An introduction to the Bowen technique

The Bowen Technique normally requires its participants to be fully clothed. A usual Bowen Technique session lasts up to 45 minutes and clients can be asked to lie down on a massage table, or to sit down in a chair, to receive treatment. The therapist will perform gentle rolling motions on the tendons and muscles of the patient. This type of therapy is not physically intensive and has pauses incorporated in the therapy session to allow the body to rest in-between massage periods. 

The Bowen Technique provides relief for a variety of health issues and injuries by activating the body’s innate healing capabilities. This is done by the practitioner whose massaging techniques signal the patient’s nervous system at certain locations to trigger the patient’s natural healing mechanisms. Rather than forcing the body to heal by directly manipulating sections of it, Bowen practitioners subtlely awaken the body’s natural healing capabilities in as non-invasive a manner as possible.

Normally, a Bowen practitioner will work with clients who have gradually developed harmful habits of muscle use, such as poor posture leading to back and neck pain. In these cases, a Bowen practitioner will work on the whole body of the client, rather than narrowing down their work to one small area. 

The Bowen Technique is also often used to combat the negative effect of high-stress lifestyles by helping the body shift from a strenuous state of sympathetic nervous system activation, during which stress hormones are released, to a relaxed state of parasympathetic nervous system stimulation, during which the body goes into rest and repair mode.