Marin Bowen Therapy
Dr Sheehan offers Bowen therapy in her Marin County office as part of her practice and has studied real Bowen as taught by Kevin Minney who was a certified Bowen instructor in the early 2000’s. Dr. Laura has studied up to Level 6 of Bowen therapy.
Bowen is a Australian Myofascial work developed in the 1980’s by Tom Bowen. He had a gift for seeing energy in the body and could access a release in the musculoskeletal system through a series of cross fiber movements throughout the body.
These precise cross fiber movements are done very gently from the practitioner’s hands to the recipients body while supine and prone but are experienced as relaxing to the nervous system during a session. It may be likened to a massage but it isn’t massage.
These movements by the practitioner should be subtle so as to not activate a fight or flight response in the nervous system, but effective enough to allow a shift in the musculoskeletal system.
The benefits are similar to lymphatic massage where a global change of lymph fluid and muscle fluid activation happens.
There is a metaphor for this shift of fluid as a pebble is plopped into a small body of water, you can see concentric ripples coming out from the middle where the rock hit the surface of the water. It is like that in the body since we are made primarily of water.
After a session the recipient is encouraged to drink more water than usual and to walk every 30 minutes the first day after the treatment; so your energy doesn’t get stagnant.
Putting both feet down on the floor at the same time is also important for equal proprioception to the brain to help with brain body balance.
For several days after receiving Bowen there may arise little sensations anywhere in the body which are short and should not be at all painful.
Other massage work and cold/ice or heat applications are discouraged for 4 days after the session so as to not interfere with the normal cycle of motion in the aforementioned systems.
Many patients report feeling more relaxed in their back and neck muscles and less pain overall.