Hilot get popularized now-a-days through commercialism in spa but not all people do really understand what Hilot is all about. Most people think even those who are across the globe that Hilot is a Filipino Traditional Massage. And even me 10 years ago am guilty of spreading the wrong information about hilot.

We all think that Hilot is a form of massage because everytime we call for a manghihilot, we see them with lana and banana leaf in giving healing touch to our body ailments.

But not all hilot is about massage. When an expectant mother is about to give birth, family member will call for an elder manghihilot to assist the expectant mother in delivering birth to a new born child.

Tawas is also a form of Hilot whereas the practitioner gives word of wisdom or orasyon to the client/patient who is in need. The illness that can be cured by hilot is limitless. Aside from the Physical body, the manghihilot can also heal the emotion, intellect and social affair of the person.

With these faculty ailment of the person, the manghihilot will use different technique aside from physical touch of massage.

In our lessons with Hilot Academy, i always tell to our fellow manghihilot that: ” Anything that we put inside our mouth, our body may benefit or suffer from it; and anything that comes out from our Mouth is the same thing that other soul may benefit or suffer.”

Through out time, people have been poisoned by the words that been spoken to us. Those words may come from the radio, TV, Newspaper, Church, School or the Government. There are words that we may benefit from it and there are also some that harms us.

We either use our ears or our eyes in percieving information such us words that been written on this blog or with our ears when we hear words or sounds. And these information that we recieved are being processed in our mind that also can sink in deeply into our system.

Information are not only percieved through sense of sight and hearing but also through touch. People worldwide have this special sense that can percieve pleasure or pain through touch. And Hilot utilize this tactile sensation of man to bring forth healing to the individual.

To go back in defining Hilot, so as we learn the amazing and wonderful methods that Hilot uses we now understand that Hilot is Healing and in hilot there are many ways or methods to be use to affect cure to the client.

Researchers of Philippine Traditional Medicine goes to places around the archepelago to experience the amazing healing touch of manghihilot. Mostly authentic hilot can be found in rural areas that is far away from the civilized society.

The Manghihilot (hilot provider) are the primary healthcare specialist where the common people consult with not only because of its effectivity but also for its affordability.

Now-a-days, authentic hilot are rare to find even the government provide training of Hilot Wellness Massage through TESDA and DoH. The hilot they teach is a commercialized massage that people confuse it with swedish massage. And sad to say still many people have a stigma of Hilot as Folk Medicine and quackery.

Indeed Hilot is a Folk Medicine that is nearly come to its extinction. The knowledge of Hilot as Traditional Medicine of the Filipino People is almost forgotten in exchange for higher income profession.

When you ask a child now-a-days of what the child will become when they grow old, no one will say that they want to become a Hilot.

But why?

Because people think that hilot is not a good income opportunity profession. Manghihilot only charge minimun amout or either accept donations only. The donation ranges from a pack of cigarette, bunch of banana, tray of eggs, etc.

But in doing Hilot, the provider spend a lot of energies from the time, knowledge of determining the cause of illness, planning the appropriate treatment modality to apply, use of herbs and other things that hilot will use before and after treatment.

The Hilot spend a lot rather than what s/he recieves. This shows that Hilot has a great value of Pakikipag Kapwa and pakikisama.

Kapwa is a Filipino Term that originates from the word kaputol ng kaluluwa ( a piece of the soul). Thus pakikipagkapwa is an art of unification of the individual soul to the Universal Soul or the word (us).

This pakikipagkapwa thing that the hilot has make hilot to reject payment from their client/patient. But what the client/patient did not realise is the value of the Hilot a manghihilot provide is much more greater that the amount of money could be spent.

What manghihilot work with is that we are restoring wellness to improve life.

Now if we talk about life, how much is the cost of life now-a-days?