Wrap Up Winter with a Warming Aromatherapy and Hot Stone Massage

The hint of spring may be growing brighter, but it’s still winter on the calendar. For many of us, winter can be physically and emotionally trying—whether we blame it on the holidays, colder temps, or the darker, shorter days. Either way, it’s often a season for self-neglect. One way to show yourself some love is with a winter wrap-up aromatherapy and hot stone massage. When combined, you get relief from muscle aches, pains, and spasms, and an overall sense of well-being from the balancing effect of pure essential oils.

If you’ve never had a hot stone massage before, it can be one of the most relaxing and therapeutic forms of massage. Massage therapists place hot, smooth stones on specific body points to warm and relax the muscles, which allows your massage therapist to work deeper with lighter pressure to areas of discomfort. Not to mention, it’s the perfect remedy for a chilly day. When hot stone massage is paired with essential oils—either topically or inhaled—you get aromatherapy. Aromatherapy can help reduce anxiety, ease depression, increase energy levels, improve sleep, and so much more.

Massage therapists can incorporate essential oils with a hot stone massage either by diffusing the essential oils into the air or applying diluted essential oils directly to your body. When used in a diffusor, the essential oils spread through the air and inhaled and absorbed by the body. The oils set the mood for the massage as well as activate smell receptors, which send messages to the parts of your brain that control emotions. When applied to the body, essential oils may reduce inflammation, strengthen the immune system, and produce a sense of relaxation. 

Different oils have different healing properties. For example, chamomile, lavender, and geranium offer calming effects, while rosemary, ylang-ylang, clary sage, and rose are known for their uplifting properties. For massage application, thyme, basil, sweet marjoram, cypress, peppermint may help ease muscle or joint pain.

Warm yourself with an aromatherapy and hot stone massage in our Massage Clinic. We offer therapeutic student, graduate, and professional massages!