Becoming a LaStone® Instructor

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I have some very busy and packed three days ahead of me when I leave for England tomorrow. There’s so much to learn and know in order to teach LaStone®. Most of it which I of course already know and utilize through giving massages as well as writing these blog-posts. But there are aspects to teaching LaStone® which isn’t obvious to a practitioner or an outsider.

It’s not just about teaching how to give a geothermal massage, how to move the stones or where to place them.There are so many other things which has to be taught to create highly skilled Stone Walkers.

Some of the topics we have to cover are:

~ Administration, what papers to fill, for the students to have and what needs to be registered where. The entire paperwork and arranging of workshops. Basically all the boring stuff that absolutely has nothing to do with massage.

~ How we can begin each day during a course. Gathering all students and making sure everybody are heard, understood and have their questions answered. It’s not just a classroom setting, but also making them part of the group and support them in their strength and aid them when they have difficulties. This is essentially psychology and good teaching protocols.

~ Be able to share the story of LaStone®, of how Mary first began to use stones, her inspiration, quest and research and how it is spreading and new things are included all the time.

~ As part of this I have to be able to explain logically and understandably why LaStone® is different and what sets it apart. It’s not enough to just be able to show a client why the massage is so awesome and incredible. In short, my sales pitch will be perfected.

~ Then there’s of course the theory. Why hot and cold, the effects on the body, contra-indications, sanitation and all the practical matters. My students need to understand how the temperature works, what to be aware and careful of and certainly how to make sure that no diseases are transferred from client to client.

~ Not only are students introduced to stones by seeing them and using them, they also learn what stone they are, their properties and why we use the stones we use. So I need to remember my geology and how basalt and marble are created among other things.

~ We will cover the practical aspects of giving a LaStone® treatment. Practical ways to sort stones, how to recognize one stone from another and know what it can be used for, how to work with the stones, effective routines and much more.

~ And finally, there’s the entire energy and spiritual aspect of LaStone®. Ceremonies, different spiritual approaches, smudging, the Native American connection, energy treatments with stones and so on.

As you can see, all this we need to cover in just three days. I’m fortunate and grateful that I’ve had some quiet days during May where I’ve had time to read up on all those things. I’ve read more than 500 pages of manuals and official documents and I’m not done yet!

If I survive this week-end, I should be able to host and teach my first LaStone® classes. That’ll be a whole new interesting adventure that I look forward to sharing with  you!