While I was in naturopathic college, I was drawn to do a very expensive, intensive course after seeing a presentation by one of my professors. She was sharing case after case of patients who experienced complete transformation after years of dealing with chronic conditions.
There are many options to choose from when considering additional training as an ND. The Bowen Technique attracted me because it has an exceptional track record for safety, meaning it can be used to treat pregnant women, children and seniors. It also doesn’t require any special tools or devices, meaning it can be administered pretty much anywhere, anytime. I liked that it wasn’t particularly hard on the body of the practitioner so I could handle busy days of back to back treatments for the length of my career.
The primary reason though, was the concept of meeting the patient’s system where it’s at. Not forcing something but instead, cultivating an environment that allows the body to recall what it already has written in it’s DNA – how to heal.
What to expect when receiving treatment?
Most sessions begin with the patient lying prone (face down) on a massage table with arms by the side and head facing one direction, feet hanging off the bed to relax the calf muscles. Many moves can be performed over/around clothing, wearing shorts is encouraged to make this easier. The treatment is done in a quiet room or with calming music playing and there is little to no talking between the patient and practitioner in order to induce a state of rest.
The patient will feel the practitioners hands on different parts of the body, gentle ‘flicking’ or ‘rolling’ over specific areas, followed by a rest period of about two minutes between sequences. At one point, the patient turns onto their back or may be asked to sit or stand to finish a specific protocol.
When the treatment is over, a glass of water is brought to the patient and they are encouraged to drink more when they get home, as well as avoid high intensity exercise, acupuncture or chiropractic adjustments for a week or so afterwards. These may interfere with the effectiveness of treatment by halting the process that has begun.
Overall, I’ve had patients describe it as exceptionally relaxing, like they were at the spa all day or received an hour long deep tissue massage. They generally sleep soundly for at least a few nights after being treated. Sometimes previous aches or pains may surface in the days following treatment, before resolving completely.
How does it work?
One of the ironies of becoming an expert in any field is the realization that you will never know it all and the more you learn, the more apparent it is that you know very little. No where is this truer than with medicine and the human body.
We don’t have a clear explanation of exactly how Bowen exerts it’s powerful healing capacity. What we do know is that it is involved in regulating our two nervous systems: the sympathetic (aka. fight or flight) and the parasympathetic (aka. rest and digest) as well as the endocrine and lymphatic systems. Similar to acupressure and craniosacral therapy, the Bowen practitioner uses his/her hands to trigger specific areas of the body to send a message to the whole body.
A Bowen move activates proprioceptors at multiple tissue levels, creating a dynamic re-arrangement of the Central and Peripheral Nervous System, leading to postural realignment, fascial release and ultimately facilitates the body in accessing its intrinsic ability to heal itself.
It is especially useful for chronic pain disorders where the signals get crossed and the pain that was initially an attempt to slow the person down and give the body a chance to heal, continues beyond what is necessary. Bowen is like an off switch for excess pain and tension, reverberating a succession of releases and giving the body an opportunity to reset itself to a pain-free, neutral position.
The breaks dispersed throughout the session differentiate it from many other manual therapies and play an important role in the healing process by giving the system a chance to absorb the treatment.
What Bowen teaches us about the body:
1) Everything’s connected
2) The body knows what to do
3) Letting go is the key
