Jul

24

Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massage

Filed Under massage training | 

Hawaiian Lomi lomi, sometimes also written as lomiloni, is a massage modality that is a native Hawaiian healing tradition. It uses rhythmic strokes, joint movement and deep kneading to loosen the body and soothe the soul.

Lomilomi is the word used today to describe Hawai’ian massage, traditionally called lomi. Lomilomi practices varied greatly by family, region and island. Like almost everything in old Hawaii, Lomilomi was conducted with prayer and intention.

These early Polynesian settlers brought their own form of massage, and it evolved to become something uniquely Hawai’ian. It was practiced by almost every person, from children to nobility.

After American missionaries arrived in 1820 and converted many in the “Kingdom of Hawaii” to Christianity, traditional healing arts were scorned by the European religious community as heathen and primitive. Various laws prohibited so-called “heathen” worship and any related Native Hawaiian healing practices. Lomilomi as part of medical treatment went underground. But lomilomi as a restorative massage practice remained popular not only among the Hawaiians, but among foreign residents and visitors as well.

Although the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawai’i banned curing through “superstitious methods” in 1886, massage was not subject to any laws or legal control until 1945. In 1947, the “Board of Massage” was set up to regulate lomi lomi and massage. The new law made it a requirement for practitioners to pass a written test on human anatomy, physiology and massage theory. Many well respected native healers were not able or not willing to pass the test, and therefore lomilomi as a health-giving massage was forced to go underground.

Learning how to give lomi lomi massage is a powerful way to relieve stress in others and is also an amazing way to add more sensuality and intimacy to your relationship. Many couples have found that learning massage allowed them to be intimate and sensual without any performance anxiety, which ended up deeply improving their sexual chemistry as well.

Nowadays, Lomilomi or “loving hands” is a popular and common modality of massage around the world, especially in Hawai’i, Japan and Europe, although Lomi Lomi is also becoming more popular in the mainland USA and also Canada.

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