Stone therapy -- a rub without the wincing

By Maria Kegel

JAKARTA (JP): The latest leisure sensation to hit the capital is stone therapy, whose origins can be traced back hundreds of years to the American Indians.

The therapy has been updated with reflexology in a basic Swedish massage that benefits the seven chakras (energy centers) in the body.

"There are seven main chakras and if you place the stones above them it has a more soothing effect," Miriam van Doorn, a spa manager and consultant, said.

The treatment starts with six heated stones placed on the spine above six major chakras. The seventh stone, for the third eye chakra, is placed on the forehead when the guest is lying on his or her back.

"Chakras are like open flowers, their energy runs around in a circle, either clockwise or counterclockwise; sometimes they are open, sometimes closed. They are like the petals of a lotus, opening and closing and only a healer can tell if they are opened or closed.

"What the stones do are open the chakras and this induces a sleepy effect. It also creates positive energy as it's a very healing energy that relaxes," she said.

Stone therapy uses long, elongated strokes and it is not an active massage, with no deep tissue pressure involved.

"It's like a continuous movement, lengthening the muscles and it's like going back to the womb.

"I think active people may want a massage that hurts in order for it to be beneficial and they have been used to that for years and years. But stone therapy is not like that," Van Doorn said.

The massage

The Dharmawangsa Hotel Spa is currently the only venue in town offering stone therapy. Debbie, a therapist at the spa, said the treatment's harmonizing and soothing effects calmed the mind and balanced the body's energy.

We'll see about that. The therapy begins with clients laying face down and feeling the heat of six medium-sized stones placed directly on their spine for 15 minutes.

Smaller round flat stones of varying colors are placed on both calves and between each toe of the foot and these are left in for the entirety of the session. Finally, a fist-sized rock is placed in each hand.

Next comes a full-body massage, excluding the breasts and stomach, done entirely with two large heated stones. The therapist douses two large rocks in almond oil and places them on the skin, first smoothing them gently into a small area before spreading them out in wide circles.

The combination of the warmth and weight of the stones worked into the muscles of the back in such a gentle yet firm massage makes it difficult to tell whether they are actually stones or the therapist's hands.

Massaging the shoulder blades, the backs of the arms and stroking the back of the neck with the smoothness of the warm stones reaches right down into those tired, overworked muscles, instantly relaxing them.

The session ends with the therapist using her heated palms to press gently down on both shoulders, moving her hands upward until they cradle the skull. Here she lightly rubs the temples, touching ever so lightly the area above the eyelids.

And then, with a lingering and final press of her palms on the forehead, she whispers these horrible words: "Your treatment is over." Sigh.

So tranquil and relaxing is the treatment, functioning normally afterward can be a major feat, even if just to dress and find a taxi. The only activity one should have planned for later is something sedentary, such as lounging in a hot tub.

A stone therapy session at the Dharmawangsa lasts one hour and 15 minutes. The cost for day guests is Rp 150,000++, while a member pays Rp 125,000++.