Bowen Therapy Explained
In a Bowen Therapy session, the patient lies on a bed, wearing loosely fitting clothing, and relaxes, while the therapist applies a specifically located series of gentle movements across the body. The movements are composed of a challenge to a body of muscle, tendon or nerve and a release of the tension vibrates through to the nerve within the area, nerve. The result in a balancing not only on the structural level and functional systems, but also at the level of the individual’s overall well-being. Addressing the body as a whole, in this way, Bowen Therapy treats beyond the presented symptoms and positively affects the physical, chemical, emotional and mental aspects of each person during the treatment and importantly for many days after. Appointments are usually scheduled a week apart as the treatment’s effect and the body’s process after is lasting many days. In most cases we recommend a series of about 3 treatments to initiate the bowen process. Most of the time the 3 treatments will give a clear idea as to the tempo of future treatments if needed.
Imagine you are 10 years old again and were simply going to get better from this point on, how long would you expect to take? This is the expectation you should have of the treatment…you should just get better!
Key to achieving this expansive benefit is Bowen Therapy’s capacity to stimulate a sense of deep relaxation. This deeply relaxed state, acts upon the body’s autonomic nervous system, which creates homeostasis at the cellular level. Through this a resetting of the autonomic nervous system takes place and while in a state of profound relaxation, the individual’s body is freed to find its own natural balance.
During the actual treatment session, the Bowen therapist will apply the movements in a series of patterns. The therapist leaves the room between the application of each pattern in the series so as to allow the patient the maximum space to fully achieve the deepest relaxant effects and to avoid interfering with the patient’s energetic realignment. Sessions usually last one hour. Often no more than two to five sessions are required for the treatment of most conditions. Treatments will generally be scheduled at 7-day intervals.
As a complementary treatment, Bowen can be used to enhance the benefits of other modalities. We find Homeopathy to be especially beneficial when used in conjunction with Bowen. However, certain alternate modalities affecting deep tissue, when used within a week of a Bowen Therapy treatment, will usually counteract the Bowen’s action (e.g., massage, chiropractics.) If you plan to combine Bowen with any other modality, please be sure to discuss an appropriate treatment schedule with your Bowen therapist.
Siân Rackham RT, CBT an accomplished Bowen Therapist.
About Siân, after 28 years in laboratory science she is thrilled to enter this new chapter. She discovered Bowen Therapy after being a client for low back pain. She’d always been to chiropractic for the continued bouts of pain from a chronic alignment issue and was so impressed with the cure that Bowen Therapy gave, in so few treatments. Never needing chiropractic again Siân decided to study with The North American Bowen Teaching College and became a fully Certified Bowen Therapist (CBT).
Dr. Smit’s practice specializes in unicompartmental knee surgery, which he has been perfroming at WROSC since November 2014, and more notably involving Oxford knee replacements for medial compartment osteoarthritis. As well as, arthroscopic surgeries in the hip, knee and shoulder, and minimally invasive techniques including partial knee replacements. On occasion, an interpositional Orthoglide arthroplasty can be performed, usually for lateral compartment osteoarthritis.
