08/24/2026
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐢?
When I first began studying Lomilomi with Barbara Helynn Robles (formerly Barbara Helynn Heard), I wasn't encountering an entirely unfamiliar way of thinking about touch. So much of the philosophy behind the work immediately resonated with me.
By that point, I had already come to believe that I couldn't work only with the physical body. Every person who comes to the table brings a whole human being with them—body, mind, emotions, and spirit. I was learning to see the person as whole and well, regardless of the condition in which they arrived, rather than seeing only an injury, diagnosis, or problem that needed to be fixed.
When I began studying Lomilomi, I found that this way of seeing the person wasn't simply compatible with the work—it was integral to it. Seeing the person on the table as whole and well, and working with the whole person rather than focusing only on what may be hurting or not functioning well, is an important part of Lomilomi practice.
That resonated deeply with me. I wasn't being asked to set aside something I had already begun to understand about healing. I was entering a practice in which that understanding was fundamental.
There was the emphasis on presence and quality of touch, which connected deeply with what I had learned through years of caregiving. But there was also reverence, connection, and the importance of the practitioner tending to their own inner state before attempting to help another person. The work asked me not only, "What am I doing with my hands?" but "How am I showing up for this person?"
That last part has become particularly important to me. I don't want to bring the stress and distractions of my own day to the treatment table. Grounding myself, becoming present, and coming into the work from a centered place are part of preparing to work with another person.
My studies also gave me ways to integrate practices that were already becoming important in my own life—meditation, energy work, spiritual practice, and an understanding of healing that includes more than the physical body.
None of that means a client needs to share my spiritual beliefs. Choice and respect are important parts of my practice. Traditional elements such as an opening blessing are always optional and can be offered aloud, silently, or not at all.
Lomilomi didn't ask me to abandon the clinical side of massage therapy in order to make room for these things. It helped me understand how they could exist alongside one another.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.
I feel deeply grateful for what Barbara Helynn Robles has shared with me over the years, and honored to now have her blessing to share this work with others.
