The gentle moves of Bowen Therapy stimulate the body to begin its own healing process and as such you can do a few things beforehand to help make the most of your treatment.

Water

Drink plenty of water in the days before your treatment. As your body responds to the treatment, re-aligning, re-tensioning and releasing toxins, a well-hydrated body will help this process.

How much should you drink per day?

As a rough guide:

• A small person – about 1.5 litres

• A medium-sized person – 1.5 – 2 litres

• A larger person – 2 – 2.5 litres.

Try to drink throughout the day.

Other drinks like tea, coffee, soft drinks, fruit juices react differently in the body and don’t count as part of your water intake.

Avoid other bodywork

Your Bowen Therapy session will be more effective if you avoid having a massage, chiropractic, physiotherapy or other body work in the days before your session.

Consider what you want

What are your goals for the series of treatments? What are you hoping to gain from the treatment – pain reduction, greater range and freedom of movement? Consider how your pain and restriction are affecting you and rate it on a scale of 0 (no pain) – 10 (extreme pain) so you can compare before and after.  Think about these ready to discuss with your Bowen Therapist.

Client Information Form

Complete the Client Information Form and either bring it to your appointment or submit the form online.

By completing the form before the treatment, you will have more time during the initial treatment for discussing your condition, creating a plan and working with the Bowen moves.

Clothing

The gentle Bowen moves can be done either on skin or through lightweight and loose clothing. Please consider what you wear to your treatment so that you can be comfortable, and the moves can be effective.

You will be covered with soft blankets or cotton coverings for your warmth, privacy and comfort during the treatmet.

At your first treatment we will discuss how you are feeling, what conditions you have and your goals, what are you expecting to gain and how we can work together to help you achieve your goals. Remember you are directly involved in your outcome.

Your first treatment may take 1 – 1.5 hours.

Each treatment we will discuss how you are feeling and what has happened since your last treatment.

I will look at your posture and how you are moving.

Bowen Therapy can be done through light clothing or on your skin. Normally you will lie on a massage table, however if needed we can work with you sitting on a chair. Pregnant women may be unable to lie on their tummy and so for that part of the treatment sitting in a chair or side-lying supported with many pillows are more suitable.

You will be covered with blankets or drapes for your comfort and privacy. Please consider what you wear to your treatment, so that you can receive an effective treatment.

During a treatment gentle moves are made at specific locations on your body. After some moves there will be pauses lasting approximately 2 minutes. The pauses allow your body space and time to integrate and respond to the moves. You may feel sensations such as heat, tingling, pressure or you may not feel any sensations, but your body will be responding. During the pauses I may leave the room and then return to do the next series of moves.

Please tell me if you are uncomfortable or want something. I don’t chat during this part of the treatment, in order to allow you to feel your body responding.

Your body will continue to respond to the treatment for the next 5 – 10 days. Please note what happens and how you feel, so you can tell me at the next treatment.

If you find your question hasn’t been answered here, please contact me either through email atbowentherapy@gmail.com or by phone 0447497218 to discuss your concerns.

 Some people experience sensations such as heat/cold, tingling, pressure, aches or pains during the treatment and so know that there have been changes during the treatment.

Bowen Therapy is often gentle, and the effects can be subtle. Sometimes you may walk out of a treatment feeling little change, but the treatment is just the beginning.

Your body will continue to respond for the next few days, sometimes even a week and perhaps longer.

For some they may feel tired later in the day and sleep well the night of the treatment and then wake the next day feel refreshed and well.

Others may feel a little achey and flu-ey for a couple of days after the treatment. Your body is re-tensioning, re-aligning and ridding itself of toxins, congratulate yourself on this and accept the brief discomfort of change.

Because the effects can be subtle, others may feel or notice little until one day they realise that the pain, restriction or sense of being unwell has gone and they hadn’t noticed until then.

Bowen Therapy doesn’t impose changes on the body, it stimulates and ‘asks’ the body to make changes, it initiates the innate self-healing response of the body.

So how can you help to make the most of your treatment?

Water!

Drink plenty of water in the days following your treatment. Your body will be ridding itself of toxins so drinking plenty of water will help flush out these toxins.

Some people may feel thirsty after treatment as their body re-hydrates.

Bowen Therapy affects the fascia within your body. Fascia (basically connective tissue) is found throughout your body, surrounding every muscle, every fibre within your muscle and sometimes occurs as large flat sheets. Layers of well hydrated fascia glide smoothly over one another and stretch, allowing changes to occur.

Gently Active

Staying gently active between treatments supports the body as it re-tensions and re-aligns. Movements also keeps the lymph system flowing, helping to remove toxins. So, what is gently active? It’s different for each person, but it is not boot camp, running a marathon or sitting as a couch potato.

Hold off on the boot camp or marathon for a few days.

Try not to sit or lie for more than 30 minutes, especially on the day of treatment. Get up walk around, even if just for a few seconds.

New Messages

Bowen Therapy stimulates the body to begin its own healing. A few things can alter this response, things such as extreme heat or cold, or indeed massage or other forms of body work.

During the days following a treatment as the body is re-tensioning and re-aligning there may be some aches and pains, they are not permanent. Applying extreme heat or cold or massaging will ask the body to respond to this new input, perhaps altering the healing response. If you need to, take some mild over-the-counter pain relief.