Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage in Carlton North, Melbourne

Flowing, Heart-Centred Bodywork That Feels Like No Ordinary Massage

There is massage.

And then there is the kind of massage where, somewhere around the 40-minute mark, you completely lose track of which arm is yours.

Welcome to Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage.

Rooted in Hawaiian bodywork traditions, these beautiful flowing styles of massage combine long, rhythmic strokes with breath, presence, intention and an understanding of the body as something more than a collection of individual muscles.

At The Urban Alchemist in Carlton North, our Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi sessions may also weave together elements of therapeutic massage, intuitive bodywork and, depending on your practitioner and preferences, Reiki, meditation, sound or energetic work.

The result can be deeply relaxing.

Grounding.

Expansive.

Emotional.

Joyful.

Or simply so delicious that you briefly forget there is an outside world.

We are comfortable with all of the above.

Is Ka Huna or Lomi Lomi Massage Right for You?

You may particularly love this style of massage if:

• You want deep relaxation
• You love long, flowing massage strokes
• You want to feel more connected with your body
• You’re craving nurturing human touch
• You’ve been stressed, overwhelmed or constantly “on”
• You enjoy intuitive bodywork
• You’re open to intention or ritual being part of your treatment
• You’re interested in energy work
• You’re moving through a period of change, grief or transition
• You want massage to feel holistic rather than purely muscular
• You want an experience that feels immersive rather than clinical
• You want to stop thinking for a while and simply feel

And if you’ve been booking the same standard massage for years and wondering:

Is there something… more?

Yes.

There absolutely can be.

Our Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage Practitioners

Fees

• 120 Minutes ~ $300
• 90 Minutes ~ $220 – Highly recommended for your first session

We particularly recommend 90 minutes for your first Ka Huna or Lomi Lomi experience.

Sixty minutes is lovely.

Ninety minutes gives you time to actually arrive, settle, stop wondering what you need to do afterwards and properly drop into the treatment.

And 120 minutes?

Well.

That’s when time stops being especially relevant.

Private health insurance claiming may be available depending on the practitioner providing your treatment, how the service is classified and your individual extras cover.

We have HICAPS available for eligible on-the-spot claims. If you’re relying on a rebate, check directly with your health insurer before your appointment.

Ready to Drop In?

Book Now!

Not sure who to book with? Contact our team on (03) 9347 9247.

What Is Lomi Lomi Massage?

Lomi Lomi is a Hawaiian tradition of massage and bodywork.

There are different forms, teachers and lineages of Lomi Lomi, so there isn’t one single sequence that defines every authentic Lomi Lomi treatment.

Broadly, Lomi Lomi is known for its flowing, rhythmic approach to touch.

Rather than treating the body as a collection of separate parts, the massage may use long continuous movements across larger areas of the body.

Hands and forearms may both be used.

Movements can feel fluid, rhythmic and almost wave-like.

Breath, presence, intention and connection may also form part of the practice.

The experience can feel profoundly different from a conventional massage.

Less:

Now we shall spend twelve minutes on your left hamstring.

More:

Ohhhhh. My entire body is connected.

What Is Ka Huna Massage?

In Australia, Ka Huna Massage generally refers to a flowing style of Hawaiian-inspired bodywork incorporating long strokes, rhythm, movement, breath and an intentional approach to treatment.

There is considerable overlap between what you may see described as Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi, although training traditions and individual practitioners can differ.

At The Urban Alchemist, what matters most is that you understand what your practitioner offers.

Some sessions may be primarily beautiful flowing massage.

Others may incorporate:

• Intention setting
• Breath
• Meditation
• Reiki
• Energetic work
• Sound
• Stillness
• Other therapeutic massage techniques

Your treatment should always be explained and adapted to you.

What Does Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Feel Like?

Flowing.

Warm.

Rhythmic.

Nurturing.

Expansive.

The long strokes are one of the most distinctive features of this style of bodywork.

Rather than repeatedly stopping and starting, your practitioner may move continuously around the table, using their hands and forearms in broad, fluid movements.

