Bowen Therapy

The concept of tissue memory is that the body's cells have the ability to retain memories of trauma. These memories include the emotional environment at the time of the trauma, and are explicitly stored in the tissue, not the central nervous system.

When a person is injured physically or emotionally, there is a force that enters the body. If the body is not able to dissipate the energy of the physical injury or the emotional impact, energetic disturbances can lead to compensations that inhibit normal bodily functions, even causing acute or chronic pain.

Is there a scientific basis for Bowen Therapy?

There is now indisputable evidence that an electro-magnetic field exists within and around the body.

Scientists who study biophysics and cell biology recognise a highly sophisticated and interconnected energetic continuum, called a cellular matrix or living matrix. The living matrix gives the body its overall shape and features, defining the form of each organ, tissue, and cell and extending into every part of the organism. In terms of bodywork* and biomedicine, the most exciting property of the living matrix is the ability of the entire network to generate and conduct vibrations.

The totality of these vibrations is what we refer to as 'consciousness'. The living matrix retains a record or memory of the influences that have been exerted upon it. When vibrations pass through the tissue, they are altered by the stored information. In this way, our consciousness and our choices are influenced by memories accumulated in soft tissue. The living matrix has the ability to regenerate or restore itself through the same system and Bowen, among other forms of bodywork, facilitates this process.

How does Bowen Therapy work?

The Bowen practitioner's precise, systematic and intentional application of gentle pressure to tissue has structural and emotional consequences through the release of both stored memories and toxic substances.

The Bowen move, genius in its simplicity, causes a build-up of piezoelectric charge, with a subsequent discharge into the tissues being manipulated, thus setting the process in motion. These gentle moves tend to be very powerful when performed on areas where there is an overlap of layers of soliton (waves).

The most well known soliton is a tsunami. What makes these waves unique is that they carry large amounts of energy through the medium of water over long distances without the loss of energy. The fact that our bodies are at least 75 per cent fluid indicates the high potential for the effectiveness of Bowen. Bowen moves seem to soften scar tissue and unfreeze stagnant areas of tissue, a likely result of the strong energetic effect of the waves travelling through the body.

Our goal, as Bowen therapists, is to restore structural integrity in the body in order to re-establish its optimum function, which can be achieved by helping the body to release the energetic disturbance so that it can restore the energy field and heal itself. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, 'life energy' or 'chi' must flow freely throughout the body in order to assure a state of maximum health. For more information on how Bowen may be appropriate to your particular situation or to arrange a therapy consultation, contact Neil.

* Bodywork therapies is a general term that refers to a group of body-based approaches to treatment that emphasise manipulation and realignment of the body's structure in order to improve its function as well as the client's mental outlook.