Hilot Massage Therapy
Hilot Massage History
Hilot, a Filipino term meaning “healer,” is the traditional practice associated with elderly healers, where the ‘manghihilot’ was the healthcare giver of the community. Today, with the resurgence of alternative forms of medicine and the study of older ways of healing, Hilot has resurged as a popular healing art converging scientific and natural laws.
In Hilot massage, the Hilot Master or manghihilot identifies body illnesses and areas of energy imbalance through methods like pulse reading, hot and cold analysis, phrenology, stool/urine/perspiration analysis. In the Philippines, the practice of Hilot is typically learned from relatives and inherited by passing the art form from one generation to the next.
The Essence of Hilot Massage
A traditional Hilot treatment entails deep massage with the goal relaxing the mind and healing the body. Warm banana leaf strips laced with coconut oil are often run over the body to clear energy blockages, as banana leaves contain both medicinal and herbal elements and are a natural ionizer. Banana leaves also have an antiseptic effect and have been used to help treat illnesses from the flu to sprains and even bone dislocations.
Originating in the Philippines, Hilot massage also calls upon the intuition of the therapist or manghihilot, who at the start of each session invokes Divine power and the natural power of the surroundings to provide energy for healing. So too, the client’s inherent self-healing powers are called to action.
Hilot therapists are trained in massage and mind/body connections. Using bare hands to scan the body through touch, as well as various herbs, medicinal plants, and banana leaves, the practitioner diagnoses which areas are energetically imbalanced. Through deep massage, the goal of Hilot treatment is to restore harmony and balance to the body.
Benefits of Hilot Massage
- Relaxes stressed muscles
- Reduces muscle pain
- Relieves stress
- Improves circulation
- Improves skin appearance
- Resets dislocated/sprained joints
- Used to diagnose and treat musculoskeletal ailments
- Induces abortion
- Aids in giving birth and in recovering after delivery
Treatment provided by a manghihilot is holistic, encompassing all aspects of life and living, including biological, psychological, social, and behavioral. A good Hilot practitioner identifies a client’s ailment by sensing his energy and corrects the person’s energy imbalance through massage, bringing about biochemical reactions that aid the body in healing itself.