Some people describe feeling:

• Deeply relaxed
• Heavy
• Floaty
• Warm
• Grounded
• More spacious
• More aware of their whole body
• Emotionally softened
• Energised
• Peaceful
• Connected
• As though they’ve finally properly exhaled

You may fall asleep.

You may drift somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

You may become very aware of your body.

You may have emotions arise.

Or you may simply spend 90 minutes thinking:

This is bloody magnificent.

There isn’t a correct response.

Why Does the Flow Feel So Different?

Many massage styles focus carefully on individual muscles or regions.

And sometimes that’s exactly what you need.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi offer something different.

Long strokes can move across larger regions of the body rather than constantly stopping at anatomical borders.

That continuity can create a powerful sense of wholeness.

The experience isn’t:

Here is my back.

Here is my leg.

Here is my shoulder.

It’s:

Here is my body.

For people who spend most of their lives thinking, analysing, organising and functioning from approximately the eyebrows upwards, that can feel surprisingly profound.

Lomi Lomi, Intention and Prayer

One of the beautiful aspects of some Lomi Lomi traditions is the place given to intention and prayer.

Different teachers and lineages approach this differently.

Prayer may be silent or spoken.

It may involve words, song, chanting, breath or simply the practitioner’s internal intention for the work.

And no, you don’t have to be religious.

You don’t have to believe in God.

You don’t need to subscribe to somebody else’s spiritual framework.

You can think of intention very simply:

Before putting their hands on you, your practitioner takes a moment to become present and orient themselves towards providing the treatment with care.

We rather like that.

In a world where almost everything happens at speed, there is something lovely about a treatment beginning with:

I am here. You are here. Let’s pay attention.

Heart-Centred Bodywork

Lomi Lomi is sometimes translated or described through the idea of “loving hands.”

And while translations and teachings vary between lineages, the idea captures something important about the quality of this work.

This isn’t mechanical massage.

There’s presence and attention.

The quality of touch is outstanding.

The treatment can feel deeply nurturing because it isn’t simply a sequence being performed on you.

There is relationship in the work.

Not romantic relationship.

Not sexual relationship.

Human relationship.

Someone is paying close attention to the body in front of them.

For many people, that is extraordinarily nourishing.

Massage for People Who Are Craving Touch

We want to keep talking about this because almost nobody does.

Human beings need touch.

And yet plenty of adults receive remarkably little of it.

Perhaps you live alone.

You’re single.

Your children have grown up.

You’ve lost a partner.

You’ve been caring for everyone else.

You’ve been through a relationship ending.

Or somehow months have gone by and you suddenly realise:

Nobody really touches me.

Professional massage provides safe, boundaried, non-sexual human touch.

And the long, nurturing nature of Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi can be particularly beautiful when this is something you’re craving.

You don’t need to be injured.

You don’t need a knot.

You don’t need to manufacture a physical complaint to justify booking.

Wanting safe, nurturing human touch is enough.

Ka Huna, Lomi Lomi and the Nervous System

Many people describe feeling profoundly settled during and after this style of massage.

The combination of rhythmic touch, warmth, repetition, environment, breath and feeling safe enough to stop can change the way the body feels.

Breathing may slow.

Muscles may soften.

The jaw may unclench.

Thoughts may become quieter.

The sense of constantly needing to do something can recede for a while.

People sometimes describe this as their nervous system finally settling.

We don’t need to turn that into a grand medical promise.

It’s enough to acknowledge that feeling safe, held and deeply relaxed can be a meaningful experience.

Ka Huna, Lomi Lomi and Energy Work

Some practitioners understand this work not only physically, but energetically.

They may pay attention to qualities such as flow, vitality, grounding, presence and areas that seem held or stagnant.

Depending on your practitioner, a session may incorporate:

• Reiki
• Intuitive energetic work
• Breath
• Meditation
• Sound
• Stillness
• Intention

Some clients report feeling energy moving through their body.

