About Bowenwork®

Bowenwork® is an innovative form of bodywork that utilizes the body's network of muscle and connective tissue.   This gentle therapy was developed by the late Tom Bowen in Geelong, Australia in the 1950's. It uses subtle stretch-roll-release moves known as “Bowen moves" that relax muscles, fascia and the nervous system, stimulating each to function more efficiently. 

Bowenwork® can provide relief for many types of injuries and other health problems, both acute and chronic  by eliciting the body’s innate healing abilities. The practitioner’s moves deliver signals to the nervous system and the body responds in its own time over period of minutes to days.  Bowenwork® is appropriate for people of all ages, in all degrees of health with very few contraindications.

  
When addressing acute injuries, the practitioner may only need to treat the traumatized area because there has not been enough time for the injured person's body to begin compensating for and accommodating the injury.  However, most practitioners work with people whose conditions have developed gradually over many years.  Here, patterns of dysfunctional muscle recruitment and posture have become entrenched over time and treatment of other areas is also likely to be required.  

Rather than focusing on a single complaint, Bowenwork® addresses the entire body, by restoring balance via the nervous system.  The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls over 80% of body's unconscious functions like breathing, digestion and reflexes. There are two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) - the sympathetic (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).   The sympathetic response is commonly known as the "fight or flight" response and is responsible for the survival of our species.  If we are confronted with a life threatening situation, the SNS redirects the resources and energy from our immune and digestive system to our arms, legs and brain so we can fight or flee.  Most people today live in a chronic state of imbalance with an overstimulated sympathetic nervous system caused by busy stressful lives, worry about debt, deadlines or just the fact that there isn't enough time in the day.  The parasympathetic nervous system is the "rest and restorative" system that brings the body back into balance after a fight or flight response.   Healing can occur only after the ANS shifts from sympathetic to a parasympathetic dominance (“rest, relax and repair mode”). Bowenwork® enables that shift. During a session, the client often drops into deep relaxation or falls asleep.  Both of these changes are indications of a profound release from stress and a shift towards parasympathetic influence. This is where the Bowen practitioner needs the client to be, to help restore the body.  It is during the rest phase of Bowenwork where we allow the body to absorb the work and take hold without counter interference from the SNS. 

A typical Bowenwork® session generally lasts from 45-60 minutes. Clients usually lie on a massage table or bed, or may be seated in a chair if its more comfortable and wear light, comfortable clothing. Normally we begin by balancing and restoring the natural flow of the body before going to a specific site.  To do so, we have basic relaxation moves in three main areas: 

1.  Waist to the feet

2.  The waist to the shoulders and 

3.  The neck, head and face.

We find that 80% of issues can be resolved by just these three basic moves.

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The Bowen response can continue to elicit change in the client for several days after a session. Therefore other forms of manipulative therapy are discouraged for up to five days after a session, as they may interfere with the efficacy of the work.

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"Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease"     Hippocrates