Crystal and Stone Massage

Energy Healing for the Vital and Subtle Bodies

Michael Gienger

• Publisher: Healing Arts Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781620554128
• Topic: Medicina
• Subtopic: Medicina alternativa e complementare

A full-color guide to crystal massage for healing, energy balance, and stress release in the physical, emotional, and energetic bodies• Illustrates full-body massage techniques with crystal wands, crystal spheres, polished stones, and amber• Details the healing properties of more than 50 crystals and gemstones and how to select the proper one for a specific condition• Explains how to cleanse and recharge crystal, gemstone, and amber after each massage so energies are not transferred from one person to anotherIn this full-color illustrated guide, Michael Gienger, along with contributors Hildegard Weiss and Ursula Dombrowksy, details the energetics and healing properties of more than 50 crystals and gemstones for use in massage. The book explains how to select the proper crystal or stone to aid healing of a specific condition as well as for relaxation and stress release. It illustrates specific massage techniques with crystal wands, crystal spheres, and polished stones that best utilize the crystal or stone's properties and shows how to perform a full-body massage that works on several levels--physical, ethereal, mental, and spiritual--depending on how the crystals are applied. Explaining how crystals absorb energy and information during a massage, the guide shows how to cleanse and recharge their energetic fields so energies are not transferred from one person to another. It also details how to rebalance and replenish your own energy after giving a massage.The book also includes a detailed chapter on the harmonizing effects of amber massage, complete with a step-by-step illustrated massage sequence. Amber's unique electromagnetic vibrations make it especially conducive to creating homeostasis in the body and thus a beneficial addition to any crystal or stone massage practice. With this complete illustrated guide, anyone can enhance their massage practice or self-healing through the powerful effects of crystals, gemstones, and amber.

Part 1

Massage Basics

There can be no better gift, or gift in return, than to touch another and to be touched, for by doing so we foster a world rich in empathy, understanding, and compassion.

A MOMENT OF MEETING

A massage is a special moment of meeting. It is therefore very important to devote the proper attention to this moment—enough time to be able to enjoy the massage, and enough time for the massage to continue to have an effect after the session has ended. This means both the amount of time that we are wholeheartedly willing to give to the session and to the person we are working on, and also the amount of time that our counterpart is willing to accept. We have to be willing to be completely present, so that we can direct our undivided attention to the massage and to the person being massaged.

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Having a pleasant and safe space where both parties feel comfortable and will be undisturbed for the duration of the session is vital to a successful experience. This kind of physical environment helps both parties cultivate the “being here now” aspect of massage that creates the feeling of total immersion in the massage, what I refer to as the “inner room.” Establishing this kind of environment can compensate for quite a lot if the outer conditions are not ideal. Nevertheless, it is still worthwhile to create a pleasant physical space, because the massage and its effects will be longer lasting and more satisfying.

A comfortably warm, quiet place where you will not be disturbed is the ideal environment for a crystal massage. Warmth is important, as the person who is receiving the massage will usually be unclothed. Some areas of the body may be covered with a blanket during the massage, but for some people any kind of cover can be disturbing, as they want to enjoy total freedom and heightened sensitivity. It is a good idea, therefore, to have a heater of some kind available in case it is needed.

A pleasant and safe space is vital to a successful massage experience.

A well-designed room with a relaxing atmosphere can help the person receiving the massage to let go, and thus to better receive the massage. A positive response to the ambience of the room sets the stage for successful results.

TREATMENT SURFACE AND CLOTHING

The massage surface can vary, depending on the type of massage being given and the situation. Massage may be administered on the floor, on a firm mattress, or on two or three woolen blankets (such as tightly woven yoga blankets) covered with a sheet, forming a treatment surface. Even better is a massage table, if one is available. Some people can relax better on the floor, as this can provide a more grounded experience. If the massage is being given at home, a bed can be used, but be aware that a mattress that is too soft can affect the massage because it can make direct pressure difficult, as the body gives way, or it can make changing positions difficult because of the lack of resistance. Pillows, knee rolls, woolen blankets, and additional cushions are useful props and should always be within reach during the massage.

I recommend loose-fitting, lightweight clothing, preferably made of natural fibers, for the person giving the massage, because it can get pretty warm during the session. Even though there is not a lot of physical exertion required to give a massage with crystals and stones, your own energy will start flowing strongly—one of the advantages of giving massage. As well, for this reason it is recommended that both parties drink a lot of pure water on the day of the massage (and, of course, go to the bathroom shortly before the massage starts), so that both persons’ energy can flow well.

CHOOSING CRYSTALS AND STONES

Rounded semiprecious tumbled stones (i.e., worry stones), crystal massage wands, crystal rods, rounded lens- and soap-shaped stones, and in certain massages even rough stones, crystals, and crystal essences are all appropriate choices for crystal massage.

Crystal massage wands are usually hexagonal, with a rounded base and tip. They should be eight to ten centimeters (approximately three to four inches) in length for best handling. Crystal massage styluses look like elongated teardrops and have a wider base and a thinner, more pointed but slightly rounded tip; these are usually eight to twelve centimeters (about three to four-and-three-quarter inches) long. The wider end has a more relaxing and comforting effect in some techniques, and the more pointed end has a more activating, vitalizing effect.