Others experience warmth, tingling, emotional shifts or a sense of spaciousness.

Some simply know that they feel different afterwards.

These experiences are personal.

We don’t need everybody to interpret them in exactly the same way for them to have meaning.

Read more about Reiki

Read more about Sound Healing

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi for Emotional Release

Sometimes emotions arise during bodywork.

Grief.

Relief.

Sadness.

Joy.

Tears that apparently had an appointment you weren’t informed about.

There doesn’t always need to be an explanation.

Bodies and emotions aren’t entirely separate experiences.

Stress changes how we breathe.

Fear changes how we brace.

Grief can feel physically heavy.

Joy can make us feel expansive.

When the body begins to soften during a deeply nurturing treatment, emotional experiences can sometimes surface too.

You don’t have to make anything happen.

You don’t have to “release” anything.

And a massage that doesn’t result in tears has not somehow failed.

The invitation is simply to notice what arises.

Lomi Lomi During Grief, Change and Transition

Some people are particularly drawn to this style of bodywork during periods of transition.

A relationship ending.

Grief.

Moving house.

Changing careers.

Becoming a parent.

Children leaving home.

Recovering from a difficult period.

Beginning something.

Ending something.

Not knowing what comes next.

There is no claim here that massage removes grief or solves transition.

Sometimes it’s simply powerful to have somewhere you can stop performing competence for 90 minutes and come back into your body.

That can be enough.

Ka Huna, Lomi Lomi and Trauma

Some people who have experienced trauma find safe, consensual bodywork supportive.

Others may find particular forms of touch difficult.

There is no universal response.

If trauma is part of your history, you’re welcome to tell your practitioner as much or as little as feels useful.

Treatment can be adapted.

You can ask questions.

You can establish clear boundaries.

You can request particular areas not be touched.

And you can stop at any time.

Massage isn’t a replacement for appropriately qualified trauma therapy.

But for some people, experiencing touch that is safe, respectful, predictable and entirely within their control can be meaningful.

Read more about Psychology

Read more about EMDR

Lomi Lomi and Plant Medicine Integration

Some people seek bodywork after significant personal, spiritual or altered-state experiences, including plant medicine work.

Massage cannot interpret those experiences for you or replace appropriately qualified psychological or integration support.

But embodied practices can sometimes provide a quiet space in which to notice:

How do I actually feel now?

Rather than immediately analysing everything that happened.

If you’ve recently participated in plant medicine work, please tell your practitioner about anything relevant to your physical safety, medications or current wellbeing.

Bodywork can sit alongside appropriate integration support rather than replacing it.

Your Intention for the Session

You don’t have to set an intention.

But if you’d like to, you can.

It might be:

Rest.

Let go.

Feel my body.

Be here.

Receive.

Grieve.

Reconnect.

Stop thinking.

Or something deeply personal that you never need to tell anybody.

Your practitioner isn’t going to grade the quality of your intention.

It’s simply something you may choose to orient towards as you enter the treatment.

What Happens During a Ka Huna or Lomi Lomi Session?

Before beginning, your practitioner will talk with you about what you’re hoping for from the session and explain how they work.

Because practitioners have different training and styles, your treatment may vary.

It may involve:

• Long flowing strokes
• Hands and forearms
• Rhythmic movement
• Breath
• More focused muscular work
• Stillness
• Intention
• Energy work
• Reiki
• Meditation
• Sound

Your practitioner may also use music, warmth, lighting or scent to create an environment in which it’s easier to settle.

The session should feel immersive.

And very, very difficult to leave.

Why We Recommend 90 Minutes for Your First Session

This is not because we are secretly trying to upsell you.

Sixty minutes is absolutely worthwhile.

But Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi benefit from time.

There is often a period at the beginning where your brain is still doing this:

Did I send that email?

What time do I need to leave?

Did I lock the car?

Oh, that’s a nice song.

I really should book the dentist.

Then, eventually:

…

Exactly.

