Winter has officially arrived with the first major snow of the season blanketing the Northern Virginia region last week. In some ways, winter can be fun with sledding, snow ball fights, and building a snowman. However, winter also means having to shovel snow, break up ice, and asking more of our bodies than they are used to.

We understand that the seasonal toll that the winter can bring means your body needs both the aid of a massage, and heat to warm those bones.

During this time of year, we highly recommend a hot stone massage. The heat of the stones beautifully counter the cold temperatures, and will allow deeper muscle relaxation. Perfect after long hours of shoveling or general exertion in the cold.

What is Hot Stone Massage?

For hot stone massage, we use volcanic stones heated to the perfect temperature which are then placed on key points of the body including:

• Spine

• Stomach

• Chest

• Head

• Palms

• Feet

The stones are first placed on the back to warm and loosen the muscles. Second, we place stones on your arms and legs to begin the same process. Once the back, arms and legs are warmed up, the muscles and fascia are now loose, and the deep massage begins, to provide both comfort and healing to an aching body.

How Does Hot Stone Work?

Heat causes your muscles to relax and signals your brain to increase blood flow to that area. In deep tissue massage, we use techniques like friction to cause the muscles to expand.

While this process is great for healing clients, it might be a little uncomfortable, but only for a short while. For patients who are more sensitive, hot stone is perfect because it’s a relaxing way to ease those muscles and allow the massage therapist to reach those deeper muscles.

The increased blood flow removes toxins that gather from shoveling, slips and falls, or even car accidents. They then bring in a flush of new biochemicals with healing properties.

Benefits of Hot Stone Massage

There are many reasons why a hot stone massage can be beneficial. A massage has many benefits to your body such as:

• Stress relief

• Pain relief

• Insomnia relief

• Reduced anxiety

• Immune system

But there are also some benefits you can only get with a hot stone massage:

• Reach deeper layers of muscle without the pain of a normal deep tissue massage

• Better treat pain relief and symptoms of fibromyalgia

• Increase blood flow and a greater boost to your immune system to counter the cold, dry weather.

Is Hot Stone Right For Me?

Anyone who has the following should consider a hot stone massage:

• Stress

• Anxiety

• Insomnia

• Outdoor work

• A slip/fall

• A car accident

• An immune system that needs a boost

We recommend getting a massage at least once at the start of every season. Your body is adjusting no matter what, and it’s much better to reset your system and prepare it for the season than to allow even more toxins to build up.

We only want the best health your body can have, which is why we are offering 20% off on our 90 minute Hot Stone Massage in January 2019. Use the code HS2019 at check out when creating your appointment online, or mention this special when you come in for your massage.