What is Bowen Therapy?
Bowen Therapy is a holistic and multidimensional approach to pain relief and healing that has achieved remarkable results over the past 50 years. It is based on the recognition by Tom Bowen, its originator, who lived and practiced in Australia, that the underlying cause or source of many musculoskeletal, neurological, neuromuscular and other health or pain problems could be found in the soft tissue or fascia. Fascia is a specific type of connective tissue that forms a three dimensional web surrounding every tissue in the body. Fascia is the body organizer embracing all nerves, bones, arteries, veins and muscles. Therefore fascial dysfunction can affect every structure, muscle, nerve and organ in the body. Fascia has become the subject of increasing research and recent studies have shown it to be the largest sensory organ in the body. It is rich in a range of receptors that powerfully influence the body's neuro-muscular physiology in many complex ways.
Bowen Therapy, through specific soft tissue or fascial release and integration techniques, stimulate specific receptors that enable the body itself to correct dysfunctions and restore homeostasis (balance) on a holistic level. Through treating the cause rather than the symptoms Bowen Therapy has consistently shown it can have profound and permanent healing and pain relief outcomes. This relief is experienced by many people who present with a wide range of painful conditions, even where other modalities or treatments have resulted in transient or little improvement. Importantly, Bowen Therapy, being holistic, does not rely on a detailed diagnosis of the problem and its origins, which is often costly and indeterminate. Bowen Therapy treats the whole body, and its holistic effects are apparent in patients who find resolution to problems above and beyond those for which they have sought treatment, for example lack of energy, stress or emotional issues.
Bowen Therapy and Fertility
Fertility issues tend to be focused on the connection between the brain and reproductive organs. Stress, negative emotions, and unbalanced FSH disrupt communication between the brain, pituitary, and ovaries. Sympathetic overdrive decreases ovarian blood flow and egg production as well. Improving your chances of natural conception with Bowen really starts with resetting your nervous system and the messages it’s sending to your reproductive organs. If your goal is to nurture a new life, then it must begin with the nurturing and cultivation of the long-term environment in which that life will spend its first 9 months.
Bowen balances the emotions while resetting stress management capabilities, and reestablishing equilibrium in reproductive, hormonal, nervous, lymphatic, circulatory and structural integrity. The precise protocol for fertility is the coccyx procedure and treatments are performed once weekly – first to establish regular menstruation and ovulation, and then once every 8 weeks to achieve conception. It is encouraged that both partners get treatment in order to balance the body and increase chances of conception. Once pregnancy is achieved, the coccyx protocol is contraindicated until labour where it may be used again to accelerate labour and eliminate the need for an epidural. Other Bowen protocols may be used in pregnancy and post-partum to help decrease pain, headaches, swelling, breast pain, and even colic in newborn infants.
What to expect:
Bowen Therapy is extremely gentle and relaxing. It is very much a “less is more” approach that allows the body the space and opportunity to correct it's own imbalances – something the body is innately programmed to do. Therefore, your first Bowen treatment will feel similar to a very light massage at specific points on the body. There are also short pauses throughout the treatment to allow the body to process each sequence of moves. Treatments are silent to avoid distracting from the healing process, and to get the greatest benefit, it's important to have 3-5 consecutive weekly treatments as most of the healing and improvements will be seen in the beginning. It is also recommended to pause all other treatments in these first 3-5 weeks as Bowen Therapy is very gentle and can be thrown off by other treatments.
To book a Bowen Therapy session with Dr. Nora Shilo at Yinstill, call 604-873-9355 or email office@yinstill.com. As a naturopathic treatment, Bowen Therapy is covered by extended health plans.
In health,
Dr. Shilo
References:
1. https://www.bowen.asn.au/bowen-therapy/what-is-bowen-therapy/
2. https://bowenwellness.com/subpage26.html
3. https://www .bowen4life.com/infertility .html
