Lomi lomi and Kahuna massage is a Hawaiian traditional healing therapy through the use of touch. They both have the practitioner understand the nature of the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical elements of a client. Lomi lomi is knowing as the touch of loving hands, and Kahuna massage is based on the ancient teachings and understandings of the Hawaiian Kahunas for how to move energy through the body to heal it.
Kahuna massage removes the energy blockages in the body, through the use of long flowing strokes, and the practitioner moves about the client’s body in a rhythmic motion while chanting and focusing on the breath. Kahuna is known as Temple massage, as it is a sacred type of healing that occurs when a client receives a treatment. Kahuna is a style of lomi lomi massage, more akin to a prayer working and metaphysical healing than a western treatment of lomi lomi, that is without the chanting and focusing on the breath.
A lomi lomi session is about the moments where a person’s vibration is raised vertically to the Pa’a, the now, that presence of God in us, for maybe to to three seconds. Then all the rest of the session is about entertainment, anchoring the feeling of Pa’a, the now, into the person’s experience. Vertical time, the now is what we all share with God in the present. When we crack the pattern that causes illness, there is happiness in a nanosecond, in the Pa’a, the now (Wise Secrets of Aloha: Learn and Live the Sacred Art of Lomilomi, Garnette Arledge).
In the Kahuna massage, the focus is on using the thumbs, fingers, palms and forearms to massage the client in a long, slow rhythmic manner, whilst western style lomi lomi focuses on the use of the forearms and occasionally the hands. Both have a similar manner of the practitioner sweeping across the arms, back and legs, whilst also giving the hands, feet and head a more focused touch with the fingers and hands.
As opposed to Swedish massage, a client can expect to be on a lower table, with the bodyweight of the practitioner being used to move knots, tightness and soreness out of the body as opposed to the Swedish practitioner who uses a higher table and uses the thumbs, fingers and hands to massage out tightness and soreness out of the muscles. Kahuna and lomi lomi massage are both extremely gentle, and the client is asked to focus on their breathing.
At the beginning of a Kahuna massage session, the Ha breath meditation is encouraged, where the client breaths out a long slow breath, while the practitioner places their hand on their chest, and a connection is made. Imbalances in the body and breathing are detected by the practitioner, and this will be worked on during the session. The client can also discuss any issues other than physical with the Kahuna practitioner, who also acts as a therapeutic counsellor and advises that the issues will be corrected via a metaphysical style healing during the massage.
Before a session the practitioner creates space for the client, and sets aside their personal ego so that issues can be addressed with clarity. This is know as the space of Halau. An explanation of the procedure will be given so that the client understands that they can connect to their higher selves in the session, while they focus on the Ha breath, and they can affirm that they are in demonstration of gratitude for their body, and know it gives its own wisdom. This is a traditional Kahuna massage session, it may be omitted in a western style lomi lomi massage.
The client will undergo either a forty five minute, one hour or ninety minute energy working through the Kahuna massage while the practitioner sets space in their own mind for consciously working on the energetic blocks that the client is experiencing. These are either physical issues, psychological or spiritual. In a lomi lomi massage, the focus is on the physical working of the practitioner on the client, with relaxation in mind.
A lomi lomi or Kahuna massage is unlike a traditional Swedish massage experience, and many clients find these profoundly relaxing. There are some contraindications to massage such as broken bones, or recent surgery, but if a client is otherwise well, Kahuna or lomi lomi massage can be a wonderful experience for the client.