When I graduated from massage school, I thought I would be done with school for awhile. After learning more about the human body’s
anatomy and pathology, I was pretty well done with school. Well, barely a year later, here I find myself in another class.
In addition to the requirement for the state, it’s always advantagious for a massage therapist to participate in continuing education. Not only do we get to learn more about our chosen profession, but we get to receive some TLC through bodywork ourselves. I was interested in taking a class in myofascial release, which would be very important to my clients.
I chose to take a continuing education course in Lomi Lomi massage, which mentioned myfascial release in its description. Lomi Lomi is Hawaiian massage traditionally performed by the Shaman and incorporates tribal style music with essential oils to help the
tribesman (client) heal. I wanted to get into massage to help people feel better and heal, but I will tell you lovely folks about that reason later.
So, let me tell you what I learned about Lomi Lomi.
The therapist needs to be in pretty good shape.
Even before we started, our instructor had us doing the “hula” to warm up our hip muscles. We also practiced a little meditation to
make sure that our motives were pure and beneficial to our client.
When John Q Western Public thinks about a massage, they automatically think of a Swedish style massage, which has five
basic strokes using two separated hands. Lomi Lomi uses two hands, but generally one on top of the other for each other’s support.
That’s just where the differences start.
One may also think of the style of music as being very smooth with maybe strings, waves, and serene. Lomi Lomi uses the tribal beat to
create the rhythm for the therapist to work. While the slowness of the Swedish massage may relax the client to sleep, the rhythmical strokes of Lomi Lomi will also relax the client. Paired with the use of essential oils, the client can feel like she/he is being transported to another dimension.
The massage hits every major muscle group, including the abdomen, which isn’t one of the main groups hit during regular Swedish. Some people aren’t comfortable with abdomen massage, so a therapist needs to be mindful of their clients’ limits.
I hope that this has given you a little taste of what Lomi Lomi could do for you.