Everybody Must Get Stoned

Vegetarian Times, Dec, 1998 by Suzanne Gerber

A full-body massage with heated river stones comes about as close to heaven as you're likely to get while still in corporeal form. And there's no better place on earth to get such a treatment than at the Stone Spa in New York City.

When you enter Carla Ciuffo's studio, you leave the carnival ambience of downtown Manhattan and enter a space that feels like the intersection of the Painted Desert and Cloud Nine. The anteroom's sparse furnishings, high ceiling, whitewashed brick walls and artfully scattered stones add up to pure tranquility.

But the trance begins on the massage table. Water-polished river rocks--some round and smooth, others flat and fingerlike--are kept in a large tub and

heated to 120 [degrees] F. One large stone is placed at your center, smaller stones go between the toes, and oil is rubbed on. With a stone in each hand, Carla (or her colleague Adam) uses the rocks' heat and smooth texture to radiate warmth and relaxation throughout the entire body. Seventy minutes later, you're in a blissful state of deep calm.

Indigenous peoples, Ciuffo explains, have always used stones in their rituals and to communicate with the spirit realm. Perhaps it's that mystical element that leaves clients feeling more balanced and nurtured than after a hands-only session. Often, she adds, they will feel the stones' warmth for several days.

The Stone Spa, 104 W. 14th St., New York, (212) 741-8881. $120 for 70 minutes. Also available at Miraval, Catalina, (800) 825-4000; Marina Moretti, Los Angeles, (818) 562-6728 Prices vary.