Frequently Asked Questions

+ What is the difference between Ancient Lomi Lomi and a regular massage?

The short answer: Profound relaxation. The long answer: While there are certainly superficial differences in the types of movements used, what's most distinct about Ancient Lomi Lomi can really only be felt. Even other forms of lomi lomi that appear similar on the surface offer a very different kind of experience compared to this work.

Many people encounter depths of relaxation in their body that they have never before experienced and it is in this profound relaxation that space is created for us to be reconfigured from the inside out.

+ How should I prepare for an Ancient Lomi Lomi session?

Avoid caffeine, alcohol and recreational drugs for at least 24 hrs before the session.
Avoid eating within two hours of the start of the session.
Schedule to have some open-ended time after your session, if at all possible, where you can simply continue to relax without the need to attend to other matters.

+ Is this covered by insurance?

Unfortunately, no.

If you're looking for therapeutic massage, which is covered, there are many highly skilled practitioners available in the city.

However, if you're looking for profound nourishment for your body and soul, you've come to the right place. I've yet to encounter any other kind of bodywork or massage like this and my clients agree.

+ I have a sore [random body part], can you fix it?

Working with specific physical injuries is not a part of this work. While physical healing can certainly happen, often expressed through a reduction of tension and stress held in the body, it is not approached as a goal to be accomplished.

If you would like to address particular physical issues, other therapies are better suited to that task.

In its original form, Ancient Lomi Lomi would have been offered as a once-in-a-lifetime sacred initiation for a select few, into either adulthood or spiritual/tribal leadership. The sessions would have also lasted for up to a week with the person being worked on twenty-four hours a day by multiple Kahuna.

In its current form, a one-time approach is not necessary, as we live in a very different context for this work, with sessions being much shorter and open to all who are ready to receive it.

Some people receive a single session while others feel drawn to receive multiple sessions over a longer period of time. Just like any other form of healing or thereapy, there's no 'right' answer that applies to everyone.

There are infinite depths to our being and many layers of unseen emotion and unhealed trauma in many of us so I don't believe there's ever an end to what we can receive through this work of opening to the life within us.

+ Do you offer any payment plans or financial assistance?

Yes, I offer 2 or 3 month payment plans for Sacred Ceremonies and we can also discuss the possibility of a reduced fee for those in financial need.

+ I have some conerns about a non-indigenous person offering a traditionally indigenous sacred practice. Can you speak to this?

This can be a divisive issue for some and so I am simply offering my current understanding.

I recognize that some people hold the belief that non-indigenous people offering indigenous practices is problematic

The question of appropriation is an important one and I certainly do not have all the answers, I only have an answer for myself.

Ancient Lomi Lomi, as offered to me by my teacher, Jody Mountain, who received it through her teacher, Kahu Abraham Kawai'i, extends back to pre-Polynesian Hawaii and beyond and is rooted in a particular culture and lineage that I believe should be honoured.

Kahu Abraham, who is largely responsible for recovering this work in modern times, believed it was for all of humanity, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, etc., and so shared it freely, offering and teaching it to indigenous Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike.

As I have now been entrusted by my teacher to share this sacred work, I seek to offer it with as much integrity as possible, honouring it as it has been passed on to me.

In doing so, I offer gratitude to my teacher, my teacher's teacher, and the great lineage of all beings who have refined this work over countless generations.