About Bowenwork

Bowenwork is unique in the field of bodywork and provides long lasting results. A Bowenwork session consists of a series of a relatively few, gentle moves through light-weight clothing (or on skin). Bowen's gentle "moves" over muscle and other soft tissue address the whole body, stimulating it to reset and heal itself. The healing may occur at all levels as needed: physical, chemical, emotional, mental, energetic etc.

A session may last from fifteen minutes to an hour. Most often, a surprisingly few sessions are needed to alleviate complaints, whether structural or functional, even if long-standing. The results generally hold for a long time until there is a re-injury.

Bowenwork is completely safe and appropriate for everyone from newborns to the very elderly and frail. Highly trained athletes and pregnant women benefit equally, each according to need.

Conditions That Benefit

Clients wonder if Bowenwork will help their condition. Two factors make it difficult to say for sure:

Each person responds differently, at different rates and to different degrees. Response is according to the individual body's ability to heal.

Bowenwork addresses the entire body holistically. Improvements may be seen in conditions not mentioned to the practitioner, even if they are located far from where the practitioner touches you.

In any case, you would know after two or three sessions at most, whether or not the Bowenwork is helping in a particular case. Although no list of conditions can be complete, many conditions respond much more often than not.

Bowenwork has been shown to be very helpful for women during pregnancy and, through labor.

How It Works

Bowenwork is neither derived from nor similar to any other hands-on modality. The mechanisms or action work primarily through the nervous system on both structural and energetic levels. Healing occurs through the response of the body's autonomic nervous system to the Bowenwork moves.

Simply stated, Bowenwork allows the body to reset and heal itself. The work consists of several series of gently rolling, connective tissue moves. There are frequent important pauses between sets of moves, which give the body time to benefit from each set. By selecting appropriate combinations and sequences of moves, the practitioner is able to address the body as a whole, and/or target one or more specific problems. The practitioner discerns stress build-up in muscle groups and utilizes Bowenwork moves to release that stress.

Bowenwork addresses the body as a whole unit rather than just the presenting symptoms. The physical, chemical, emotional and mental aspects of each person receiving Bowenwork can all respond as needed.

The basic Bowen "move" distorts a muscle or tendon that is not under load and then rolls over it without sliding on the skin down-regulating the muscle's resting tension level. The surrounding fascia becomes less solid and more fluid, allowing greater movement of blood and lymph through the tissue and enhancing nutrition to and waste removal from the site of injury. The lack of distracting skin stimulation and the limited number of precise moves focus the nervous system's attention on the essential points. Pausing at certain crucial times in a sequence of such moves allows time for the nervous system and fascia to respond and begin the healing process. The body continues to respond for several days afterwards unless interrupted by injury or strong external stimulation (including new trauma, heat, and additional bodywork, even additional Bowenwork).