Don't you love the heat? Warm sun on your back, hot sand on your legs and feet. Yes, we all love the beach. There is something very healing and relaxing about the sun. Our muscles feel great having lain in the sun for a bit. There is a way to have this feeling without being in the sand. A trained massage technician will perform a hot stone massage on you in a spa. I was a little daunted at first, but I was surprisingly impressed when I tried my first hot stone massage.
The professional who will perform this is in a clinical environment with sanitary tools (stones). They are kept in boiling water to inhibit the growth of bacteria. The therapist will be trained and certified. He/she will use tools or gloves to remove the stones from the water when they are needed for a client and this keeps them sanitary.
The tools used for hot stone massage are basalt stones. Throughout the ages, these have been used because they retain heat and are believed to have energizing properties. Practitioners of hot stone massage prefer these ancient stones to any others.
Another great thing about this type of massage is that it is easier on the hands of the massage therapist as the tools are used to apply pressure. The stones are laid out on both sides of the spine, delivering heat to the body. The masseuse also massages the client with heated oiled stones. You can request a customized massage based on pressure level on tissue and muscle. The harder the stones are pressed, the more pressure is applied. It can be hard, medium or light. This helps with blood flow. This type of massage to me sounded great, as when it comes to pressure, I'm such a wimp. I can't take too much, but this customized massage suited me and my problem areas very well.
In the early 1800's, massage therapy became very popular and this increased until the 1930's and 40's. As modern medicine developed, the benefits of massage therapy were discounted. It was used less and less. In the 1960's and 1970's nurses began to use it to alleviate pain in patients. Again, its popularity grew until finally in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta massage was deemed a core medical service, which gave it great credibility.
I love my massage therapist. Of all the 90,000 people in the United States who claim massage therapy as their part-time or full-time job, mine is the greatest. Like most, she is self-employed. A large percentage of these workers are of part-time and self-employed workers. Not all states in the United States require some sort of a license to practice massage therapy. See if your local massage therapist can perform a hot stone massage. If a state does not have any massage laws, then nothing is required and a practitioner need not apply for any sort of license with the state. Each state has its own regulations, but in generally, to train in the US where a license is required it involves 500-1000 hours in length, resulting in a certificate, diploma, or degree depending on the particular school.
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