The Bowen Technique
The Bowen Technique
Victims of sports injuries and accidents have found the Bowen Technique very helpful as a remedial therapy during their recovery. It may improve rehabilitation time regardless of when the injury was sustained and is an alternative to physiotherapy and chiropractic methods.
The Bowen Technique
If you are an athlete getting ready to compete or recovering from an injury, Bowen can help get your body balanced and in optimum condition and can help implement speedier healing. Studies show regular Bowen can improve your range of movement and potentially lower your golf handicap by 1-2 shots. It's now used by many professional sports people, including premier football and rugby clubs, to help prevent injury as well as speed up recovery.
Bowen Is A Holistic Approach
We believe that the Bowen Technique is one of the most versatile and effective therapeutic treatments available today offering significant relief for many conditions. After taking a comprehensive case history and discussed your condition in detail, a treatment will consist of a series of gentle moves on skin or through light clothing, with the client usually lying on a bed or treatment couch, although it is possible to be treated seated. A session usually lasts up to an hour and frequently results in a deep sense of relaxation helping the body to recharge and balance itself.
Bowen In A Nutshell
- It may help many conditions, from sports injuries to long standing complaints
- There is no vigorous manipulation
- It's gentle and stimulating
- It may improve mobility
- It may improve circulation and lymphatic drainage
- Substantial relief is often achieved after only one session
My experience demonstrates its benefit for people of all ages, including newborn and infant children. Although it is a tool for treating ailments and injuries, many healthy people come along to enjoy treatments to maintain balance and their sense of well-being. Victims of sports injuries and accidents have found the Bowen Technique very helpful as a remedial therapy during their recovery. It may improve rehabilitation time regardless of when the injury was sustained.
- It helps address both physical and emotional issues
SOME OF THE AILMENTS THAT BOWEN HAS HELPED
- Allergies
- Baby and childhood problems
- Back problems
- Bladder problems, bedwetting
- Bowel problems
- Digestive problems
- Dizziness
- Ear Problems
- Fatigue
- Fluid retention
- Foot problems
- Frozen shoulder
- Headaches (migraine, sinus)
- Bedwetting, incontinence
- Jaw problems
- Knee and hip restrictions, misalignments
- Menstrual and other female problems
- Pelvic tilt, leg length, hip imbalance
- Poor mobility
- Repetitive Strain Injury
- Respiratory problems
- Skeletal and muscular problems from lumbar to neck
- Sports injuries
- Stress
A treatment consists of a series of gentle rolling moves with frequent pauses between moves giving the body time to benefit from each set. Practitioners treat the body as a whole or can target a specific problem, as they are able to pinpoint stress buildup in muscle groups and then release it.
The Bowen Technique both balances and stimulates – the restorative process beginning once the body is relaxed.
It’s referred to as ‘complementary’ – meaning it will enhance and complement other medical treatments. However, it should be noted that receiving other manipulative therapies immediately following a Bowen session can undermine the effectiveness of the Bowen work. It is better to wait a week before starting any other treatments.
BOWEN IS HOLISTIC
The Bowen Technique is perhaps one of the single most important tools we have to help heal the body. The moves produce good results by penetrating to a deep cellular level – making use of the body’s own ability to heal itself. Moves begin to achieve holistic balance straight away, embracing the client’s physical and emotional aspects
Bowen Therapy is time and cost effective. Three sessions is usually all that is needed to get the response you want.
As a procedure, Bowen is very relaxing whilst losing none of its effectiveness in combating aches, pain and stress.
Bowen therapy does not depend on the physical strength of the therapist. Only the pads of fingers and thumbs are used to apply minimal (gentle) pressure, rolling over various key areas of soft tissue, muscle and ligament. Many of these small movements are made during a treatment session.
Bowen does not involve massage, deep tissue movement, joint manipulation, repeated pressure moves or the use of any oils.
Bowen Therapy is undoubtedly unique, as it utilises the body’s own capacity to rebalance and heal itself. These features promote Bowen as an ideal therapy for babies and children, pregnant women and for people suffering from chronic or acute pain.
HOW DOES BOWEN THERAPY WORK
There are several theories as to how Bowen Therapy works, however, the actual mechanism remains somewhat of a mystery. As with Acupuncture, the effectiveness of the treatment is shown in the results. It is only a very small percentage of people who do not respond to Bowen.
A Bowen move is made by gently rolling over muscle, tendon or ligament. Many individual movements are made at specific points all over the body in a pre-determined, systematic manner. One working theory is that the movement created by the gentle (superficial) Bowen activity is transmitted through to deeper layers along the facial covering of the muscles and relayed back to the brain. The body is networked by fascia and recent anatomical studies have revealed that the fascia is a continuous system. It surrounds muscle and bone and is developed in the embryonic period of life i.e. at less than 10 weeks gestation.
This theory goes someway to explaining how an injury or problem in one area may be created from or linked to problems in other (seemingly unrelated) areas. In short your ‘ankle bone is connected to your knee bone’ etc., right through to your head. Rather than viewing the system as being made up of muscles which are surrounded by fascia, it may one day be proven to be a fascial system containing muscles - the muscles working as a pulley system within.
Working with this theory, you can begin to understand why the body needs to be viewed as one unit and not as separate/isolated parts. This also applies to any problem or issue that presents. It then becomes easier to appreciate how, the gentle Bowen procedures can be transmitted through the muscular level to the deeper organ level within the body. This means that Bowen can also help with lymphatic, digestive, kidney and respiratory problems, to name a few. Other responses that can and sometimes do occur, relate to the release of emotional tensions and anxieties. Bowen can create a feeling of profound relaxation and calm. This may be part of the emotional release process but again, the mechanism for this remains a mystery.
The role of the therapist is similar to that of the starter motor in a car – that is, the therapist introduces Bowen to the body which triggers the self-adjustment and healing process. Short rest periods incorporated into the treatment, are fundamental to this change. The body-wide application of moves means that the brain has a lot of additional information to assimilate at each treatment. The rest periods provide time for the brain to respond to the new information and begin the subtle process of adjustment and repair. An event which can continue over several days.
INTRODUCTION TO BOWEN THERAPY
The Bowen Technique was developed in the 1950’s by Tom Bowen an Australian living in Geelong. Despite having no formal health training, he soon became a celebrated therapist. People would travel many miles for treatment which he often freely provided. Over 80% of the men, women and children he saw needed only two or three Bowen treatments to restore health - Tom did not believe in wasting people's time or money.
He showed a remarkable intuitive ability, as well as a dogged belief in his technique. His caseload developed to phenomenal levels, reaching a record 13,000 cases seen in one year.
After his death in 1982, his 6 trainees went on to teach their interpretation of the technique. Bowen Therapy finally found its way to Europe and Britain in 1995. Now, Bowen Therapy has international presence and acclaim. It is proving itself to be an adaptable and very effective treatment therapy.