Gentle, minimal, powerful
Bowen Therapy (also Bowen Technique or Bowtech®) is a very gentle yet powerful therapy. Through a series of specific moves positioned on key muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves, it stimulates the fascia surrounding muscles and organs, sending signals to your brain to initiate the body’s natural healing processes and energy flow.
Bowen Therapy differs from many other physical therapies in that its approach is to treat as minimally as possible, to initiate, and not inhibit, the body’s natural healing processes. Key to a treatment session is the 2-minute waits between most moves, during which the healing process begins and starts to take effect.
It is not an invasive intervention and is very gentle in both approach and treatment. It is, therefore, a suitable and effective treatment for people of all ages (including babies) and a wide range of situations, in particular, chronic and painful conditions for which other therapies might be too aggressive or unsuitable for presenting symptoms.
Bowen Therapy could help* in treating these conditions, and more:
- Allergies
- Baby and childhood problems
- Back problems
- Bladder problems, bedwetting
- Bowel problems
- Digestive problems
- Dizziness
- Ear Problems
- Fatigue (including chronic fatigue)
- Fluid retention
- Foot problems
- Frozen shoulder
- Headaches (migraine, sinus)
- Bedwetting, incontinence
- Jaw problems
- Knee and hip restrictions, misalignments
- Menstrual and other female problems
- Neck tension and pain
- Pelvic tilt, leg length, hip imbalance
- Poor mobility
- Pregnancy-related pain
- Repetitive work activity injuries or pain
- Respiratory problems
- Skeletal & muscular problems
- Sports injuries
- Stressful feelings
Working with your body’s flow
Bowen Therapy works with the fascia of the body, the thin, fibrous tissue surrounding every muscle and organ. Fascia is water-rich and an excellent conduit of energy flow throughout your entire body, and by utilising this unique connective tissue, healing in one area can result in healing in others. Your body knows how to heal itself — Bowen Therapy simply helps release it in a way that works throughout your body.
Whole person healing
Bowen Therapy’s approach, working with the body’s energy flow, and its use of the body’s fascia, means that it can release healing in more than just your physical body. It is common for many people to undergo a release of emotions — often linked to past experiences — as well as a release of blockages in their muscle tissues and organs.
It is widely accepted, including by medically trained physicians, that emotional pain or trauma can manifest as physical pain or disorders. Although this is not an aspect of Bowen Therapy that is fully understood, it is nevertheless a consistently observed outcome of treatment, resulting in deeper and more effective healing than just that of the physical body.
Following a Bowen Therapy treatment, you may experience memories or feelings that present themselves unexpectedly and which are related to an experience of past emotional pain or trauma. These are a normal response to treatment, but you should consider speaking to a trusted friend, spiritual leader or counsellor if you need help dealing with them.
As with your physical body, Bowen Therapy is simply releasing your body’s natural healing process, and so can be a wonderful and gentle way of healing past emotional pain.
Getting the best from Bowen
Following treatment, most people report experiencing an immediate and significant improvement which, when combined with addressing any underlying causes, can bring lasting results.
Because Bowen Therapy activates the body’s detoxification systems, it is normal for some people to experience symptoms ranging from feeling more tired, having mild headaches, through to feeling like they have a heavy cold or flu. These symptoms are likely induced by toxins leaving your body and usually pass within a day or two, with some people experiencing none at all. Drinking plenty of water and frequently walking (not sitting or lying) in the week following a session will help your body integrate the treatment and improve any detox symptoms.
Trust the treatment
Your body’s healing response to Bowen can take around ten days to integrate fully. Following this, you may want to have or even need follow-up treatments. Most people will usually have an initial three treatments, spaced at least a week apart.
If your condition is chronic, or the underlying cause cannot be changed, you can still gain significant benefit from Bowen Therapy on an ongoing basis, and its gentleness and effectiveness in releasing bodily tension and stress make it a preferred treatment for some. Those treated consistently claim that Bowen Therapy always has a positive effect on the body, but the healing results may take time, depending on your situation. Trust the treatment — Bowen can help with complex and chronic conditions, even if complete healing isn’t possible.
*Each person’s situation is unique, and anecdotal evidence of effectiveness in one person does not guarantee the same results in another, even with a similar and comparable condition. The efficacy of any Bowen Therapy can be helped or hindered by lifestyle behaviours and factors.