
divination was used by Southwest Pueblo Indians as well as the Gypsies. Cherokee Indians wore crystals wrapped in
leather for protection, energy or power.
Nowadays, stones are becoming more and more
popular for use in massage. Hot stones
can be used to massage tight muscles to help them relax deeply. The use of hot and cold stones together is
the application of thermotherapy, using deep penetrating heated stones and alternating
with extremely cold or “frozen” stones.
Using different temperatures, whether hot or cold, on the body to bring
about a certain reaction has been done for eons. Adjusting temperatures in bodywork to aid
clients in healing has always been beneficial.
Basalt and marble stones are the medium and the hot and cold
temperatures are the message. This
“vascular gymnastics” of the circulatory system assist the body in self-healing.
To conclude our series on the
use of the four elements for healing, again I quote from The Essene Gospel of Peace.
Your Mother is in you, and you in her. She bore you: she gives you life. It was she who gave to you your body, and to
her shall you one day give it back again.
Happy are you when you come to know her and her kingdom; if you receive
your Mother’s angels and if you do her laws.
I tell you truly, he who does these things shall never see disease. For the power of our Mother is above all. And it destroys Satan and his kingdom, and
has rule over all your bodies and all living things.
The blood which runs in us is born of the
blood of our Earthly Mother. Her blood
falls from the clouds; leaps up from the womb of the earth; babbles in the
brooks of the mountains; flows wide in the rivers of the plains; sleeps in the
lakes; rages mightily in tempestuous seas.
The air which we breathe is born of the
breath of the Earthly Mother. Her breath
is azure in the heights of the heavens; sighs in the tops of the mountains;
whispers in the leaves of the forest; billows over the cornfields; slumbers in
the deep valleys; burns hot in the desert.
The hardness of our bones is born of the
bones of our Earthly Mother, of the rocks and of the stones. They stand naked to the heavens on the tops
of mountains; are as giants that lie sleeping on the sides of the mountains, as
idols set in the desert, and are hidden in the deepness of the earth.
The tenderness of our flesh is born of the
flesh of our Earthly Mother; whose flesh waxes yellow and red in the fruits of
the trees, and nurtures us in the furrows of the fields.
Our bowels are born of the bowels of our
Earthly Mother, and are hid from our eyes, like the invisible depths of the
earth.
The light of our eyes, the hearing of our
ears, both are born of the colors and the sounds of our Earthly Mother; which
enclose us about, as the waves of the sea a fish, as the eddying air a bird.
I tell you in very truth, Man is the Son of
the Earthly Mother, and from her did the Son of Man receive his whole body,
even as the body of the newborn babe is born of the womb of his mother, I tell
you truly, you are one with the Earthly Mother; she is in you, and you in
her. Of her were you born, in her do you
live, and to her shall you return again.
Keep, therefore, her laws for none can live long, neither be happy, but
he who honors his Earthly Mother and does her laws. For your breath is her breath; your blood her
blood; your bone her bones; your flesh her flesh; your bowels her bowels; your
eyes and your ears are her eyes and her ears.
I’d
like to end this week’s good newsletter with the words to one of my favorite
songs, “The Flower That Shattered the Stone.”
What a beautiful metaphor and a great song to honor our Earthly Mother
and all the gifts that She blesses us with.
The
Flower That Shattered the Stone
The Earth is our Mother
Just
turning around
With
her trees in the forest
Roots
underground
Our
Father above us
Whose
sigh is the wind
Paint
us a rainbow
Without
any end
As
the river runs freely
The
mountain does rise
Let
me touch with my fingers
And
see with my eyes
In
the hearts of the children
A
pure love still grows
Like
a bright star in heaven
That
lights our way home
Like
the flower that shattered the stone
Sparrows
find freedom
Beholding
the sun
In
the infinite wisdom
We’re
all joined in one
I
reach out before me
And
look to the sky
Did
I hear someone whisper?
Did
something pass by?
As
the river runs freely
The
mountain does rise.
Let
me touch with my fingers
See
with my eyes
In
the hearts of the children
A
pure love still grows
Like
a bright star in heaven
That
lights our way home
Like
the flower that shattered the stone
Like
a bright star in heaven
That
lights our way home
Like
the flower that shattered the stone
(Words by Joe Henry, Music by John Jarvis,
Sung by John Denver in his album, The
Flower that Shattered the Stone)
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