Bowen is a gentle technique designed to help your body heal itself.
Bowen works on your soft tissue with selective, gentle touches to your muscle and body.
Bowenwork®/Bowtech® is unique in the field of bodywork. A Bowenwork session consists of several series of gentle moves through light-weight clothing or on bare skin. This gentle technique stimulates the body to direct its healing attention to the targeted area. The healing may occur at all levels as needed: physical, chemical, emotional, mental, and/or energetic.
In a Bowenwork office or clinic the client usually lies on a soft bodywork table or sits in a chair as needed for comfort. Few sessions are needed to alleviate discomfort and pain - even chronic pain can be treated effectively quickly! The best part is that the results are long-lasting and don't "wear off."
Bowenwork is appropriate for everyone from newborns to the very elderly and frail. There are absolutely zero contraindications for a Bowenwork session.
Everything you need to know about a Bowen therapy session
Relief can come very quickly from a session of Bowenwork; sometimes instantaneously. There is a great variability in individuals’ ability to heal and the rate at which they do so, depending on numerous factors. Typically, results come within the first week after the initial session; 3-10 sessions spaced a week apart are sufficient for most issues. This number is still a fraction of the amount of visits and time spent in many other forms of care.
In most cases, no. If the problem is of long duration, or there has been extensive weakening of the area, there may be discomfort from new movement in a previously "rusty" area or from using a muscle that has decreased strength and stamina.
Bowenwork can be received through lose clothing. Typically, a person is laying on a massage table, with a light blanket, or sheet over them. Specific sequences of short, gentle, rolling motions of the thumbs or fingers are performed over specific structures (muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves) of the body.
A Bowenwork session generally lasts from 30 minutes to an hour with the client resting comfortably on a massage table
Ideally between 2 and 5 Bowen sessions are scheduled a week apart. Clients usually see significant improvement within these sessions. Additional sessions are scheduled a week to two weeks apart as needed, with most conditions resolving within 3 to 8 sessions. More complex conditions may require additional treatment.
Taking a 15 - 20 minute walk, and drinking 8-12 glasses of water a day are suggested to support the work begun during your session. Water acts like a sponge absorbing the particulate that has been released by the work into the blood stream. Not drinking enough water following sessions can result typical detoxification symptoms. While not harmful, they can be uncomfortable. Walking helps to move the lymph system, which in turn helps support the detoxification process.
Other types or restorative movement may be suggested, depending on the issue being addressed.
Conditions Helped by

Musculo-Skeletal
* Frozen Shoulder & Shoulder pain
* Tennis elbow
* Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
* Arthritis
* Fibromyalgia
* Scoliosis
* Migraines
* TMJ syndrome
* Postural and gait problems
* Sports injuries
* Shin Splints
* Plantar fasciitis
* Other foot & ankle issues
* Hernias
* Knee and hip restrictions
* Pelvic problems
* Sciatica
Digestive/Eliminative
* Colic
* Crohn's Disease
* Indigestion
* Constipation
* Chronic diarrhea
* Hemorrhoids
* Bed Wetting, children
Respiratory
* Asthma
* Bronchitis
* Hay Fever
* Sinusitis
* Allergies
Reproductive
* Infertility
* Menstrual pain
* PMS
* Mastitis
* Fibroids, breast and uterine
* Prostate problems
Also
* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
* Balance problems
* Tinnitus
* PTSD
* Ear ache & ear infections
Bowen therapy is an ideal treatment for a wide range of conditions
While Bowenwork cannot be said to cure any condition, many therapists have been successful in addressing problems relating to these and other conditions:
Abdominal pain Angina Ankle pain Back pain Bed wetting Bell’s Palsy Breast Lumps Ileo-Cecal Issues Incontinence Infertility (M&F) Influenza Jaw & TMJ Kidney issues Knee problems Bunions Bursitis Calf Pain Carpal Tunnel Cellulitis Chest Pains Cluster Headaches Coccyx Pain Colic |
Constipation Diaphragm pain Digestive Issues Deafness Dyslexia Ear problems Elbow Pain Emphysema Frozen Shoulder Gall Bladder Pain Golfer’s Elbow Groin Pain Hammer Toes Hay fever Headaches Heel Pain Hernia Hiatal Hernia High Shoulder Leg cramps Liver issues Lymph edema Meniere’s disease |
Migraines Neuromas Pelvic Tilt Planter fascitis Pre-surgical recovery Post-surgical recovery Pregnancy issues Prostate Sacral pain Sciatica Scoliosis Shin pain Sciatica Scoliosis Shin splints Sinus pain Rib/sternal pain Tendonitis Tennis elbow Thoracic outlet Tinnitus Trigeminal Neuralgia Vomiting |
Bowenwork can be effective with any modality; however, if the treatment is applied too soon before or after a Bowenwork session, it can counteract or reduce the effects of either type of therapy. There simply needs to be a careful scheduling of the modalities; generally speaking they should be about a week apart.
