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Therapy Definitions
Bowen Technique
The Bowen Technique is one version of a group of technical interpretations of
the work of Australian self proclaimed osteopath Tom Bowen 1916 - 1982 known as
Bowen Therapy which is a holistic system of healing. The Bowen Technique was
limited to Australia until 1986, four years after Bowen's death in 1982, when it
was named, and spread to other countries around the world by Mr. Oswald Rentsch
a massage therapist of Hamilton, Victoria Australia who observed Mr. Bowen at
work one morning a week for two years.
It has since been developed and furthered by many others and is now one of the
nine therapies involved in the move towards voluntary self regulation in the UK.
It should be highlighted that the three other surviving students of Mr. Tom
Bowen - Keith Davis, Kevin Ryan and Romney Smeeton - all have similar
methodologies that vary significantly from the way Oswald Rentsch teaches the
technique. Dr. Kevin Ryan teaches his interpretation of the Bowen Technique to
Osteopathic students at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The Bowen
Technique addresses key points to stimulate energy flow, but Bowen Technique
involves a gentle, rolling motion, with very light touches. The practitioner
will stimulate sets of points, often with pauses between sets. The Bowen
Technique is not a form of massage, though it does claim to release areas of
built-up stress in the muscles, and clients usually experience profound
relaxation after a session.
A view held by some Bowen Therapists is that the specific way that Bowen
Technique addresses the muscles stimulates the stretch and golgi tendon reflexes
as well as joint proprioceptors in a way that heightens the sensory awareness of
the body in the area worked on. This can lead to strange sensations such as heat
release, tingling and a general increased awareness of the areas being worked.
These sensations are sometimes mistakenly associated with some form of "energy
healing". Through increasing sensory awareness the move taps into the body’s
ability to self regulate which, in turn, can stimulate the body to heal itself.
The Bowen Technique can be used as a stand-alone therapy or in combination with
other treatments.
Since 1998 the technique has become widely used in primary care settings in the
UK, with many chartered physiotherapists using the technique in hospitals,
hospices and other funded health settings.
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