The Bowen Technique explained

Jo Lunn, Bowen Technique practitioner, explains how the therapy works.

The Bowen Technique is a very gentle, non invasive hands-on treatment that works with the body to restore balance on a structural, physical and energetic level. It can be received through light clothing and no oil or cream is used. Treatment usually takes place with the patient lying either face down or face up, but it can easily be adapted to be received lying on ones side to sitting up and even standing depending on the patients individual problems and preferences.

The Bowen Technique works neurovascularly and with the connective tissue of the body. The practitioner makes gentle rolling type moves on specific areas of the body; over muscles, tendons and ligaments. These moves heighten the brain’s awareness to that area of the body and a communication develops between body and brain. In response to the moves made, the brain is encouraged to ask the body questions in order to establish what is required to bring corrective change. This communication between body and brain enables the appropriate response to occur within the body bringing recovery of energy, healing ability, promoting pain relief and restoring optimum functionality.

Connective tissue is an integral part of us and tension in one area of the body can be released that also has a releasing effect elsewhere. With the release of toxins and old patterning, the moves begin to accomplish holistic balance almost immediately. Since the Bowen Technique addresses the body as a whole unit, rather than just the presenting symptom, it embraces the physical, chemical, emotional and mental aspects of each person receiving a treatment.

A unique factor of the Bowen Technique is throughout the treatment there are a series of short breaks where the patient is left to rest as their body responds. These resting periods are essential since they allow the brain to develop the appropriate response. As the body is given the time and space to respond in the way it so wishes, only a few moves are needed to be made during the treatment so as not to over stimulate. It is true to give the Bowen Technique the saying ‘less is more’ and it is often regarded ‘the homeopathy of bodywork modalities’.

Due to its gentle approach the Bowen Technique is frequently used on babies, the elderly, pre and post operative and in palliative care. Elite athletes have also benefited from it enabling them to maintain peak fitness and performance. Many people have gained relief from backpain, whiplash neck and shoulder problems and other seek out Bowen treatment to help with their asthma, Hayfever, IBS, Chronic Fatigue, migraines, stress and anxiety levels, infant colic and fertility issues. It improves circulation, lymphatic and venous drainage and helps to eliminate toxins and assimilate nutrients.

As the body begins to be restored to homeostatic balance, effects of this equilibrium are felt in other areas of the body and it is usual for someone having a treatment for a specific condition to also find that another condition has also improved. This demonstrates the body and brain’s ability to recognise further imbalances and set up appropriate responses in order to rectify them.

The effectiveness of this simple hand-on therapy has rapidly grown since it was introduced to the UK in the early 1990s. It is now common for osteopaths, chiropractors, sports therapists and physiotherapists to use the Bowen Technique – and neurosurgeons in Berlin have also trained in the technique. Jane Alexander wrote in the Daily Mail it is “quite simply one of the most straightforward and effective hands-on therapies available”.

Studies into specific conditions are proving positive results including frozen shoulder and migraines and these studies are showing a reduction of symptoms have resulted due to Bowen Technique treatment. For more information contact the European College of Bowen studies – info@thebowentechnique.com.

Case studies

I have found Bowen an extremely effective treatment for a whole range of problems including trouble with my neck, back, feet and hay fever. It is very gentle, painless and non-invasive and I know I will not have any side-effects. After each treatment I feel energized, calm and stress free.

Bowen has never failed to treat a problem and I feel it is essential to continue to have treatments at regular intervals to maintain my body and mind in as healthy a condition as possible. There are many cases where Bowen has made a massive difference to the quality of life for patients with a variety of ailments, a couple of which I will share with you now.

“The Bowen Technique has also helped me come to terms with the severity of my injuries without in any way giving in to them.”

In 2003 Mr Simon Rodway, aged 50, was in an accident and suffered severe spinal damage. The pain was excruciating and he turned to Bowen to see if it could help. After the first treatment he found that the pain was much more bearable and since 2003 the Bowen Technique has helped him control and limit the pain and keep his muscles and joints moving allowing him far greater mobility than would otherwise have been the case. It has also helped to keep him in the best physical condition to meet the demands of other medical treatments and procedures.

“The Bowen Technique has become an essential part of my remaining fit and healthy and I couldn’t recommend it enough.”

Mrs L (32) had a bad riding accident in June 2006. She landed on her hip and crushed nerves in her back. She could not walk with a great deal of sciatic pain. Before trying the Bowen Technique she had been continually having other therapies to realign her pelvis, but the sciatic pain never went away. The constant pain was making her feel very depressed and tired and it was affecting her work. It was in October 2007 that she had her first Bowen treatment and walked out at the end pain free and her pelvis aligned. After just three weekly treatments she felt energised, fully recovered and her pelvis was still aligned.

The human body has the incredible ability to self heal and this can often be achieved with the minimal outside influence. The Bowen practitioner is merely a catalyst setting the stimulus in motion for the process of self healing to occur. A Bowen treatment, whether to address a specific problem or maintain a healthy body, is the essence of simplicity.

About the author

Jo Lunn is a Bowen Technique Teacher and Practitioner. She teaches the Technique across the UK with the European College of Bowen Studies, and works from her clinic in Malvern Worcestershire and the Hale Clinic, London. Her clinics are extremely popular with patients and people travel from all over the UK, Europe and Australia for treatment. For more information visit www.bowentechniquetraining.co.uk.

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Tags: Self improvement & wellbeing