Fascia – aaaahhh this fashionable word the 20th century brought to our vocabulary and the 21st added as favourite!
Fascia is describing fibrous connective tissue containing closely packed bundles of collagen fibres which surround and interpenetrate muscles, organs, blood vessels and nerves – phew! that’s a mouthful for such a tiny pretty word! The fascia not only holds our bodies together and gives structure and support, but it permeates all of it! In a way think of such a close connectivity that allows our body to function as ONE, indivisible, single organ!

If you have an engineering mind, think of a complex structure of strings and ribbons connected through tension and compression, in complete balance! When one part pulls, you have a disruption in the opposite side. When one part shrivels, the system compensates somewhere else, the pressure changes and the form/shape is affected. The Bowen moves, create a week electrical current which propagates through the body thanks to the properties of the connective tissue. Bowen optimizes the complex functions of fascia, it helps smoothing it, relaxing it, in ways which restore balance to posture and offers relief from tension and pain.

Central Nervous System (CNS) Several Bowen moves engage segmental viscerosomatic spinal reflexes, producing referred reactions to the internal organs as well as it may offer relief from some CNS diseases.

If relevant to you, please read John Coleman’s amazing story regarding his recovery with Bowen Technique from Parkinson’s Disease in his book “Stop Parkin’ and Start Livin'”
Even if further research is necessary to prove it, Bowen is more likely to induce a positive response for people who may seem to have reached the end of rehabilitative options in the case of a stroke.

Acupuncturists have correlated the indications and effects of Bowen moves with the corresponding acupuncture points. They have also noticed immediate changes of the acupuncture pulses in response to moves or procedures. This could explain the very strong energetic component of the technique.

• Detox is often initiated during a Bowen session, by improving the body’s ability to function at a cellular level in a free and non restricted way!

  Remember – clear plumbing, clean kitchen and bathroom – better flow in the whole house!

  Our bodies detox on a daily basis just by working. Our lungs help our blood stay clean and oxygenated, lymph fights the bad guys, the liver sorts out toxins and the kidneys filter water and eliminate the excess. The skin eliminates non wanted waste and so does our colon! Keep your skin clean and your colon hydrated! (Did you know that the colon’s main function is to extract the water out of food waste and eliminate the solid remains? A de-hydrated colon leads to build-up of waste material which clogs our plumbing leading to dis-ease. So keep that water intake up!).

  So..in order that our bodies would filter the good from the bad and the ugly, they need to function properly and without clogging. Think of a car that needs servicing from time to time, the filters and oil changed. That is detox! You, putting in the car the right kind of fuel and cleaning it regularly that’s called car maintenance. Why is it that in the context of mechanical terms people get it but when referring to detox for our bodies people think it’s quackery?!

  “Detox” is not a dirty word. Ignorance is.

  When we eat the wrong things, breath polluted air, drink sugary or fizzy drinks and harbour toxic thoughts, work long hours and get poor quality sleep that’s when taking a break to better support our bodies is way overdue! Ideally we would do this on a daily basis as a way of life but come on… how many of us really do? That’s why detox is a wonderful way to kick start your body into health and enhances our well being along the way!

  Bowen initiates a detox response by allowing your body to function better, at increase capacity as it were, through activating the lymphatic drainage, your brain gives clearer messages to produce the feel good hormones, your kidneys work with a spring in their step, peristalsis is often initiated during a Bowen session that your digestive tract fires up all the stations along the way, while some procedures increase your lung functioning by relaxing the intercostals muscles and your diaphragm. Your body is becoming with every new Bowen session a beautifully performing orchestra as it was created to be, all organs singing in tune with each other, creating beautiful, vibrant life music!

The Bowen Technique very strongly affects the Chakras. The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “wheel of light”. Vertically, along the centre of the body are found seven main energy centres called chakras. Each chakra is connected to a part of the physical body and transmits and receives life force/ energy/ Chi/ prana. When we are in a state of ill health, the chakras may become distorted, out of alignment or even stagnant. When this happens, life force cannot flow in and out freely and the physical body suffers. Chakras are positively affected after Bowen treatments, without the practitioner’s conscious or intentional manipulation to this system. Personally I am not trained in this type of energy work, yet I know from experience that I have felt amazing energy flow rushing through my body after many Bowen sessions, which have uplifted my spirit and opened my mind and my heart to new awareness, which in turn enhanced my life in ways I never thought of before.