The Bowen Technique
It Works For Me
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Author: Celia Dodd
Published in The Saturday Times , November 22, 2020
Kick the inhaler into touch
A gentle therapy can be a breath of fresh air for asthma sufferers.
Celia Dodd reports
Simon Thomas won’t go anywhere without his inhaler. Simon, 35, an
assistant transport manager, has suffered regular asthma attacks all his
adult life. Winters have always been the worst: last year he suffered a
slight attack nearly every day and, if not nipped in the bud, they
became severe several times a week. “I would have to sit down and try to
catch my breath and use the inhaler to get the attack under control.”
His job means that he can’t avoid two key triggers: cold weather and
diesel fumes. Fur, feathers, hay fever and any kind of exertion could
also set off an attack.
But now, after ten months of Bowen Technique therapy, Simon is thinking
seriously about leaving his inhaler at home for the first time in 20
years. After just four weeks of the therapy – which involves gentle
manipulation of the soft tissue in specific areas of the body – the
attacks decreased dramatically. Last month he used his inhaler just
once, when he visited friends with a pet rabbit.
Simon had never heard of the Bowen Technique until he saw an
advertisement last January for volunteers to take part in a nationwide
study into its effect on asthma. He was pretty sceptical, but he thought
it was worth a try.
Besides asthma, Bowen is used to treat muscular-skeletal problems in the
back, neck and knees, and a widening variety of problems, from migraines
and irritable bowel syndrome to anxiety and even chronic infection.
In Simon’s first hour-long session, Janie Godfrey, the Bowen therapist,
took note of what triggered his asthma, how it behaved at its worst and
how it responded to medication. She then used the standard Bowen
procedure, followed by the treatment specifically for asthma. Both
consist of a series of “moves”, which Godfrey describes as a “tiny,
rolling motion over the muscles”.
Between each set of moves there are breaks during which the therapist
leaves the room for a few minutes while the patient remains relaxing on
the bed. Janie explains this unique feature of the technique: “As we
understand it, the breaks give the body a chance to respond, to take on
board the moves that have been made. It’s as if you get into a dialogue
with the body.”
Simon was impressed: “The treatment was gentle, although some of the
moves felt strange at first. You wear loose clothing and lie on the bed,
covered in blankets, apart from the area of your body that is being
worked on. It’s pleasant, and afterwards you feel relaxed.
“What I found really surprising was that during the first few sessions I
started to have muscular spasms, in the thighs or in my upper body – not
in the area Janie had just worked on. But as the sessions went on the
tremors decreased and then stopped entirely.” The asthma attacks
decreased, too, and his hay fever, which he usually has for two months,
this summer lasted a week. Janie explains: “It seems that Bowen works by
breaking a trigger. The body knows how not to have asthma, so you just
need to find ways to help it not to be triggered to have an asthma
response. If the body is capable of dealing with a condition, Bowen is
usually able to trigger its ability to do so. It has a profound effect
on stimulating the body’s own systems to sort themselves out.”
According to Janie, most Bowen patients experience a significant
improvement, and often total recovery after about four sessions,
although some asthma patients need as many as 12. Most patients come
back for top-up treatments, which serve as a reminder to the body.
All asthma patients are told to come back if they have an attack. They
are also taught an emergency move, which involves pushing your thumb
into the soft stomach area and is illustrated on
www.relieve-childhood-asthma.com . Janie wishes everyone knew how to do
it, because it can break even quite dangerous attacks.
For Simon the acid test will be the next few months of chilly 3am
starts. He says: “If I get through to the new year without an attack I
might leave my inhaler behind. But it will be odd to give it up – it’s a
crutch I had always assumed I would need for the rest of my life.”
What is it?
THE BOWEN TECHNIQUE is a soft tissue manipulation therapy that is
applied to the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the body very gently
and with minimum pressure. No one – perhaps not even Tom Bowen, the
technique's Australian creator – has fully understood how the moves work,
although it is thought that the unaccustomed stimulation they cause,
may lead the brain to investigate the area and release any tension.
SUITABLE FOR children and adults for a whole range of conditions,
inducing asthma, hay fever, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines and
stress, as well as sports injuries, bad backs, stiff necks and frozen
shoulders. The emergency move for an asthma attack is illustrated on
www.relieve-childhood-asthma.com
COST From £20 to £70 a session, depending on where you live.
CONTACT
The European College of Bowen Studies, 38 Portway, FROME, Somerset BA11
1QU Tel/Fax: 01373 461 873 or visit: www.thebowentechnique.com
Bowen Therapists' European Register (07986 998 384 , or visit
www.bter.org)
WHAT’S THE EVIDENCE?
DR TOBY MURCOTT
Can The Bowen Technique Cure Asthma?
Bowen practitioners do not claim to cure asthma, but do say that it can
be very effective in managing the condition. Many patients, particularly
children, report that they found relief with the technique. There are
two studies currently under way in Britain that hope to provide a
clearer picture of whether it works. The Bowen Technique National Asthma
Research Programme is two thirds of the way through its year-long study
of 30 patients and 19 therapists. The other, on childhood asthma, is
being run by the Bowen therapist Alastair Rattray, who is hoping to
recruit 100 children.
What About Other Aliments?
Professor Bernadette Carter, of the University of Central Lancashire,
has published a pilot study on the Bowen Technique and frozen shoulder.
This is a common, painful complaint that is particularly difficult to
treat and can take years to clear up. Professor Carter found that
between three and five Bowen sessions improved the patient’s shoulders
considerably. In fact, she was so surprised by the results that she
repeatedly checked them to make sure she’d got them right. This backs up
another larger but unpublished study by the European College of Bowen
Studies that found it very effective for frozen shoulder.
How is it Accepted?
The National Asthma Campaign (www.asthma.org.uk) recognises that many
asthmatics find complementary therapies useful, but advises patients to
consult their GPs beforehand and always to continue to take their
medication. It is gaining acceptance, not through a scientific
understanding, but because some doctors and physiotherapists find it
helps patients.
Can the Bowen Technique be Explained by
Science?
The basic idea of drawing the brain’s attention to a problem then
allowing the body to heal itself does not fit in with a conventional
view of physiology. It’s likely that working with a kindly, interested
therapist will make anyone feel better, but it’s harder to explain the
reported emergency asthma treatment and frozen shoulder studies in this
way.
Dr Toby Murcott is a former BBC science correspondent
