It was a great honor to study under Aunty Margaret, world renowned Lomilomi therapist and teacher. Aunty Margaret was a kahuna – revered elder, a massage specialist with intense knowledge, and an icon in our Hawaiian culture. She passed in 2009, but when she was alive she was considered a living treasure – a woman who embodied unconditional love and non- judgement, a person that everyone would love to emulate.
As part of my practice, I pray (“pule”) before working on any body. The prayer consists of loving, honoring, and respecting the body on which I am working. I honor and respect and work on my client’s body as if it were an extension of my own.
My practice relies upon the foundation of the Hawaiian Lomilomi tradition as taught by Aunty Margaret Machado, the first state licensed teacher to teach Lomilomi under state requirements. I devoted two years of my life (living in a tent) as Aunty Margaret’s apprentice.
What is Lomilomi?
The Hawaiian word lomilomi means ” to rub, press, squeeze, crush, mash fine, knead, massage, rub out; to work in and out, as claws of a contented cat.”
“The healing art of lomilomi is a gentle, graceful, rhythmic light or deep massage to parts of the external body’s pressure points, nerve centers, muscle tissues and internal organs. it removes toxic waste, tension, pain and fatigue, and replaces them with positive energy, increased circulation and improved muscle tone. Lomilomi is an attitude on the part of the therapist, who must be clean and positive in mind, body, and spirit….the client trusts that lomilomi can help, and comes from a higher power.”