Bowenwork has no negative interactions with medications. However, there may be a long-term benefit of reduced need for medication as a result of Bowenwork. (Always consult the health care professional who prescribed it to you before reducing or discontinuing any medication!)
Bowenwork and homeopathy are very similar in principle and work very well together. Bowen has been called the homeopathy of body therapy with its especially gentle application and dramatic results.
Thousands have tried Bowenwork as a last resort after having been told "you must live with your pain." Bowenwork practitioners regularly see significant change if not complete recovery in many, many our clients. Chronic problems may respond more slowly as the Body works to change a, ingrained, unhealthy pattern to a new healthy one.
The sooner Bowenwork is applied to an injury, the faster and more powerful the recovery can be. Bowenwork helps the Body bypass the unnecessary pain and inflammation reactions and get right to healing.
Using Bowenwork prior to, and/or after surgery has been amply noted to reduce complications and speed recovery. Bowenwork helps balance communication between the body’s various systems. Better communication means less static for the body to sort out, allowing better, faster, more complete healing. In addition, Bowenwork can reduce anxiety and relax the body so more of its energy is going towards healing.
Bowenwork reduces the effects of stress immediately. During sessions clients reportsensations of calmness. The pattern of shallow breathing, rapid heart rate, andhypersensitivity, so common to highly-stressed individuals, often changes dramatically.Breathing deepens, heart rate slows, jumpiness decreases. Using Bowenwork regularly lays the groundwork for a healthy anti-stress regimen.
What to expect at a Bowenwork session
Sessions can be received in loose, comfortable clothing. During a typical Bowenwork session the practitioner performs specific, gentle sequences of Bowenwork moves on the body, and then leaves the room for a couple of minutes, giving the body’s nervous system time to assimilate the instructions it has received. The recipient gradually gets more and more relaxed, often falling into a deep sleep. Many people awaken astonished at the effects, and often are astounded by the changes they feel happening in their body.
Case histories collated from practitioners around the world using Bowenwork show that most people respond within 2 weeks of the initial session. A second session is required to “set” the work. Compared with most other therapies, this is admirable. Clients who do not have such rapid responses usually have a complexity of problems that improve with continuing sessions.
Depending on the condition, Bowenwork is typically received in 2 -10 sessions, ideally one week apart. Many conditions respond completely in that time. Complex or chronic conditions may require more involved care, and/or may require occasional “tune-ups”.
After a Bowenwork session you'll feel a deep sense of relaxation, a greater sense of well-being, and reduced pain.
Bowenwork Methodology
Also known as Bowen Therapy, or “Bowen” after Thomas Bowen, the developer of this prfound form of body work, consisting of gentle rolling maneuvers at specific points over muscle, nerves, and connective tissue. Bones do what muscles tell them to do. Muscles do what nerves tell them to do. Bowenwork communicates with the central nervous system, telling all the body’s systems what to do, in order to come into balance.
The Bowenwork technique is a completely unique, gentle, and non-invasive system of single, multiple, or opposing subtle, and precisely located movements. These ‘moves’ stimulate or sedate body systems and organs depending on the direction the move is done.
