Bowenwork®
Bowenwork is a light-touch with deep-healing process.
It brings awareness into the innate healing systems of the body,
giving space & time for the body to focus.
Relaxation Experience
Bowenwork can be used as a relaxation experience.
People love the meditative quality, the minimal touch, and the time to connect back in with Self.
Bodywork Treatment
When the body is in disrepair, the body will use Bowenwork as a Treatment Modality.
Sessions are performed in a series of sessions.
The sessions build on each other and continue the healing process in between.
The small gentle moves result in nervous system, muscular, and fascial release.
Fun Fact: Fascia communicates 3 times faster than the nervous system.2
Bowenwork taps into the existing communication systems in the body – both into the nervous system and the fascial system.1
The signals travel the nerve pathways to the brain for processing.
“Hey, over here! We need some corrections, pattern unraveling, repairs, restoration to optimal functioning. Make it the highest priority, please.”
The pauses between sets of moves give the body and brain time to make a plan and begin the process of responding to the request.
Common Experiences with Bowenwork
- feeling the signals during treatment
- deep states of relaxation
- feeling energized
- not feeling much of anything
- experiencing residual signals in the systems from old injuries
- a delayed response – feeling the signals well after the treatment
Every Body is different.
Even the same session on the same body is likely to produce different results.
Whatever your experience:
The body is healing itself.
If you like sharing your experiences as public testimonials, please post them here: (click on “Bowenwork”)
Bodies that feel the process commonly experience it well after the session – 7, 14, sometimes even 30 days after a session.
If you are using Bowenwork for more than just general relaxation purposes, it is optimal to schedule after the process has begun to settle in and before it fades completely.
There are often multiple players. As the body processes after a session the other players still locked in competing patterns will rise to the surface.
A new body arrives for the next session and we build on the progress achieved.
If things are “acting up” we recommend “water, walk, wait”.
water – hydrate well
your system will likely require more water than it’s used to. Sometimes a glass or 2 of water is all it takes to calm the “acting up”.
Electrolytes are an important component of hydration. Consult with your N.D., M.D., or Nuritionist regarding your specific electrolyte needs. Many people are in balance and require no electrolyte supplementation.
walk – move your body
after a session, your system is very likely to become extra grouchy when sitting for more than 20 minutes at a time
Walking is a gentle way to support the system as it’s processing the session. Grab your water bottle and go for a walk. Often that’s all that is needed to support the process.
Even a brief walk to the lunchroom, restroom, or a co-worker’s office are useful.
wait – give it time
if after water a walk things are still unhappy, give it time
It took a while to get your body into this state and it’s going to take some time to transform into a new state. The body is healing itself.
Sleepy Time?
In the beginning of the process some people experience a period of intense “sleep-catchup”. This is perfectly normal.
It may have been too much Bowenwork to process all at once.
It may be your body needs some long overdue rest.
When the body feels safe the “rest and digest” side of the nervous system tells the “fight or flight” side to go and take a break from being in charge.
There are many chemical processes in the body that play out differently depending on who’s in charge more of the time.3
As the body catches up on healing and sleep, Bowenwork Sessions can become energizing rather than sleep-inducing. Some experience this right away.
Every Body is different and responds differently to Bowenwork.
The Same Body can respond differently to the exact same Bowenwork session weeks later.
Bodies are pretty cool!
PBP, Professional Bowenwork Practitioner
Michelle is a certified through the American Bowen Academy,
which is the United States arm of Bowtech® in Australia where Tom Bowen discovered and developed this technique in the 1950’s.
The extensive certification program is 7 Levels with 10 Test Cases, module testing, and a final exam demonstrating mastery of all Sequences alongside a written portion.
Updates to this page soon.
in case you’ve not hit data overload just yet …
Please enjoy some videos from Bowenwork Instructors.
Bowenwork Presentation by Registered Bowenwork Instructor Kelly Clancy OTR/L, CHP, LMP.
Bowenwork Presentation by Registered Bowenwork Instructor Alexia Monroe, BA, LMT
1 Fascia As An Organ Of Communication.
2 “… it is estimated that mechanical vibrations transiting the myofascial network move three times faster than the signals sent by the CNS (Schleip et al., 2012; Vogel, 2006; Ingber, 2004).” ~ Pete McCall, M.S
3 Vote to have this article written.