This is a method and system of massage which has its roots in a tradition which is hundreds of years old.
It has been a protected, sacred practice, kept strict in its content by the passing on in a lineage form, from master to disciple, always in a one to one apprenticeship. This was kept very strictly in the blood line of family, except in rare cases. In ancient Polynesia, up until the arrival of the missionaries, this practice flourished, and nurtured the entire population. But then the “old ways” came under attack, and all of the Polynesian spiritual culture had to go “underground”. Thus the old ways became veiled in secrecy, and became even more secret in its teachings. Kahuna is a title given to “one who has mastered the secrets”, or “keeper of the secrets”. The word or title “Kahuna” (one word) is considered to hold tremendous power or “Mana”, and is used in a hushed tone, reverent and holy. It is known that a true Kahuna will never admit to being such a one, and one who does, has no Mana.
The channeled life force or Mana comes through the practitioner, or vessel, and flows throughout the entire being on every level, down to the cellular construct. As my teacher would constantly say,
“Where there is Light, darkness cannot exist. Introduce the Light….. you are a Lighthouse”.
“Old Style” combines almost endless technique, with “the laying on of hands”, both in passive mode and active massage of Lomi Lomi. Always with the open hand, rhythm is paramount, the strokes are continuous, rhythmic, and ultimately hypnotic, which acts to bring the mind to a place of absolute stillness. This “sanctuary” of the quiet mind is where true healing manifests.
It is important to note that this state of “stillness” is experienced during treatment by both therapist and recipient. The goal of this method is to enable the practitioner to work from an understanding, that he or she is merely an instrument, through which life force or Mana is allowed to flow into the recipient. Integral in this teaching is the daily practice of meditation and prayer. 95% of most massage and healing modalities teach technique with very little or no guidance with the “inner work”, thereby being only a technique which is personalised and muddied by the ego mind construct. With the “Old Style” the emphasis is that one is simply a “vessel” or a “flute”, through which the healing Light of the Divine flows. This is a sacred teaching, rooted in tradition, inspired by the Light of Source. This is the way of the heart.
A need for clarification
from Sherman
“Upon completion of apprenticeship with my Kahu (or Master/Teacher), he told me that I would be a vessel for this teaching, as the blood lineage ended with this passing on, and that I would travel worldwide for many years doing this. There arose a need to give this work a name. “Heartworks” was born, as this work must come from the opened heart centre, the seat of intuition. Quite literally, this teaching came to thousands of students worldwide, and continues to grow of its own momentum. There are many former students who have studied with me in “the Heartworks method”, who have gone on to self appoint themselves as teachers, without permission. Two students did ask permission, and were given so, but as is the case with all such things, the essential core of this way lost all of its original purity, and sense of honoring the tradition.
It is extremely difficult to maintain a strict adherence to old school tradition when it goes mainstream. This is not meant to detract from what these former students are now teaching, as all things shift and evolve endlessly…only that there is a pressing need to clarify, that since the “Heartworks” method went worldwide, there are a large number of websites claiming that they were students who have studied with me, and given permission to teach, using my name and picture to give credence where it was not given.
When it came time to pass this work on to Dawn, it became clear that there needed to be clarity brought in to an indistinct picture. Therefore the “Heartworks” has simply been taken to its basic roots, “Traditional Old Style Lomi Lomi”, in order to preserve its original context.
``There will be no more apprenticed teachers of this way, as it ended that form when I passed it on to Dawn. The work itself will continue to expand and grow with each student carrying the torch, and this is how it should be.”
