“What is Bowen Technique” is a common question in my profession. Although Bowen Technique has been around since the 1950’s, it’s ill-defined. That’s because, in part, it wasn’t recognized as a professional treatment process until well after the death of the “founder” Tom Bowen. Add to that the half-dozen schools of thought that were birthed by Bowen’s works and you have the formula for confusion. As part of the world of holistics, faith, various schools of thought and varying descriptions confuse the central theme. Beyond the history of Bowen, the theory remains somewhat mystical as metaphorical descriptions vary.
The Answer to “What’s Bowen Technique?”
Bowen is based on the notion that gentle moves over precise points of the body can prompt the body’s innate ability to relieve pain, restriction and imbalance without the need for deep, manipulative or forceful treatment. Thus to me, the answer to what is Bowen Technique is that it’s a soft-touch muscle relaxation technique that utilizes muscle “strumming”as a way to help the body heal itself. Bowen technique believes that turning your muscles’ off and on switches “reboots” their ability to relax and reset. Bowen theory believes the body can reset, repair and balance itself.
What to Expect
When you come for a Bowen Technique session, you can expect a relaxing experience. You don’t have to do anything expect lay back and relax. I’ll be doing massaging and strumming moves on key pressure points to relieve tensions and re-set muscle memory. And don’t worry, even though I was a long-time Rolfer, in this modality, we don’t work as vigorously or as deeply as in Rolfing.
In terms of clothing, loose fit clothing is fine. Dress to be comfortable and come ready to relax.
The session generally takes about an hour including some rest time to “bake in” the re-set alignments. This amount of time can vary depending upon how would up your body is. You should therefore allow a bit more time, up to a hour afterwards for over-flow time should I need to work you longer.