Bowen Therapy, Bowtech or Bowenwork are all names of a healing technique named for Tom Bowen, who was born and raised in Australia and functioned as an osteopath, even though he had no formal training. Throughout his professional career, people traveled from around the world to be treated by him. Patients of Tom Bowen, some of whom are still alive today, describe his work as miraculous and legendary.

There were six men to whom Bowen personally taught this work. After his death in 1982, these students of Bowen began to teach others. That is how the practice of Bowenwork started and how the lineage grew to the point where it is an effective and growing practice around the world today.

 

The key element that led to Tom Bowen’s skill and success was his ability to see and identify anatomical and muscular-skeletal patterns in the human body.

 

Once patterns in the body were correctly understood and identified, then it was possible to identify when, where and how those patterns get interrupted and stuck.

 

For instance, he saw that a muscular-skeletal issue in the hip can cause shoulder pain, or a tailbone injury can cause migraines, or sacrum dysfunction can cause knee pain. He found that a correction in the sacrum unwound tension throughout the body.

 

Consider the following analogy: imagine a tablecloth spread across a table. If twisted in the middle, wrinkles will appear throughout the tablecloth and the wrinkles will tend to show up in a pattern. Once the patterns are identified and understand throughout the human body, root causes can be identified and corrected.

 

The modality that Tom Bowen developed over his 30- year career was comprised of identifying various patterns throughout the body and then discovering ways to place the client’s body in the best position(s), so the body can utilize its innate ability to unwind the patterns and heal itself.

 

It is literally that simple, and yet that complex. Coaxing the human body to let go of patterns that in some cases have been there for decades can be complicated, but the premise is always simple…unwind the pattern.

This is what Bowen’s mentees are now teaching to practitioners around the world and those practitioners, in turn, are sharing this modality with their clients.

 

There are now Bowen practitioners throughout the United States, with several now at Carlisle Bowen Works in Mechanicsburg.

 

Nancy Bittinger is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Bowenwork Practitioner and the owner of Carlisle Bowenwork, located at 616 W Main St Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information, call 717-386-8279 or visit CarlisleBowenworkPA.com.