Hi!
My name is Michelle and I started training in sports massage in 2015. In 2017, I received my diploma and I knew: this is not for me.
I wanted more depth, more meaning, something real: something exotic!
I started working at Spa Zuiver in Amstelveen to gain experience and get in touch with other massage forms. A very tactical choice, in other words.
After six months, a lomilomi massage workshop was organised and I remember seeing the whatsapp group popping up on my phone – which I “happened” to have in my hand – and typing immediately: count me in! Because I knew 1 thing for sure: I have to attend this. The amazing thing is: I didn’t know exactly what a lomilomi massage was…. I had, however, seen the word pass by earlier in my life. I always thought it was a funny word. In the summer, there were flyers hanging with a short description of that massage and it already sounded awesome. And the flyer looked cheerful and exotic. Definitely something for me.
Skipping a lot of great stories, I can say in retrospect that this was what I was meant to do all along. I received a calling from lomilomi and I listened and went for it.
Since 2019, I have been a student at Malamalomi in Amsterdam, a school for traditional Hawaiian massage, and since February 2021, I have been an official lomilomi practitioner according to its requirements. My teachers are Karin van Herwijnen, Eva Stoll and Amira Segal.
Hawaiian Bodywork, also called lomilomi temple style or Kahuna temple bodywork, is the form best known in the West. In this massage, you are massaged with the soft part of the forearms. It is a rhythmic massage with tremendous grace and flow. A meditation in motion! Immerse yourself in the nurturing aloha spirit!
Lua lomi is the slightly firmer form of lomilomi, which can involve hands, thumbs and possibly guasham. This massage is traditionally based on the Hawaiian martial art. Intended to patch up wounded warriors so they could quickly return to the battlefield. A dynamic, fiery massage that is great for stiff muscles and thus very nice for athletes. So it is sports massage/deep tissue massage, but Hawaiian way. I can adapt it to whatever you need, so you can definitely book this massage as a relaxation massage as well. Because relaxing it is!
Aunty Maile’s lomilomi is a very gentle form of massage with deep effects. It involves hands, fingers, elbows and forearms, vibration techniques and compression. Lymphatic drainage, but Hawaiian way of course. After just a few minutes, a deep peace comes over you and you find yourself bobbing on the ocean waves, so that you leave the table feeling reborn. Good for headaches, RSI and back pain and of course just a fantastic exotic experience. Truly a must do.
At Koan Float, I have been giving massages since 2023 and especially in this style I love so much and otherwise – if you wish – I am also absolutely up for a nice classic relaxation massage, sports massage and deep tissue massage. See you on the table!
