About Bowen Therapy
How does Bowen Therapy work?
Physical pain is often the signal that our internal body balance is out of order.
Sometimes the reasons for the pain are clear and easy to resolve, but more often than not they are complex and not distinct. The success of the treatment often depends on the ability to address the underlying dysfunction, and the pain we experience may be referred or caused by a different area.
Bowen therapy works on fascia - the connective tissue that covers as a web all our muscles, joints, and organs. We treat the body holistically by stimulating the receptors within the fascial tissue and initiating the process of the central nervous system assessing the tension within the different areas of the body. That shift helps to restore internal balance and the functions of our joints and tissues, reducing the factors causing pain.
The principle of Bowen Therapy is that the body does the work of healing, not the therapist. As all processes in our bodies are regulated by the brain and central nervous system, it makes sense to give the brain the stimulus to re-assess the whole body’s condition and to make the subtle changes in tissues tension.
The process initiated during the treatment continues for several days while the body makes its adjustments. The re-alignment helps to relieve the pressure on nerve endings and to increase the lymphatics and blood flow in the tissues, which helps the healing.
What conditions can be helped?
Bowen is very gentle and non-invasive and so great for pains, strains and injuries where you want to try a more gentle approach. This therapy is safe to use when other therapies are not recommended, including severe muscle spasms, fresh bruising, and inflammation. It is also safe to be used as part of a treatment strategy for debilitating degenerative neurological ailments such as Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
Some examples of where the Bowen technique can help:
• Chronic and acute pain (neck, back, shoulder, knee, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, migraines and headaches, sciatica, foot, ankle, pelvic and posture problems, TMJ )
• Respiratory (asthma, hayfever, bronchitis, allergies)
• Digestive (constipation, digestive upsets)
• Women's health (PMS, menopause, fertility)
• Children (baby colics, bedwetting)
• Stress and anxiety
• Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, glandular fever
• Neurological conditions (Parkinson’s)
To discuss your specific concerns, please feel free to give me a call for a no-obligation 15 min chat.
How is it different from other therapies?
Bowen is a holistic technique and addresses the entire body, not just a problem area. The changes in the tissue tensions are not imposed by an external force but initiated by the body itself via the Central Nervous System.
The moves are very gentle and can be safely done on everyone from newborn babies to elderly or pregnant women.
You don’t have to undress - the treatment can be done through light clothing.
The treatment itself is very enjoyable and relaxing. It has a calming effect on the autonomic nervous system and it helps restore the body’s physiological equilibrium.
Tom Bowen and his legacy
Tom Bowen (1916 -1982) was born in Melbourne but spent most of his life in Geelong. He was an extremely successful manual therapist and developed a technique that allowed him to very effectively treat a great number of people with a multitude of musculo-skeletal issues.
I was told that Tom kept on the wall in his office his favorite saying (attributed to Stephen Grellet and William Penn):
“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Bowen Therapy is now taught and practiced all over the world.