Bowen Therapy, ParaOlympics & Suspension Bridges

With the Sporting mayhem now over. Britain once again seems to be back on the map as being great. We beat the French at Cycling for the first time ever. We also seemed to have trounced pretty much everyone else at cycling in the velodrome too. Our Golfing Hero's have managed to create history in the Ryder Cup with an astonishing comeback against the Americans.
Add this to possibly the one of the best Olympics I can remember for a whole host of reasons.

This to me is nothing compared to the astounding revelation of just how good our Para-Olympians are.

Why am I so impressed? Well as a Bowen Therapist I am always looking at the 'tensional optimum' of the Human Body. Personally i like to think of the Body as being built like a suspension bridge. In a very real sense the Human Structure does indeed function very like a large roadway (spine / bones) supported by a complex series of wires under tension (muscles).

When this bridge is complete it performs magnificently. If however we remove a section of the bridge, then the 'tensional integrity' of the bridge is affected radically.

In the case of a Para-Olympian, the analogy is the same. One may think that the psychological effect, as well as the obvious physical limitation brought about by the amputation of a limb would be the defining problems to overcome.

However I would say that the 'Tensional Integrity' of the body has been radically affected, which means that for the likes of Richard Whitehead and Oscar Pistorius to compensate for this disparity, (which we mustn't forget affects the whole body, just as a suspension bridge would be affected across its entire structure) they would working at least twice as hard over the same distance as an able bodied athlete.

Whether an area of our body is missing, damaged or simply not functioning at it's optimum, the rest of the body will be compensating in some way. The longer this compensation goes on for, the more problems will occur. Eventually just like our suspension bridge, something will go 'Ping'.

Truly awesome when you think about it.

Perhaps a little bit of Bowen Therapy could help them run even faster......

Bowen Technique Competition in Totnes

I was at the Totnes show yesterday, and thankfully the rain held off for most of it. It was pretty muddy, but a good time was had by all - including myself who perhaps maybe shouldn't have had quite so many fresh and tasty, rather too hot for my mouth Donuts!
However I digress. Over the Tanoy I heard that there was a competition of Bowen Technique taking place in one of the marquee tents - so i suddenly got quite excited, puzzled and at the same time a little miffed that I had somehow missed out on a Bowen Technique 'competition' quite literally in my own back yard (I live next to the show ground).
The competition was thrilling I have to say, with plenty of spectators. 4 competitors in each round. The bell rang and the 'patients' came out of the stalls to be 'treated'.
I was staggered at the skill and speed at which these 'Bowen Technique Practitioners' were working.
There were inspectors at each station making sure all the movements were correct and that nothing was being missed.
The commentator was whipping up the excitement giving a blow by blow account of who was in the lead.
The first to finish got a round of applause, as the others fought for semi finalist positions.
Agog I looked on and realised that no way could i have competed with these muscle bound masters of the Bowen Technique.
However in my clinic I do not at any point use shears, or indeed any sharpened implement when treating my patients.
I also only treat Humans, whereas these chaps worked on Sheep!
It would appear that there is a particular way of removing wool efficiently from sheep known as the 'Bowen Technique' which also came from Australia.
Just remember that when you are in search of Bowen Technique for your Bad Back or Neck Pain, make sure it's the right type of Practitioner - or you might get a nasty surprise!

TTFN

Bowen Therapy and the Million Dollar Question

The question that so many people ask is "How does Bowen Therapy work?"

In order to help us answer this question, and to help clients (as well as Therapists) get a better idea of what is happening to the body during a treatment of Bowen Technique; I have attached a short video of the Principal of the European College of Bowen Studies, Julian Baker describing in straightforward terms what goes on following a 'Bowen Move' and why such a gentle rolling type move can have such profound effects on the body's ability to heal.

Watch and Enjoy.

