What is Bowen Therapy?

Bowen therapy is a form of hands-on bodywork. The technique was created by Thomas Ambrose Bowen (1916–1982) in Australia. This therapy uses specific rolling movements focused on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, along with the fascia and skin around them. This system of movements aims to reduce pain, dysfunction and compensations in the body by inhibiting the sympathetic nervous system (your fight-or-flight response) and activating the parasympathetic nervous system (your rest-and-digest response). This stimulus to the central nervous system initiates the healing response in the body.

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This therapy stimulates the body to heal itself with minimal intervention in contrast to other forms of bodywork where the therapist imposes the body’s healing mechanisms through the bodywork provided. What makes Bowen Therapy so unique is that its benefit is long lasting and simple to attain, it is the simplest bodywork system and yet has a large scope of use.

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Bowen Therapy is safe for everyone, from newborns to the aged and is safe to use for both acute and chronic conditions. The treatment is often relaxing and applied through light or loose clothing, making it simple to receive therapy for those in severe pain or in a state of immobility. An important aspect of Bowen Therapy are ‘pauses’ of time that are given between sets of therapeutic moves during a treatment session. It is this ‘pause' that enables the body to fully respond.