Bowen Technique
Aah, beautiful Bowen! This is one of those gentle, but very powerful therapies. It so subtle in it's feel, almost to the point that you may not even feel like anything is happening, but believe you me (who on earth came up with that phrase!!) it does work.
The Bowen Technique is a soft tissue remedial therapy, named after its innovator Tom Bowen. The technique involves the therapist using fingers or thumbs to move over muscle, ligament tendon and fascia in various parts of the body.
The work is very subtle, relaxing and gentle and involves no hard or prolonged pressure, so it is ideal for you if you don't want to be pumelled, clicked or cricked!.
Most of the work can be performed through light clothing, although some therapists prefer to work on skin. The ultimate choice will be yours however. An initial treatment will address the whole body a bit like an MOT, making sure the whole car is working well. As a general rule, moves will be made over the lower and mid back and legs, the upper back and shoulders before finishing with neck moves with the client face up.
A feature of the work is that between sets of moves, I will leave the room and allow the client to rest. This is a key element of Bowen and is a defining aspect of the technique as well as being one of the most important. The break allows the body the opportunity to create a decision about what action needs to be taken in response to the moves given. I liken this gap a bit to a dried out plant. If you put loads of water in it, it just bubbles up over the pot, but if you put a bit in a time, the water stays in the pot and re-hydrates the plant.
As humans we create appropriate responses to most situations. We can clearly establish where danger is present and decide how we should respond. Similarly, we are able to define appropriate responses to other stimuli, whether it be social, pain, heat, cold etc. With a Bowen move, the response mechanism is thrown into a degree of confusion as to what the appropriate response should be. The moves aren't painful and so therefore defence isn't called for. There is no friction or rubbing so no need to increase fluid to the area. The breaks give the nervous system a chance to establish the correct actions. In the process other information can be gathered by the body and it is common for areas not being directly treated to respond to the treatment. The theory is that the brain will ask the body all of this in milliseconds of course, what is going on and as the brain has no real idea how to respond, it just relaxes and lets the work happen.
A session will last generally around 45 minutes to one hour although this again will vary according to the work needed. Treatments should be scheduled for between five and seven days apart and an initial set of three treatments is recommended in order to establish whether the client is likely to respond to treatment.
Reactions to treatment are not uncommon and include tiredness, increase in original symptoms, stiffness, headaches, flu like symptoms, increased dream activity. Aftercare advice given to each client will emphasise the importance of movement, the drinking of water and the return for treatments. It is vital that a client does not cease the treatment in response to a strong reaction. The moves are so subtle that if a strong reaction is experienced it demonstrates how profound the work can be and further treatments are essential if the full effect is going to be felt.
Most people will have responses within three to four sessions, when even long standing chronic pain can be relieved. Other conditions might need to be treated more often, but in either case it is recommended that clients return for regular treatments every six to eight weeks to maintain optimum health. However, if after 3 sessions you have not experienced even the slightest positive change, I would suggest that this therapy is not for you and I would start looking at what emotions and feelings may well be caught up in your condition and I would suggest using EFT to unblock those barriers to your healing.