The story of Hawaii is essentially a sacred love story about the people’s deep reverence for Nature, their Beliefs, Traditions and Customs and for their People, their Ancestors’ and their Progeny.
The People were in love with the beauty, power and magic of Life and they, in return, felt truly loved by Life. For them Life was a celebration and rejoicing of the Love they lived in!
Their joy of being alive and having the wonderous natural abilities to savour and appreciate, to nurture and to love, to know gratitude and forgiveness, to think happy thoughts and feel generous emotions, to make good things happen, to freely surrender to the moment in the here and now, to experience the profound wisdom of the inner worlds and the outer worlds as One never-ending Continuum of Goodness, to feel the powerful Presence of Life in every moment and in all things and to share their blessed existence equally and fully with everyone in their communities.
Lomi Lomi, the traditional healing massage of Old Hawaii, is essentially the love of the Hawaiian people expressed through empowered tender-hearted touch, expanded awareness of spiritual possibility, deep concentration and focus and high intention for positive outcomes while in joyful surrender to a reciprocal state of kindness in the present moment.
Learning Lomi Lomi is about learning to fall in love with this beautiful story through the art of massage lovingly bestowed by conscious human touch upon a lucky recipient who may feel a multitude of unfamiliar yet thoroughly wholesome and welcome meaningful sensations at the same time.
These can include being moved by the rhythms of gentle but powerful waves of energy generated by the flowing strokes which release trapped memories and tensions and at the same time receiving pure unconditional nurture that communicates sublime goodness to flesh, mind, and emotion while being softly embraced by the joyful security of existence.
All this and so much more is possible in just one massage session when conditions are favourable, and the Practitioner understands how to use their skills appropriately and effectively.
One may wonder how it is possible, over a short period of time, to successfully teach a student with no previous experience or knowledge to share this love story of Hawaii reliably and confidently with their future clients?
Becoming a student of old-world traditional Lomi Lomi massage is first and foremost a trusting act of hope that the course will deliver its promise to enlighten without clearly understanding what is yet possible. They need the courage to face unknown challenges that lie ahead and the patience to work with an unfamiliar learning process that only unfolds its silent secrets in direct response to open-hearted, sincere and willing participation. Students are gently ‘invited’ (required really) to surrender to various traditional learning situations that are beyond their ordinary control for the purpose of teaching an important philosophical concept that can only be truly learned through direct experience and honest unfiltered response, be that easy or not. This element of surprise and of meeting the unknown, hopefully comfortably and with good humour, while observing ‘surprising’ personal responses, is an important stretch for the expanding consciousness venturing outside the box of ordinary every-day expectations.
These challenges are inevitable and necessary as the contrast between the ancient world and the modern world is so different to our ordinary experience. To learn the secrets of ancient world, students must first be willing to step outside the boundaries of their own world and allow themselves to sink, as best as possible, into the vastness of other. Through repeated visualizations and ceremonies this change gradually becomes a reality as students assimilate into themselves the Hawaiians’ extraordinary heart-mind of Aloha that permeated their entire being and world view. Their quiet state of universal unconditional loving kindness and care also gradually begins to become the students normal state of consciousness both to the learning itself and to the methods of making transformational massage. Ultimately this persuasive influence may show student and practitioner how to live their lives to fullest potential. Their first experience of the embracing magnitude of Aloha is pure magic as new meaning to life and love open before them. As a truthful and practical path to liberation, wholeness, and wellbeing, it is then a choice and privilege to walk its full length for the rest of life if so desired. Thus, a gift given for a moment to demonstrate a principle, may indeed carry through a lifetime. From humble beginnings, the comprehension of Aloha can blossom into a bounty that offers greater and greater blessings and benefits!
The classroom then becomes a place where love can safely build and flourish. Many ceremonies are performed to support the presence of this goodwill while releasing all contrary vibrations. The first is a prayer that cleanses the environment, ‘inviting all frequencies less than love and harmony to be instantly transmuted and disappeared from the entire space, including the students, and replaced by love and light’. The second vital ceremony focuses wholly upon the students to strengthen their energetic presence, heart-centred awareness, focus and intentions. The third ceremony is designed to facilitate an optimum response from the body about to receive massage through cleansing and energizing. Most often this is another student as groups work in pairs giving and receiving massage. By the time these ceremonies are completed, students are in a serene and loving state of altered awareness ready to engage with the awaiting body. These dynamic preparations act in a shamanic way to transform an ordinary experience of massage into an extraordinary experience. It is the combination of precise attention to detail combined with unconditional heart-felt goodness that makes all the difference.