Ninety minutes gives the treatment room to unfold.

If you can give yourself that time for your first experience, we recommend it.

What About a Two-Hour Lomi Lomi Massage?

If 90 minutes gives you time to drop in, 120 minutes gives you permission to stop keeping track altogether.

A two-hour session allows for a slower pace, full-body work and plenty of time for your practitioner to respond to what arises without needing to hurry.

If you’ve been craving deep rest, celebrating something, moving through a transition or simply want to give yourself an extraordinary bodywork experience, two hours can be magnificent.

What Oils Do You Use?

Coconut oil is commonly associated with Lomi Lomi and may be used by some of our practitioners.

Depending on the practitioner and your needs, we may also use a water-soluble massage oil containing ingredients such as sunflower, rice bran and coconut oils.

If you have allergies or skin sensitivities, please tell us before treatment.

And if you’re heading somewhere afterwards where being beautifully moisturised from shoulder to ankle may present a logistical challenge, perhaps don’t wear your finest silk.

What Do I Wear During Lomi Lomi?

This deserves a proper explanation because Lomi Lomi can involve longer strokes across larger areas of the body than conventional massage.

Your practitioner will explain their draping and treatment approach before beginning.

You will always have the opportunity to discuss:

• What areas will be treated
• How you will be draped
• What level of undressing you’re comfortable with
• Areas you don’t want touched
• Any adaptations you’d prefer

Your comfort and consent come first.

Always.

Is Ka Huna or Lomi Lomi Sexual Massage?

No.

Very clearly: no.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi can be nurturing, intimate in the sense of human connection, and deeply embodied.

They are not sexual services.

And no, this isn’t a nudge nudge, wink wink way of telling you that they secretly are.

We’re a health clinic.

Professional boundaries apply throughout your treatment.

If you’re interested in therapeutic work specifically around sexuality, intimacy or erotic embodiment, that’s a completely different service and should be approached through an appropriately trained practitioner.

Consent and Boundaries

Because Lomi Lomi and Ka Huna can involve broad flowing strokes and a different style of draping from conventional massage, clear communication matters enormously.

Before treatment, your practitioner should explain how they work.

You can:

• Ask questions
• Request different draping
• Keep additional clothing on
• Decline treatment of any area
• Decline energy work
• Decline meditation or spiritual elements
• Ask for more or less pressure
• Change your mind
• Stop treatment at any time

Spirituality never overrides consent.

Tradition never overrides consent.

Your practitioner’s intuition never overrides consent.

Your body. Your boundaries. Always.

Is Lomi Lomi a Spiritual Massage?

It can be.

For some practitioners and clients, the spiritual dimension is central.

For others, the experience is primarily physical and deeply relaxing.

Both are valid ways to engage with the treatment.

You don’t need to adopt Hawaiian spirituality.

You don’t need to believe in energy healing.

And you don’t need to pretend you’re having a mystical experience if you’re actually thinking:

My God, the forearm thing is incredible.

Receive the treatment in whatever way feels authentic to you.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi vs Deep Relaxation Massage

There is some overlap.

Our Deep Relaxation Massage may borrow elements from Lomi Lomi and Ka Huna, particularly flowing movements and intuitive bodywork.

Read more about Deep Relaxation Massage

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi, however, place the flowing Hawaiian bodywork tradition at the centre of the experience.

If you’re specifically drawn to long, rhythmic strokes, intention, embodied connection and the possibility of energetic or spiritual elements, choose this page.

If you simply want a beautiful, deeply relaxing massage drawing from several different styles, Deep Relaxation Massage may suit you perfectly.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi vs Remedial Massage

They are very different experiences.

Remedial Massage is primarily focused on assessing and treating particular areas of muscular pain, tension or dysfunction.

Read more about Remedial Massage

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi are generally more holistic and experiential.

If your main thought is:

My right shoulder hurts and I want someone to work on it.

Book Remedial.

If your main thought is:

I want to disappear into my body for 90 minutes and emerge as a different species of relaxed person.