It's Official! Bowen Therapy & Hamstrings

R E S E A R C H    A B S T R A C T

Effects of The Bowen Technique on Flexibility Levels:
Implications for Fascial Plasticity

Michelle Marr, MSc BSc (Hons) PgCertEd MCSP
Chartered Physiotherapist and External Lecturer for Coventry University

Nicky Lambon, MA MCSP SRP DipTP
Principal Lecturer and Programme Manager at Coventry University, UK

Julian Baker, Director of The European College of Bowen Studies
Corsley Centre, Wiltshire BA12 7QF 
Phone: 01373 832340
email: info@thebowentechnique.com

BACKGROUND:   Hamstring strains are the most common sport-related injury in the lower limb, with high recurrence rates and lengthy recovery periods. Causal links between lack of flexibility and development of muscle strain injury are frequently reported. The financial implication of treating such injuries provides a continual drive to deliver more effective, evidence-based treatment.  Since 1994, a complementary therapy called ‘The Bowen Technique’ has been used to treat inflexibility and many other conditions. The technique provides gentle rolling moves over fascial interfaces without heating, stretching or specific joint mobilisation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Bowen technique, on the hamstring flexibility of healthy subjects, over time.

METHOD: A single-blinded, longitudinal, RCT was performed on 116 male and female volunteers. Participants were randomly allocated into a control group or Bowen intervention group. Three hamstring flexibility measurements were taken from each subject over one week, using an active knee extension test and an electrogoniometer. An independent assessor verified the


RESULTS: Data were analysed using independent t-tests. Significant increases in hamstring flexibility were demonstrated in the Bowen group immediately post-test (p<0.0005). These increases maintained for one week (p<0.0005) without further treatment.


CONCLUSION: A single treatment of the Bowen technique significantly increases the flexibility of the hamstring muscles in healthy subjects and maintains this increase for a period of one week in the absence of tissue heating, stretching, or specific joint mobilisation. Previous quantitative research has reported sustained flexibility increases for a maximum of twenty-four hours. This study has provided new information relating to the subject of flexibility. The superficial and gentle nature of the Bowen Technique invalidates explanations of tissue creep yet provides implications for plasticity following proprioceptive stimulation along the thoracolumbar and lumboeplvic myofascial slings. Further research is required into such proprioceptive mechanisms in relation to manual therapy techniques.
January 2008

This research was published in the Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies in July 2011.

What Grandma Used To Say

Granny used to say that a bath in Epsom Salts at the end of a hard day worked wonders! Was this just a quaint folk remedy or was there truth behind this rather effective approach, that many a welsh miner swore by?

When we exercise or do hard physical labour Calcium builds up in our system, as Calcium is used to tight our muscles. Magnesium is in essence it's opposite, as Magnesium relaxes muscle tissue.

Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulphate) Soaks can be extremely
helpful for many muscular conditions and are often recommended.
Amongst many other functions Magnesium helps

nerve and muscle function
joint health
digestive processes
helps to reduce swelling / pain of muscle strain
relaxes
can be mood-elevating

Soaking in a nice warm (not hot) bath containing about 250g of Epsom Salts
once or twice a week can be an excellent aid to easing aches and
pains.   If you do this last thing before going to bed you may have a
better night’s sleep.

Feet can also be soaked in a wash-up bowl of warm water
containing a few tablespoons of Epsom Salts if bathing is a problem.

N.B.  contra-indication of using Epsom Salts is if you have High Blood Pressure, if in doubt consult your Doctor.

Epsom Salts can be found in most good pharmacies and health shops.
If you have difficulty locating them, please contact me.

Granny was right then, although I would say that Epsom Salt should really only be used externally.

TTFN

Cut Down on Fruit and Eat more Lard!

Perhaps you may think that by creating the above title that I may have finally lost the plot.
well as bonkers as this statement may sound, there is in fact a certain method to what appears on the surface to be Madness.