The performance of Lomi Lomi massage is a refined art, worked through highly skilled and specialized craftmanship. Within the loving conditions of the classroom, learning can be relatively quick, but skill develops with repetition and time and the degree of sincere commitment that is poured into it.
Learning to make the individual massage strokes so unique to this style of massage is also an unexpected ‘delight’ on many levels. At first, this delight may be interpreted as confusion, awkwardness or even impossibility as the body and mind adapt to an aligned whole-body movement that ripples through from feet to fingers! Every stroke carries the entire Wisdom of Hawaii in its making and is capable, when skilfully performed, of transporting the receiver into the highest dimensions of Self. Learning strokes is important, but more important than these is the Wisdom that moves through them.
The Syllabus falls into four major sections. Each deals with an important aspect but of course, it is the whole that gives this style its true power. These sections are the Massage Skills, the Hawaiian Wisdom, Practitioner Development and Client Considerations.
Much emphasis is placed upon the Practitioner’s ability to become a clear vessel of communication between the wisdom held within the work and the client. Built within the training are daily opportunities to gain clarity of self, release blockages and limiting beliefs and old habits, discover new learning skills, change concepts, increase capacity, strengthen commitment, redefine life goals, find meaningfulness and discover everything that is needed to progress successfully. The self-development process can sometimes arouse uncomfortable degrees of resistance but with time to evaluate and adjust to what is happening, this can settle into a joyful resolution as the student moves past themselves into the greater potential just ahead.
Lomi Lomi Training is all about the student discovering their best self, both as a person and as a Practitioner. Essentially, each student learns at their own speed and style and within the group each can be at a slightly different place. This is a good discipline that allows each to work to their own capacity and in their own time and at the same time avoid that nervous continual looking over the shoulder to see how well they are competing or keeping up with others. Each student can then more easily monitor and appreciate their own progress.
It is important to realize that traditional Lomi Lomi is a complete massage system and as such the student is urged to accept the ‘growth’ necessary to meet its great capacity rather than resist and attempt to shrink its potential down to theirs. This is a very important factor in determining whether a massage is just good or something truly superlative. The healing potential of Lomi Lomi is administered through the adept Practitioner who carries within themselves a happy blend of heart-filled Aloha, soul alignment with highest wisdom, empowered emotional maturity and boundless enthusiasm. In this state, it is easy and natural to orchestrate its full offerings free from personal hinderances and limitations.
Over-all the compounding influence of seeing, feeling, evaluating and comprehending opportunities for self-development is a major aspect of the training that will, with luck, ignite forthright and decisive action for lasting positive change. The more fully the student and practitioner are dedicated to the path of personal progress, the greater is their growth of awareness and preparedness for this sacred work.
Although the 12-day Practitioner Training offered by the HMUKTC is a first step along a lengthy journey, if pursued to its end, it is indeed a worthy foundation to build upon and a proud initiation into a comprehensive body of wisdom that has endured throughout the ages. Multi-level and multi-dimensional, the practice of Lomi Lomi has many manifestations and possibilities. Regardless of what name it is given, or which aspect of the work is emphasised, its essential focus is upon wholesome healing and empowerment, be that physical, emotional, sensual or spiritual.
Lomi Lomi taught by the HMUKTC encompasses the deepest, most pertinent realm of feminine spirituality based upon the all-encompassing loving goodness of Aloha. Going beyond the predictable, its message touches all who truly long to be able to give love and in return, to receive love. A Practitioner of this style of Lomi Lomi often chooses Love as their strongest motivating value followed by a desire for deep inner Peace, Self-knowing and self-sufficiency and to fulfil themselves through meaningful and benevolent service to the betterment of humanity. Many dedicated Practitioners view their career as a vocation rather than just a means of making a living. They like being with people and wish to help heal their wounds and fulfil their dreams through the bounteous loving kindness of Lomi Lomi that generously administers insightful messages of hope and encouragement to body, mind and soul.
Rosalie Samet.
Founder and Tutor of the Hawaiian Massage UK Training Centre