Bowen Therapy on Phillip Island

How does Bowen Therapy work?

To explain how Bowen works, first of all we need to know how conditions develop within the body.  A condition can be anything from lower back pain and sciatica to irritable bowel syndrome and migraines. Every part of your body is regulated by nerves that come from the brain and travel through the spinal cord and then branch out to control and regulate muscles, tendons, ligaments and organs. Nerves are sensitive to the structures surrounding them.  When nerves are affected by a misalignment in structure (for example, pressure from a tight muscle), the corresponding part of the body controlled by those nerves is also affected.  The result?  A condition develops.  This can happen acutely, through sudden injury, or chronically, a build-up over time. From this understanding it is clear that structure governs function.  This is where Bowen Therapy comes in.  Bowen initiates a response in the body to realign and re-balance muscle tension thereby restoring structure.  Once structure is restored then function improves. This process may be instant (directly during or after a treatment) or may take up to 10 days to occur.  Depending on the duration of the condition, several weeks may be needed.  Eighty per cent of conditions are relieved in two or three treatments.

How does Bowen achieve this?

A Bowen move first slides the skin in one direction and then challenges and rolls over the tissue in the other. A Bowen move can be likened to a guitarist strumming the guitar string.  Just as the guitarist strums the string to produce a certain result, so does the practitioner when practicing bowen.  When a move is performed over a muscle, tendon, ligament or nerve, that tissue is stimulated to self adjust and the body begins making the necessary changes of realignment and re-balancing. What happens when a guitar is out of tune because the tension isn’t adjusted correctly? It doesn’t function properly. Similar to the body when muscle tension is out of balance, the body doesn’t function as well as it could be. The resulting dysfunction can range from subtle effects which can go by unnoticed, to major problems which can have a truly negative impact on life.

What conditions is Bowen good for?

• back pain & sciatica • sports & accident injuries • neck/shoulder problems incl. frozen shoulder • knee, ankle & foot problems • hip & groin pain, pelvic tilt & uneven leg length • fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue • digestive & bowel problems including IBS • menstrual & hormonal irregularities • earache, ear infections & migraines • stress • shin splints • kidney/liver conditions • respiratory problems & hay fever • RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow • scoliosis • infertility

How is a Bowen session conducted?

Session Outline:

• Bowen is performed on a massage table.
• The client may be fully clothed but it is preferable that bowen be performed on bare skin (underwear is left on).
• The practitioner performs a series of moves on the body which is then left to it’s own devices for at least two minutes while it respond responds.
• Another series of moves is then performed with the body left to respond again and so the process is repeated over the course of the session.

Further Info

During the pauses in contact, the client experiences deep relaxation and it’s at this stage of the treatment that significant positive responses take place.  Muscle tension is adjusted significantly with re-aligning and re-balancing occurring.  The client may even feel these changes take place in the form of subtle tingling, twitching, heat, cold and heaviness as examples.  Changes may take place on all levels as needed such as physical, chemical, emotional, mental, energetic, spiritual.

How much does it cost?

Sessions range from 45 minutes to 75 minutes. $65 ($55 - Concession)