You’re on the right page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage

What’s the difference between Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi?

The terms can describe overlapping but distinct traditions and training approaches.

Lomi Lomi refers broadly to Hawaiian massage and bodywork traditions, of which there are different styles and lineages.

In Australia, Ka Huna Massage commonly refers to a particular flowing style of Hawaiian-inspired bodywork.

Your individual practitioner’s training will influence how they work.

Is Lomi Lomi a full-body massage?

Generally, yes.

The flowing nature of the treatment is one of its defining characteristics.

Your practitioner will explain which areas they propose to treat and how you will be draped before beginning.

Is Lomi Lomi massage gentle or firm?

It can incorporate different pressures.

The movements are generally rhythmic and flowing, but your practitioner can adapt the depth according to their style and your preferences.

Is Lomi Lomi massage relaxing?

Extremely, for many people.

The continuous rhythm and flowing movements can create a very immersive experience.

Do I need to be spiritual?

Not remotely.

You can appreciate intention, ritual or deeply attentive touch without adopting any particular belief system.

Will my practitioner pray during the massage?

That depends on their training and approach.

Some practitioners incorporate prayer or intention internally. Others may use meditation, breath or another form of ritual.

Your practitioner can explain their approach before treatment.

Does Ka Huna include energy healing?

Some practitioners incorporate energetic work, Reiki, meditation or sound.

Others focus primarily on massage.

Check the practitioner’s profile when booking or contact reception on (03) 9347 9247 and we’ll help you find the right person.

Can Lomi Lomi help me release emotions?

People sometimes experience emotions during deeply relaxing bodywork.

That might feel like tears, relief, sadness, joy or a sense of release.

There is no requirement for this to happen and we won’t try to force an emotional experience.

Is Lomi Lomi appropriate if I’ve experienced trauma?

Possibly, but it depends entirely on you.

Some people find nurturing, consensual touch deeply supportive.

Others may need different boundaries or may prefer another form of treatment.

Talk with your practitioner about anything relevant and remember that you’re always in control of the session.

Why do you recommend 90 minutes?

Because it gives you time to stop thinking.

Which can take some of us considerably longer than we’d like to admit.

The flowing nature of the massage also benefits from having enough time to work with the whole body without rushing.

Can I book two hours?

Yes.

Our 120-minute treatment is $300 and is a beautiful option if you want the full immersive experience.

What if I don’t want Reiki, energy work or spiritual elements?

Tell us.

You can absolutely enjoy the flowing physical bodywork without including modalities or practices that don’t appeal to you.

Is Ka Huna sexual?

No.

It is professional therapeutic bodywork with clear boundaries and consent.

Can I claim Ka Huna or Lomi Lomi on private health insurance?

It depends on the practitioner, how the appointment is classified and your individual extras cover.

Check directly with your insurer if you’re relying on a rebate.

Which practitioner should I book?

Practitioner styles can vary considerably, particularly with a modality this intuitive and individual.

Read the practitioner profiles when booking.

Or call us on (03) 9347 9247 and tell us what you’re looking for.

We are very good at matchmaking people with therapists.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage in Carlton North, Melbourne

Some treatments are about fixing something.

This one can simply be about receiving.

Receiving touch.

Receiving attention.

Receiving rest.

Letting your body be heavy.

Letting somebody else do the work.

Letting yourself stop thinking about what everyone else needs for a while.

Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage at The Urban Alchemist combines flowing, heart-centred bodywork with presence, rhythm and intention to create something that can feel much bigger than an ordinary massage.

For some people, it’s deeply physical.

For others, emotional.

Energetic.

Spiritual.

Or simply unbelievably relaxing.

You get to decide what it means to you.

We’re conveniently located for people seeking Ka Huna and Lomi Lomi Massage in Carlton North, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Brunswick East, Northcote, Collingwood and Melbourne’s inner north.

Ready to Drop In?

Book Now!

Not Sure Who to Book? Contact Us on (03) 9347 9247