Rotorua Daily Post Reporting On Healing Workshop

The Rotorua Daily Post Article

Healing more than hands on

Hinerongonui Kingi | 22nd December 2010
For Wikitoria Oman and Haunani Hopkins facilitating a traditional Hawaiian healing workshop was a good step in sharing and keeping their ancient traditions alive.

The pair met at an International Lomilomi conference in Hawaii last year and decided to exchange their traditional Maori and Hawaiian massage and healing workshops once a year.

The three-day Hawaiian lomilomi workshop was the first exchange between the pair and was held at the Kahukura Lakeside Retreat on the shores of Lake Rotoiti, involving a group of six local healers.

The group was taught the traditional Hawaiian massage by Ms Hopkins, who is president of the Hawaiian Lomilomi Association.

She was pleased with the group’s progress and enjoyed her first visit to New Zealand and Rotorua.

“It’s about re-establishing our Polynesian connection through our indigenous healing work and through the similarities and differences that we carry and share,” she said.

“To help others, you must first help yourself and that is how the workshops work.”

Ngati Whakaue and Ngati Pikiao descendant Ms Oman, said the cultures were similar and it was important to keep the traditional healing practices of each alive.

The passionate masseuse has been working for about 10 years in the traditional authentic area and said the workshops were a good place to learn the work to pass on to the next generation.

She said she was also considering taking workshops in Hawaii in the near future.

“Our traditional healing could easily be lost so it’s good to pass on knowledge to others and keep learning more about other healing areas,” Ms Oman said.

“For me, the workshop strengthened the ancient connection as an entity and was a heart-opening experience.

“Everyone was provided with a lot of information in a short amount of time.

They are annual workshops we would like to keep on-going.”

Lomilomi and Romiromi are traditional holistic healing traditions, or massages techniques, and are used for healing the physical and spiritual elements of a person’s life.

This is in contrast to Western massage techniques, which are primarily focused on the physical.

If you are interested in traditional Maori massage contact Wikitoria Oman on (07) 216 9454

Source: The Daily Post