A young lady booked a Lomilomi massage with me late in the afternoon at the Kahala Hotel and Resort Spa where I was employed as a massage therapist. We will call her Susi, she was twenty two years old and her sister was twenty three.

Susi and her sister were here on O’ahu for a Hawaiian vacation, they were so excited to experience all the mysteries of Hawaii. I began Susi’s Lomilomi treatment which included an Opu Huli adjustment. Susi was very athletic and seemed to be a very healthy young woman but I soon learned of her full story. I asked her if she had pain in her back and she began to explain. Apparently, she had taken a bad fall off a horse at her home in California. She was an equestrian and owned many horses. Just two years prior she fell from her prize winning horse and broke two of her vertebrae in her back. She told me she had visited many different types of physicians including chiropractors, orthopedists, and surgeons to name a few but no one had addressed her stomach or opu.

When I treated her opu I found it to be turned and twisted to the right. When I checked her leg lengths, one was approximately two and a half inches shorter than the other! No wonder she was in pain! As I gently adjusted her opu she relaxed and was amazed at how important her aligned stomach was to her healthy back. I explained to her simply and in a nutshell that, the stomach is connected to the back and by the opu being in proper alignment, back pain will diminish considerably. The opu treatment did not take more than 20 minutes, which is a lengthy opu huli treatment, most only take a few minutes, but when I was finished she cried and cried tears of joy. She and her sister were overwhelmed with gratitude and relief for her pain was simply gone!

When her treatment was completed, her legs were even! She said now her jeans would fit right and she didn’t have to get special orthopedic shoes made for her! She was thrilled. Thankfully, I did not have another treatment scheduled after theirs, so we sat and talked for almost an hour. They cried and were so grateful for the blessing and miracle of opu huli treatments. How simple yet complex.

The Hawaiians knew of the connection of our opu’s to our backs. They used opu huli to regulate fevers, treat babies with colic, and to soothe acid reflux. The Hawaiians were also aware that on a spiritual level, the opu carries the memories of the past, including feelings of resentment, fear, and anger. In cases where individuals were experiencing these types of imbalance, a Ho’oponopono would take place to cut the AKA cords of imbalance, disharmony and negativity from the beginning of creation until the present time. The opu, as is every organ in the human body, recognized by Hawaiians to be connected also in a spiritual way to our emotions and energies held there. By being aware of the connections and striving to maintain “lokahi” or balance, in all aspects of our life, the Hawaiians were ahead of their time.

In the end, Susi and her sister were filled with peace and comfort knowing the pain was gone. We hugged goodbye and said Aloha e (my love to you) and Ahui Hou (until we meet again).

I was overwhelmed with joy that I was able to make a difference in their lives and able to share the true gift aloha and of Opu Huli treatments.

Mahalo nui loa!