Lomilomi - The Ancient Healing Art of the Pacific Rim

Cuky Harvey - Lomi Lomi Instructor

Hawaiian Lomilomi Returns to The Healing Arts Center.
Instructor, Cuky Harvey, Reveals Lomi's Rich History and Describes Key Fundamentals.

Lomilomi is the ancient healing art form of the Pacific Rim People.  It was used on board their long canoes as they navigated across the Pacific Ocean is search of new land.  In their villages, every person was lomied.  Pregnant women were lomied daily until the birth of their child.  Chiefs and warriors were lomied daily.  Kings and Queens were lomied constantly so their psychic skills stayed accurate and they could effectively lead their people.

In ancient times lomi would go on for hours or even days.  Then the Kahuna, a healer, and the recipient would go to the ocean to be restored by the gods.  They would drink herbal remedies, be pounded, pinched, rolled, and sleep on the beach wrapped in kapa cloth(a traditional cloth made from pounded bark).  The recipient would then be covered in sand and warm stones and watched over all night by their family. In the morning, there would be more ocean therapy and lomi.  The process would continue for three to five days.  Upon completion of the ritual, the kahuna would consult with the Spirit of the body.  If all was in balance, Spirit would speak to one of the Kahunas and the lomi was "pau” (finished).  Huge celebrations would ensue, and all the village would come to witness the re-united body and soul.  A luau would mark the recipients complete body and spirit reunification.  The reunion of body and Spirit would affect the entire village.  One person’s healing was a healing for the entire tribe!

Lomi is derived from the Hula, which is prayer in motion.  Lomi is prayer applied to the body.  Lomi bodywork originates in the center of the body, on the back, at the lumbar region of the spine, just above the sacrum.  The lomi “dancer” (pracitioner) uses forearms and elbows in long, smooth strokes that move outward from the sacrum, up toward the shoulders, out toward the arms and hands, and down the length of the legs to the feet and toes. Lomi is done on the back, sides, and front of the body.  Both dancer and recipient use belly breathing, an audible breathing that inflates the belly and activates an energetic flow of “Mana” (energy coming from both heaven and earth simultaneously).

Students Learning Lomilomi in Hawaii

The strokes of Lomi are done with the forearms, and feel like ocean waves moving across, over and around your body.  While these strokes are not painful, they are powerful.  Clearing away the cellular and psychic debris that is toxic, the strokes of Lomi free the entire body from what keeps one energetically and perhaps physically stuck.  People often feel tingly or energetically high after receiving a Lomi session.  The ocean is known for healing wounds, bruises, inflammation, joint aches and pains.  Emotionally, the ocean comforts and restores balance. The process of being lomied provides the same effect as ocean therapy.  The lomilomi ritual traditionally includes a soak in the ocean.  In the therapy room, Lomi pracitioners use heated basalt stones instead of the ocean to wash the client.

The strokes of Lomi are done with the forearms, and feel like ocean waves moving across, over and around your body.  While these strokes are not painful, they are powerful.  Clearing away the cellular and psychic debris that is toxic, the strokes of Lomi free the entire body from what keeps one energetically and perhaps physically stuck.  People often feel tingly or energetically high after receiving a Lomi session.  The ocean is known for healing wounds, bruises, inflammation, joint aches and pains.  Emotionally, the ocean comforts and restores balance. The process of being lomied provides the same effect as ocean therapy.  The lomilomi ritual traditionally includes a soak in the ocean.  In the therapy room, Lomi pracitioners use heated basalt stones instead of the ocean to wash the client.

Smooth Basalt Stones

The dancer uses these hot, wet basalt stones after each section of the body is completed.  The stones are considered living beings, the Grandmothers of the earth, born in huge volcanic eruptions.  When tapped together, the stones become slightly (piezio electric) magnetic.  Hot stones moved over the body tend to quiet the senses and induce a deep release of emotion.  All the while, the body is cleansing itself with its internal ocean of water.  The water of the body can be released as tears, watery nose, or sweat.  Lomi and hot stones can induce spontaneous visions or trance like states that both practitioner and recipient may experience.

During Lomi I invoke the Spirit of my guest to communicate with me.  My experiences with Spirit have been amazing.  I am so grateful for the generosity of Spirit!  We are blessed to be able to ask for guidance and we are more blessed to be able to receive it!  Whether it is a vision, a gut feeling, a voice in our head, a heartfelt knowing…we are wired to hear, feel, see, and know what is right for us.  Working with and relying on Spirit in my Lomi work has been a privilege and an adventure.  What has been shown to me during my sessions with clients defies logic and yet those visions moved both my client and me into greater balance, deeper connection to the divine and more joy!

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Hawaiian Lomilomi Level One

Friday, May 5   9:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday, May 6   9:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday, May 7   9:30am - 4:30pm
Instructor: Cuky Harvey
HAC Campus
CEUs: 18

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