Even though many of my new clients are referrals from other happy customers – these people arrive having no idea what to expect. Even the reality of lying on a massage table can be a confusing initiation let alone trusting a stranger to do ‘something’ to their body and hopefully rid them of pain.

So I thought I’d run through a few things to expect during and after a Bowen Therapy session with me.

My clinic is at 29 Wallace St, Macksville. It is a quiet space with calming music. And Bowen therapy is done through light clothing. So, unless you have jumpers, jeans, or a coat on – there is no need to remove any clothes.

Then I’ll gather a history from you covering any accidents and operations you’ve had and what you are dealing with at the moment.

,How it starts….

We always start with you lying on your stomach ensuring you are as comfortable as possible.

And because the whole idea of Bowen Therapy is to balance you from top to bottom I always start at your hips. I’ve found that when the lower body is sitting nicely the upper body has a chance to rebalance itself correctly as well.

When we are ‘out of balance’ the entire body just doesn’t work well.

Visualise a child building a tower of building blocks – you’ll usually notice that the blocks don’t sit straight – for every block that is a bit out one way, another block has to go out the other way to counterbalance it, and ensure the tower stays standing. This is how our body sits after some normal life experiences and more so after an accident. It does the best it can to stop us from falling over.

The aim of my treatments is to bring those blocks back into alignment so they sit as perfect and straight as possible – I’m talking about your body of course.

Each Bowen ‘move’ is a gentle manipulation over the muscles and tendons. These come in groups of two or more. Once a few moves have been done the body is left to integrate the information it’s been given.

I was explaining this to a 5 yr old girl recently when she asked me what I was doing – and after listening to my explanation she condensed it to “so, it’s like a pattern, do some moves and then wait, do some more moves and then wait”. Perfect.

Once the treatment has commenced there are times when you may feel something going on in your body. This is a normal part of Bowen but not everybody feels it.

The sensations can run from a gentle warmth in an area to feeling very hot all over. There may be tingling, a pulsing, a feeling of energy rushing through the body, and my favourite  – an overwhelming sensation of deep relaxation and heaviness.

Each of these sensations are an indication of how the body is taking over the healing process – even though Bowen is a very down-to-earth treatment where we focus on the muscles, ligaments and tendons it’s also quite unique from other modalities in that it brings the entire body back into balance and this in turn allows the problem area to be targeted organically.

There’s been many times when I’ve heard the spine crack while they are on the table – I’m not touching them, it’s a normal part of the body ‘letting go’ and releasing the tension that’s been holding it all together in their world of pain.

Sometimes people see colours or can feel my hands still on them even though I’m not there.

Falling asleep during the session is a very common side-effect.

I have no explanation for these – it works and according to Empirical Science and the multitude of case studies I have that’s all the proof I need.

After the Bowen…..

Once the Bowen session is finished you will feel very relaxed and rather reluctant to get up at all – generally.

Sometimes the pain or discomfort has gone after just one treatment and sometimes the person feels much the same. Everyone is very different and comes from their own set of circumstances. There are no rules here and I can never predict how you will feel the next day.

Most people experience a noticeable lack of pain straight after, some feel better within the next day or two.

There are some who feel very stiff initially and loosen up over the next 24 hrs. Some people feel amazing for 24-48hrs and then fall back to where they were….I can never tell what’s going to happen.

And after the first treatment it’s quite common to feel exhausted – Bowen is a lymphatic drainage session as well – you can feel as if you’ve run a marathon for a little bit. Relax – it will disappear, drink lots of clean water and rest up – you won’t be able to beat it.

This is why I set some precautions and prefer to do Bowen to people who are office workers or manual labourers at the end of their work week – this gives them time to recover over their weekend.

There is also the chance of having a bit of an emotional outburst whether its getting angry, teary or giggling. This isn’t as common but still – I like to warn people so they can inform their family that if they ‘lose it’ it’s ok and just part of the recovery process.

Then the Bowen treatment is finished – your body is feeling calmer and more ‘in place’ and it’s time to get up – sadly.

But then again the benefit of not having to drive home afterwards is priceless!

When getting off the table always land on both feet to maintain the balancing process that’s been commenced.

Since the body is very relaxed it’s a good idea to….

1. Not sit for longer than 30mins on the day of treatment – this is because you will tighten up at some stage and if it happens when you are sitting watching a movie the next day you will be sore (it will still work – but to avoid the pain……)
2. Drink more water than you normally do to help flush out the kidneys (since it’s a lymphatic drainage treatment as well).
3. Don’t party on the night of the Bowen – just a bad idea, you will probably undo what has just been done.
4. If you feel like you have been ‘hit by a bus’ on the following day – don’t think you will be able to beat it – you won’t. REST as much as you can and
5. Respect your bodies process of healing and enjoy the ride.

Always feel free to call or text me with any queries or worries along the way.