You’ve heard of massage therapy and acupuncture before, but have you ever tried Bowen therapy?

How it works– unlike a standard massage that primarily targets muscle tissue, Bowen therapy targets tendons and the nervous system.  In this way it can help to relax the muscle, and over time, prevent the tension from returning.

What happens during a Bowen treatment – the treatment differs from standard massage in 2 ways – one, the massage technique is done over the tendons rather than the muscle, and two, there are deliberate “rest” periods between massage moves to help the nervous system respond to the tendon stretch it just experienced.   Tendons connect to muscle and help to determine how “tight” a muscle is – by targeting them you can effectively target overall muscle tension.

What you might expect to feel – some people can feel muscle twitches or heat in the muscles that were targeted during the previous moves.  Other people may just feel a sense of muscular relaxation.  As this technique activates the parasympathetic nervous system (our rest state), many people also notice a feeling of deep relaxation, better sleep, and decreased anxiety after treatment.