The first stone therapy known to be offered publicly to non-Indian people came from Hawaiian tribes and is a form of Lomi Lomi. It involves heated stones and ceremonial application.

Here on the mainland several tribes including the Cherokee, Ogallala, Assinaboin, and Santee have used all kinds of stones for Shamanic healing in a variety of ceremonies.

Everything from basalt to crystal, lava to turquoise, has found a way to offer wellness. A prominent practice known as “Inyan Pejuta,” a Lakota term meaning “Stone Medicine,” involves both hot and cold stones with specific strokes and layouts using a variety of stones. Unlike Lomi Lomi, Stone Medicine was hidden from non-Native people until recently.

In Central and South America some Mayan, Incan, Aztecan and Peruvian tribes have ceremonies that involve using stones. Some of the stones are specially carved (fetishes), some are heated, and some are cold. Many are gem quality and crystal in nature. A recent reintroduction of Munay Ki, an ancient Incan wellness method using a “Pi” stone and crystal wand with specific initiation rites, has come to the forefront of energy wellness.

Reflexology was practiced by many Southwestern tribes and is recorded in ancient Aztec pyramids showing the use of stones.

The term reflexology is from the modern people who “discovered” it and later began writing and teaching about it, although they seldom included the use of stones, having mistaken them for phallic symbols.

Aboriginal tribes of Australia have stone treatments that are thousands of years old. They have recorded their history with rock art similar to that found in the Americas and often show stones as sacred wellness tools. On a recent visit to Sydney, I was gifted carved healing stones, showing tiny faces of the ancestors, from an aboriginal Shaman after our brief visit.

An Ayurvedic method of wellness, from India, involves heated oils and specific stroke sequences in ceremonial application very similar to Stone Medicine from the American Indians.

Japanese, Chinese and other Asian practitioners have a variety of stone treatment processes that date back to ancient history. Many of them involve walking on certain stones or lying on special stone patterns. As comparisons are made in the modern massage industry, we are reminded of how wellness is preserved through preventative therapies. The ancient traditions still serve well in this arena.

Our Ina Maka (Mother Earth) is threatened by modern civilization’s poor ecological practices. To save our planet, people must find reconnection to her, and what better way than through the stones, which Native people believe are the bones of Mother Earth.

When wellness is offered through a lovely warm stone, the client finds a connection to Mother Earth that is real and instant.

Mother Earth is offering us wellness through the stones so we can in turn recognize our duty to heal her. Who knows what effect we could have on the ones making decisions about our world’s ecology if we offer them stone wellness?

Modern education systems are offering CE courses to the massage industry with great care to bring scientific proof forward. Traditional Geothermal Therapy has a direct scientific relationship to hydrotherapy, where temperatures are offered to the body with water. The massage techniques similar to Ayurvedic strokes show amazing ability to remove toxins, support lymphatic drainage, reduce swelling and inflammation, lower blood pressure and offer stress relief. The strokes related to Swedish-style massage bring rejuvenation and encourage healthy organ function, as well as increased circulation along with deep tissue health and fitness.

Geothermal Therapy has developed many expressions while incorporating modern science as proof of the healing abilities of hot and cold temperatures on the body.

Jenny Ray has been a Medicine Woman for over 30 years and holds the title of Shaman. She has studied with medicine people, elders and shamans from a variety of cultures and was honored recently to serve at The Camas Institute (Kalispell tribal teaching facility in Washington State) where she was an instructor on Contemporary Native American Culture. Ms. Ray has experience in ways of her ancestors from the Santee’ Dakota, Sioux, Nez Perce and Irish Celtic tribes. Teaching workshops throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan, Ms. Ray is also the author of several books on Native American heritage and healing. Her recent induction into the Massage Hall of Fame recognizes her amazing accomplishments in her second career as an educator in the professional Massage industry. A member of the board of directors of the Stone Walkers Association, she is also a licensed minister who performs marriage ceremonies in the traditions of her American Indian heritage. She offers wellness to the individual through her work with Stone Medicine, Inipi (sweat lodge), Shamanic Journey, and other traditional ceremonies. For more information about the Stone Walkers Association visit www.StoneWalkersAssociation.com and for more about Stone Medicine see www.SacredStoneMedicine.com