Crystal wands and styluses, and the multitude of effects they can produce, are discussed in greater detail in part 3, “Vital Body Massage.” As well, the detailed list of the many minerals used in massage, including a discussion of their qualities and healing properties, found in part 2 of this book, provides an excellent overview of the possibilities of healing massage with stones.

Lens-shaped and soap-shaped gemstones, which are flat, oval, polished massage stones, are really ideal for massages, because they have so many application possibilities (unlike tumbled stones, which are unevenly polished pocket stones). Both variations are slightly curved and pleasantly rounded on the edges. Soap-shaped stones are somewhat larger—about the size of a small bar of soap—while lens-shaped stones are somewhat smaller, as seen in the photo below. In principle, basically any stone with a polished surface that doesn’t have sharp edges can be used for crystal massages; however, lens- and soap-shaped stones have a multitude of different application possibilities and should be part of any massage stone collection.

For a description of the different effects that can be achieved using “handy” lens- and soap-shaped stones, see part 2, “Intuitive Massage.”

	Lens-shaped stone (45 by 35 mm, or approximately 1.75 by 1.5 inches)
	Soap-shaped stone (70 by 50 mm, or approximately 2.75 by 2 inches)

MASSAGE OIL

Massage oil, often used in conventional massage, is usually not needed in crystal massage because the stones’ polished surfaces slide well on skin. Furthermore, the effect of some massage techniques in vital body massage, which concentrates on treating the person on the energetic, whole-body level, and not just the physical level, as discussed in part 3, can even be slowed by oil. If you do work with oils you should use high-quality, organic vegetable body oils; good oil can enhance the success of many massages, but low-quality oils slow and block the success.

Things You Need to Give a Crystal Massage

1. A pleasant, safe, quiet space with a good ambience, where you will not be interrupted
2. A treatment surface comfortable for both you and the recipient (a firm mattress, woolen blankets and sheets placed on the floor, or a massage table if available)
3. Comfortable, loose, lightweight clothing
4. Ambient warmth (use a heater if necessary)
5. Pillows, knee rolls, and other such aids for comfort
6. Blanket or sheet to cover the recipient (optional)
7. Tumbled stones, round stones, crystal rods, crystal wands, lens- and soap-shaped stones
8. Massage oil (optional, depending on type of massage)

THE “INNER ROOM”

Before starting the massage, allow yourself and the person whom you are going to massage a few minutes to settle in preparation for the session. For example, a short conversation, perhaps over a glass of water or a cup of tea (followed by a quick bathroom break), and you’ll both find yourselves present in a totally different way than if you were to immediately jump onto the massage table or mat, especially directly after a car journey. See that the person receiving the massage is completely comfortable on the treatment surface at the beginning of the massage; use pillows, blanket rolls, or other aids as needed, then cover her with a blanket or sheet, if necessary. Then allow your counterpart (and yourself ) a moment or two of peaceful quietude before you begin the session.

Visualize that you are totally present for your counterpart during this time. Everything else must be secondary when you give a massage—your everyday life, your problems, your interests, and yes, even your own wellbeing. Consciously put it all aside, knowing you can return to your concerns afterward, and direct all your attention to the massage.

It is not only your hands that function while giving a massage; it is also your mind, your feelings, and your perceptions. Therefore, prepare yourself by allowing your mind to settle and become quiet, neutral, and focused on the well-being of your client or partner.

CREATING PROTECTION

Before you begin your work, create a protective psychic boundary around yourself, wherein everything that belongs to you stays with you, and everything that belongs to your counterpart stays with her or him. “Foreign” energy, the psychic energy that belongs to another, is always a weight, especially when you are doing bodywork of any kind, where psychic sensitivity is heightened. The goal of a massage is to dissolve another person’s tension and blocks, and to do this you must let your own energy flow unimpeded.

Flowing energy is available energy. Energy that does not flow is bound, blocked, or trapped in some way. We each have our own vital energy, in sufficient amounts that we don’t need the energy of another. We each live by our own efforts.

Creating protection

You can create such a safe environment by first determining that everything stays where it should, or returns to where it comes from. You can then visualize a violet light around your counterpart and yourself as a horizontal figure eight—two circles that touch but still separately enclose each of you. But whether you use this visualization or another one to create a protective boundary, the most important thing is that you and the person you are massaging are always safe.

CULTIVATING INTUITION

Protected as you now are, begin to consciously cultivate your intuition in order to tune in to the needs of the person you are massaging. Intuition is the “sixth sense,” after the five ordinary senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. While massaging, we are especially dependent on this sense, as it allows us to sense, not from the mind, but from the heart, how a person is feeling and what they are needing. A massage is especially good if you can work intuitively instead of simply technically, as one’s intuition can guide one’s hands during the session.

Using crystals and stones in an intuitive way in massage is discussed in greater detail in the next part of this book, “Intuitive Massage.”

Intuition can run both ways during a treatment, in that both the giver of the massage and the receiver can synchronize, attuning ...

Table of contents

• Cover Image
• Title Page
• Epigraph
• Table of Contents
• Preface: To Touch and Be Touched
• Part 1: Massage Basics
• Part 2: Intuitive Massage
• Part 3: Vital Body Massage
• Part 4: Harmonizing Massage with Amber
• Part 5: Crystal Sphere Massage
• About the Authors
• About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company
• Books of Related Interest
• Copyright & Permissions
• Index