Bowen Technique
Developed in the 1950’s by the late Tom Bowen in Geelong, Australia, The Bowen Technique is a gentle but dynamic body therapy that is therapeutic and very effective. It empowers the body’s own healing resources, achieving balance and harmony, frequently resulting in fast and lasting relief from pain and discomfort. The technique is considered safe to use on anyone from newborns to the elderly, with any condition from sports injuries to chronic or organic complaints.
The Bowen Technique has been described as being “one of the most down to earth therapies in the book”. Developed from the 1950s until his death in 1982, the acclaimed Australian therapist Tom Bowen helped many thousands of people overcome their pains and conditions using a series of gentle, non-manipulative moves over muscle and connective tissue using nothing more than his thumbs and index fingers.
In most cases, only two or three treatments were required for people to be free of pain, permanently, which is one reason why the Bowen Technique has become so popular. In 1974 Tom Bowen commissioned a natural therapist, Oswald Rentsch, to study and document the complete work. He was the only person to do so and the work took over two years to complete.
The moves used by the practitioner balance the body, allowing self-healing with minimum intervention. During the course of a treatment, the client is left resting several times, allowing the body time to incorporate the gentle healing moves which have just been performed. This allows the body’s different systems to respond to the moves with the subtle and fine adjustments that help to relieve tension, reduce pain and initiate the healing process.
The practitioner will often note subtle and sometimes quite dramatic changes taking place during the breaks, and can adjust the next set of moves accordingly. A feature of the Bowen Technique is that nothing is forced to happen – the therapist gently and precisely does the work which triggers the body’s natural healing responses. Improvement is often experienced within a few days. The body is prompted to readjust itself by tapping into its own resources for self-healing.