What is Lomi Lomi - Hawaiian Bodywork?
Lomi Lomi, well known as Hawaiian Massage, has its origin in the Polynesian Islands. Lomi Lomi means to massage, to knead, to rub. The special benefits are a harmonization of the physical, emotional, and spiritual body and the dissolution of energy blockages. The harmony within oneself leads to harmony within community and nature. Rhythm, breath and music are essential parts of this work. Auntie Margaret Machado is the most well-known teacher of Lomi Lomi and the first to have taught it outside of the family. Her definition of Lomi Lomi is: The Loving Touch, the Union of Loving Hands, Heart, and Soul with the Source of all Life.
Hawaiian Bodywork
Hawaiian Bodywork, also known as Hawaiian Temple Bodywork or Lomi, originated from a Hawaiian Master Teacher, a Kahuna. Lomi means to weave, to weave light, love and spirit, to weave apart dis-eased patterns in the body.
The Hawaiian Kahunas (Kahuna — Keeper of Secret and Sacred Knowledge) took advantage of the fact that each effected change in our body brings along a change in our feelings and belief system. Unreleased stress will harden our musculature and cause a certain rigidity of the spirit. A higher self esteem and a higher level of efficiency on all levels of life will blossom within a better organized and more flexible body. The Hawaiians described their elaborated form of bodywork as “the clever path through the backdoor,” since it bypasses our mental guardians (in the form of opinions and belief systems). When our mind becomes calm, we are able to hear our own inner voice of wisdom and knowledge much clearer, and then we can realize our desired changes much easier.
Characteristic movements are the flowing, circling and merging strokes with the forearms and hands. During the “backstroke” along the muscles left and right of the spine, the therapist moves with rhythmic and exact steps around the client. The wavelike strokes have resemblance with the forces of the ocean, which the Kahunas have studied since ancient times. Just as the continuous movement of the water will smooth and make sharp edges round, so will the constant flow of the circling strokes render the body flexible and strong, permeable and supple. Then, when treating the front of the body, gentle joint manipulations of the shoulders, arms, hips, and legs are added.