Everything you needed to know about Bowen Technique – but were afraid to ask!!
So what is Bowen Technique?
Having been a Bowen practitioner for over ten years I always get asked – first what it is (yes a valid question), secondly how can something so gentle be so effective. In this blog I’m hoping to explain away – to the best of my abilities, how Bowen technique works!
How does Bowen Work?
The Bowen Technique is unique in the field of bodywork. Bowen is neither derived from, nor similar to any other hands-on modality. I always think of Bowen as being a bit like rebooting the body – I always like to describe things using analogies. I find clients tend to understand it better.
I had severe sciatica for a couple of years after my daughter was born. I tried pretty much every modality from physio, chiropractic and osteopathy to get rid of it. Bowen was the only thing that worked – and yes I did get off the therapists couch thinking I’d just wasted another wad of cash for a therapy that couldn’t possibly work as it felt as if she didn’t actually ‘do’ anything. The therapist spent a good deal of the time actually out of the room but sure enough – a week later the sciatic pain had gone. This is pretty much why I trained to offer Bowen myself.
Quite simply Bowen Technique allows the body to reset and heal itself. The work consists of several series of gently rolling, connective tissue moves. There are frequent important pauses between sets of moves, which give the body time to benefit – to reset itself.
Less is More!
There is the belief that less is more with Bowen and the less you do to the body – the more it responds. This is because it allow the body to heal itself in a way that suits it – not by being forced to as you would with other treatments.
A Bowen treatment addresses fascia tissue as well as the muscles and skeleton. Fascia is the sheet of connective tissue that covers the structures of the body – allowing flexibility and movement between various parts of the body.
It is fascia that is responsible for your posture – so in Bowen Technique we pay it a lot of attention. It affects the way we hold our spine. By changing the way the muscles and fascia work together, we can change the way the structure works – allowing your spine to adopt a better, less painful, position for example. This approach often results in a much longer-lasting effect on body alignment than some manipulative therapies.
Conditions that have been shown to respond include:
Sciatica Sacro-iliac pain
Back pain – lower, middle and upper Bunions
Carpal Tunnel/RSI Frozen Shoulder
Chronic fatigue syndrome/Fibromyalgia Groin tension or pain
Hammer Toes Knee pain
Hamstring tightness or pain. Plantar Fasciitis
Jaw pain/misalignment Scoliosis
Neck pain/restricted movement in neck Shin splints
Sporting injures Sprained ankles
Sternal pain/sprung ribs Tennis elbow
Golfers elbow Colic in babies
Bedwetting in children
So if you feel that you would like to try a more gentler approach to your muscular aches and pains then why not give Bowen Technique a bash!?? You may be pleasantly surprised!
My name is Julie Elder and I am a complementary therapist/yoga teacher at Totally Holistic Health. I am passionate about helping your body stay healthy in a natural and holistic way.
To find out more information on how I can help you please feel free to check out my website at www.totallyholistichealth.co.uk.