kahuna bodywork

Lomi Lomi has long tradition passed down through the generations by the original inhabitants of pre-Polynesian Hawaii. Healing arts and other crafts were deeply integrated into the daily life of the community. The experts in a particular trade were called kahunas.

Lomi Lomi means “to massage, to knead, to press, to rub” and there is a great variety of styles that have spread into the Western world and are cultivated. The work I offer is known as Lomi Lomi Nui, Kahuna Bodywork or Romi Kaparere and comes from the teachings of Abraham Kawai’i and Nā Pua ‘Olohe. “A man and kahuna who introduced this style based on the lomilomi commonly practised in his family and his own experiences with breath, movement, focus and energy.” (1)

It is legitimate to say that Hawaiian bodywork goes beyond massage, as it addresses the complexity of the human being with all their physical and psychological aspects as well as their spiritual nature. The key role in Lomi Lomi session play an absolute attention and focus of the practitioner on who (and what) the client is in the moment.

Disease is a symptom of disturbed energy flow. Lomi Lomi helps to balance its circulation with harmonious, dynamic and soothing movements. It offers deep work that goes to the heart of the “problem / block”. This essence is somewhere in the body (specifically, in the Hawaiian tradition, in the skeletal system). At the cellular level, body is the memory reservoir of all the events that affect our psychosomatic state. A similar approach is represented by contemporary integrative psychology, including the study of the mechanisms of trauma and its treatment.

The Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, through the specific application of rhythmic movements using forearms, evokes in many people the sensation of “being washed by the waves”, “cradling”, “being enveloped”, “floating”, “being connected/ organic / whole”, “feeling safe in the mother’s arms”, “expansion”. Indeed, a Lomi Lomi session is sensory stimulating, enabling the recipient to perceive themselves from within and from without.

The basic principle of Lomi Lomi is sympathy, sympathy for everything that exists. Lomi Lomi is an invitation to look within ourselves and to take full responsibility for our well-being. And this is where the words of Abraham Kawai’i come in handy: “Life is beautifully horrible and horribly beautiful. But there are a million beautiful moments in each day that keep it from being a waste”.

REFERENCES:

(1) “Abraham Kawai’i. A brief story of the man, the kahuna and kahuna bodywork”. Tamara Hrehorczak-Stephens