Bowenwork is not a form of massage, though it does release areas of built-up stress in the muscles. Clients describe experiences of profound relaxation after a session, often falling asleep after the first few moves.
Bowenwork is a remedial therapy; a therapy used for corrective treatment to directly influence, effect, and restore a specific condition or disorder within the body.
It has been the experience of many thousands of health care professionals around the world that Bowenwork is effective in addressing root causes, and not just the symptoms.
Rather than addressing one particular system, such as the muscular system, or the skeletal system, Bowenwork serves to reconnect the communication pathways between each, and all of the body’s systems, thereby creating the environment wherein complete healing can take place.
Since 1998 the technique has become increasingly used in primary care settings in the UK, with many chartered physical therapists using the technique in hospitals, hospices and other funded health settings.
Common questions about Bowenwork
Bowenwork is a non-invasive, hands-on healthcare system that stimulates the body’s innate healing processes.
The practitioner applies sequences of light moves over very specific locations that interact with the central nervous system. This stimulation of special receptors in the tendons, muscles and ligaments of the body serve to reconnect communication pathways, reminding the body of its original DNA template. Whole body healing is stimulated, inviting the body to return “home”.
These stimuli typically result in deep relaxation, resetting of muscular tension and range of motion, lymph drainage, inflammation reduction, and pain relief.
Yes. Bowenwork is being used in some American hospitals. In the Swedish Hospital in Seattle, WA, some occupational therapists are now incorporating Bowenwork in their practice, too. There are several medical doctors who have taken the training and incorporate Bowenwork into their practices. Some physical therapists in Kaiser Permanente in CA and in Ann Arbor, MI have learned the work and apply it for their patients.
Bowenwork is appropriate for all ages and stages of health from babies to the most frail and elderly, for the extremely fit and the sedentary or debilitated. Bowenwork is so gentle in application, partnering with the body for healing, that there is no possibility of harm.
There can be residual soreness from the release of fatigue products, from positive shifts inthe structural alignment of the body, or the return of movement to an area previouslyunused. These effects are usually minor and quickly dissipate. Always contact your Bowenwork practitioner with any concerns you have about your condition.
Although there are three circumstances in which a specific series of moves is contraindicated, there are no contraindications for a Bowenwork session, as other parts of the body, and the body as a whole will still benefit. Virtually any condition can be improved because Bowenwork tends to bring about balance between the body’s systems. Bowenwork is completely safe from pre-cradle to grave.
Massage is primarily the manipulation of muscle tissue to product relaxation, and improved muscle function. Bowenwork is distinguished by its effectiveness in very few sessions to address much more than just the issues associated with muscles. The work is performed with the client lying on a table or sitting in a chair, as with massage. However, the client may remain clothed, and no oil or lotion is used.
Quite simply, it has been observed that less pressure brings more results than heavy pressure with this type of work.
That Bowenwork works with such light pressure follows a physiologic law, the Schulze law, which states that the body responds more deeply and positively to low level stimuli than it does to painful strong stimuli. Tom Bowen discovered the principle long before Schulze formulated his law.
You don’t need a sledge hammer to turn on a light, right? Most of our body’s healing processes can be activated without over stimulating the tissues.
Bowenwork uses fewer touches because of the precision used with their application. Like a diamond cutter using one blow to create a gem out of a stone, Bowenwork gets the most out of each touch.
This is one of the more unusual characteristics of Bowenwork. Bearing in mind that anything electrical has a measurable field around it, it is suggested that removing the therapist’s energy field from that of the recipient allows the recipient’s field to process the information without any disturbance or influence from the therapist’s field.
(Note: much to this therapist’s surprise, I find it more relaxing to have the therapist step out of the room during that “cooking” time.)
Although practitioners may vary some in their technique, all accredited Bowenwork practitioners use the same protocols and address problems in the same way.
We have observed that it is easier than one realizes to gradually migrate away from doing the moves correctly and in the correct locations. Being sure your Bowenwork practitioner is current with their certification assures you will receive the best results from the work.