Philippine Traditional Hilot Massage

Philippine Hilot: The Hands that Heal

Hilot is an ancient Filipino art of healing, commonly used today to relax stressed muscles. Hilot employ chiropractic manipulation and massage for the diagnosis and treatment of musculoligamentous and musculoskeletal ailments. They also have been known to reset dislocated and sprained joints such as the knee, ankle, fingers and metacarpal bones.

The Philippines own brand of touch therapy, most widely known as hilot, is an old tradition. From its humble beginning in the countryside, it is earning international fame as the prestigious 2007 Asia Spa Awards recently recognized Mandala Spa & Villas Boracay’s Hilot Trilogy as “Holistic Treatment of the Year”.

Filipino Healers

A study of alternative medicine in the Philippines is, inevitably, a study of the origins of its people and the amalgam of cultures and influences: Centuries of Spanish colonial rule and the indelible consequences of its religion, hundreds of years of trade with China and assimilation of its healing arts, tribal and provincial diversities with its profusion of folklore and mythologies, all redounding into the Filipino’s easy disposition for superstitions and the allure for the esoteric, mystical, and fringe.

In the hierarchy of healers and specialists in Philippine folk medicine, the albularyo may be referred to as the “general practitioners,” specially versed in the use of medicinal herbs. The hilot ambiguously refers both to the Manghihilot and Magpapaanak.

A Manghihilot is the term used in the Philippines for a person who specializes in healing muscular aches and pains by using massage. The Magpapaanak, besides prenatal visits and delivering babies, often performs the Suob ritual, (Suob is a ritual of postpartum care performed two to three weeks after childbirth).

The albularyos and manghihilots are Filipino traditional healers in the communities who deliver health services. By tradition, they are the primary dispensers of health care. Historians and scholars had associated the Filipino traditional hilot therapy with the traditional Chinese medicine and the Ayurvedic traditional medicine.

Some healers limit their practice of folkloric therapies to more specialized modalities.

The mangluluop specializes in diagnostic techniques, usually referring the patients after diagnosis to the albularyo, medico, or manghihilot for definitive treatments. The medico is a further specialization, merging age-old folkloric modalities with ingredients of western medicine  (prescription) medications, acupuncture, etc.

Most of these healers consider their healing craft as God-given, a calling from a supernatural being, and consequently, their healing practices are profusely infused with prayers and religious rituals, performed through mediation with the Holy Spirit. Usually rural-based, they are also present in the urban and suburban communities, albeit in small scattered niches, serving alternative needs, the impoverished or the urban-transplanted rural folk.

 Healing modalities used by Native Filipino Healers:

• Hilot
• Tawas
• Sapi
• Dwarf Healing (Dwende or Duwende)
• Herbal Healing
• Iconic
• Oracion
• Faith Healing
• Psychic Surgery
• Divine Healing

Post. – For a more detailed explanation of each of these methods see: http://www.worldhealers.5u.com/

Hilot Massage

The principles of Hilot have been practiced in the Philippines for centuries, dating back to an era that predates the country’s written history.Although hilot is indigenously Filipino, it has traces of influence from the great medical traditions, that is, traditional Chinese medicine, India’s Ayur-Veda, and the Yunani-Tibb medical traditions of Persia and Greece.

Hilot, This very old indigenous filipino massage and healing practice is a combination of different healing modalitites, that bring about changes in the body.

It is a 3000 years old art of healing, and a part of the filipino culture and tradition that predates the coming of the spaniards and handed down from generation to generation.Hilot is a philosophy and a culture unlike the other types of massages it not only relieves stress but also has “a rejuvenating , healing effect” on the patient or client. a good Hilot practitioner would know the type of ailments his client is suffering from just by looking at him and sensing his energy.

Hilot masahe is a common healing tool of Hilot that involves physical manipulation of skin muscle tissues and nerves that is healing, initiating, life-changing and operable therapy.Hilot is not just a simple massage but it is a holistic art and science that heals the person Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Socially and Spiritually.

Hilot is a Holistic Arts and Science of Filipino Healing that is not only provides Massage Services but also of the following:

• Banyos – is a therapeutic bath that is washing of the body with water or with/through an herbal solution. The purpose of banyos is to cleanse, wash away dirt and soil (dead skin cells) in the body, and prevent the spread of bacteria causing diseases.
• Herbal Treatments – Herbs used by Hilot has been known as the early source of modern medicine now-a-days, that´s why having a Hilot Treatment is just like going back to basics of healthcare practices.
• Dagdagay – Traditional Filipino foot massage using two bamboo sticks. Dagdagay foot massage was usually done after foot banyos treatment.
• Bentusa, (cupping) – is a healthcare system used to restore balance of the four humors which is the blood, phlegm, yellow bile and the black bile.

Philippine Traditional Hilot Massage is a holistic primary healthcare treatment modality that would benefit you in maintaining optimum health and wellness.