Bowen Technique

The Bowen technique, or Bowenwork, is a dynamic system of muscle and connective tissue therapy developed by Tom Bowen of Australia.
It is sometimes referred to the homeopathy of Bodywork. It utilizes small inputs to the body to stimulate the body to heal itself, often profoundly.
The Bowenwork offers tremendous benefit to clients from gentle applications. Bowenwork can result in the relief of many specific injuries and other health problems, both acute and chronic. It accomplishes this by using the body’s innate healing mechanisms. The practitioner delivers signals to the nervous system at specific locations (on muscles, tendons, ligaments or nerves), and the body and brain does the rest, responding as it is able. While there are a few, very specific situations in which a particular ‘procedure’ is contraindicated, Bowenwork is appropriate to use for people of all ages and in all degrees of health, including newborns, highly trained athletes, pregnant women and the elderly. Each person responds differently to a Bowen session, according to their body’s need and ability to heal at that time.

When an injury is acute, the practitioner may address only the traumatized parts of the body because there hasn’t been enough time for the client to begin to compensate for the injury. Most practitioners work with clients whose conditions have developed over time, where patterns of muscle malfunction and posture have formed as a result.
Rather than focusing on a specific complaint, Bowenwork addresses the entire body, by resorting balance via the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS controls over 80% of bodily functions and is very susceptible to outside stressors. Most people today live in a constant state of high stress and sympathetic ANS overload (fight, flight or freeze). Healing can only occur when we have switched from sympathetic to parasympathetic (rest, relax and repair) ANS response. Bowenwork stimulates the switch from the stress to relax response.

Practitioners perform sequences of small stimulations, called moves, on specific points on the body, interspersed with rest periods that allow the brain and nervous system to process the information just given to it. The Bowenwork moves stimulate mechanoreceptors (nerve endings) that overlie both muscles and acupoints. The body’s response to this stimulation, which begins during the rest periods, includes a balancing of the autonomic nervous system and changes in the musculoskeletal system in the direction of increased symmetry. These effects, in turn, remove blockages to the free flow of energy in the body. From the point of view of complementary health care, when the body’s nervous and energetic systems are in balance, its physical, emotional and mental functions are able to return to a healthy state.

During a session, clients often quickly drop into deep relaxation or can fall asleep between procedures. Loud peristalsis (gut activity) can be a byproduct of the work, so do not be alarmed. Both of these signal a profound release from stress and a shift towards parasympathetic dominance. This shift can show that Bowenwork seems to reactivate the recovery process which may have stalled or plateaued post trauma.
The purpose of a Bowen session is to activate the innate healing mechanisms within the body so that, given time, the autonomic nervous system will self-regulate, energy will move more freely, and the body will heal to the extent it is able.
The underlying philosophy of “Less is More” refers to not overwhelming the body systems with to much information at one time, thereby allowing for the innate healing mechanisms activated to have a stronger hold on the body. The number of inputs and length of the rest periods are determined for each client during each session; hence sessions do not have a fixed duration but rather can vary from session to session.

A Bowenwork session can range from 15 to 90 minutes, the moves are gentle and purposeful. The client usually wears cotton underwear or light clothing. The work is usually done on a massage table but can be done sitting if necessary, for the client’s comfort.
In a full body session, the lower back is addressed first, followed by the upper back and finally the neck. To minimize disturbance all procedures that are done face down are completed first. The client will then move to face up and the remaining procedures performed. Some procedures require the client to stand or sit to be performed. Procedures are made up of various moves which then have an integration period before more moves are performed. This allows the brain, nervous system and body tissues to respond to the signals that were sent before another set of moves are performed so as not to overwhelm the body, nervous system and tissues.

Bowenwork allows the body to heal itself with minimal intervention as opposed to other bodywork techniques which impose correction to the body. Due to the subtle nature of Bowenwork it is suggested not to do other forms of bodywork (chiropractic, acupuncture or massages) for 4-5 days following a session so as not to disrupt the Bowenwork in its process.
The body will continue to respond to Bowenwork for 5 to 10 days following a session. Sessions are therefor usually 7 days apart to build upon the previous work and not allow a return to the previous state. It is recommended to do an initial 3 to 6 sessions depending on the severity of the condition, with an occasional extension if the client is not fully holding the results by the time the next session arises.
The client can then extend to 2 weeks or longer depending on how well their body is holding the work. In my experience, a few 2-week sessions are recommended before moving to a monthly maintenance schedule. This, of course, is at the discretion of the client.