Lard is a Saturated Fat, which for nearly 50 years has been labelled as being bad for us. However given that our brain is made of just Saturated Fat and Cholesterol it seems somewhat odd that it should be labelled as such. Coupled with the fact that so many other aspects of our system rely on Saturated Fat rather than unsaturated is again a puzzle. Every time we breathe, the lubricant that allows us to do that is ....saturated fat.
Mothers milk is 54% Saturated 46% Unsaturated. This is not a mistake. Our bodies need roughly a 50/50 split of Saturated and unsaturated fats. There is growing evidence that out very obsession with unsaturated and trans fats is possibly a major contributing factor to alzheimers, dementia and parkinsons, as well as many others.

Fruit Sugars (Fructose) quite literally make us fat.
if you were to consume 100g of glucose, your liver doesn't have to work very hard to process it, as glucose happily potters about in our blood stream. Of that 100g, about 4g-6g of that is 'held back' as Fat.
If however you were to consume 100g of Fructose, you liver have to run practically at full tilt to process it, and of that 100g, about 40g of it will become Fat.

Most fruit tend to be a combination of Fructose, Sucrose and Glucose.
A good portion of them tend to be mostly Fructose - hence 'Fruit Sugar'.

The new line of thinking is that Unsaturated and Saturated fats are good for you, as are vegetables - particular cruciferous one (broccolli, cabbage, then green ones etc). However Trans fats (fats that have been messed with) and High Fructose Fruits are a no no.

Hence my original title: 'Cut down on Fruit and Eat more Lard'


This leads me on nicely to my next seminars in Exeter and Bath on this very subject, and entitled appropriately enough: 'A New Look at Fat: The Good, The Bad, and the Zebra'


watch the Video, then book a place.

For details about the Exeter Seminar please contact me on 07811 518351


For the Seminar in Bath please contact philly@metabolics.co.uk


TTFN

Bowen Therapy Totnes

Bowen Therapy, Radio 2 and Whiplash

Given that Bowen Therapy has a great reputation for sorting out Whiplash injuries, even the long standing ones, I couldn't help but comment on the latest media onslaught regarding Whiplash injuries and treatment.


This morning on Radio 2 the news announced that too many folk were claiming for whiplash injuries, and that the government should step in.
This I am afraid just goes to show how little insurance companies and the transport quango understand about whiplash in the first place.
I am sure they are right when they say that there are false claims, but at the same time the vast majority of whiplash injuries I treat don't manifest themselves until 6-9 months following an accident. It has been left untreated as the accidents were considered too minor. In other cases where the accident was severe enough to cause instant problem, it has been quite of a month or so before the patient actually receives any treatment - no wonder the claims run into thousands of pounds!
It is my opinion that any car incident regardless of how small - everyone should get some kind of therapy straight away ( I am talking within hours here, or as soon as is practical) whether or not they feel fine. As a preventative measure this could save insurance companies and the people involved an absolute fortune.
Just think about it - half a ton of metal hitting you at even 10 mph is going to give you a shock; physically, emotionally and psychologically.
It doesn't matter whether the car is damaged or not.
If there are family members in the car, particularly young children, just think of the instant emotional trauma that would go through your head, and I have also seen this happen to the driver of a car who struck a car containing children. The damage was minimal, but the driver was besides themselves with worry.
Payouts of thousands of pounds is unnecessary if you get treated asap. The longer you leave it, the layer of problems and compensation that the body has to deal with will increase.
Whiplash is not simply a neck problem, although many treat it as such. The movement of the head send a 'whiplash' type wave that runs down the spine - think of the head being the handle of the whip, ask yourself where does the 'crack' actually occur.... you got it down the other end. Hence for those folk who I'm sure we all know who have had long standing 'whiplash' for years, remaining unresolved, is in my opinion due to the fact that everyone is looking in the wrong place.
This is not some kind of radical new medical theory, it's just plain common sense - which I am afraid seems to be in short supply in certain quarters.


TTFN

Bowen Therapy Basics

It is one of the best pieces of advice a fellow Bowen Therapist gave to me many years ago - get back to basics every so often and attend a 'Part 5 final level' in Bowen Therapy.

It has been a while since I last took part in one of these Practitioner final level courses. It can also be quite unnerving for the other attendees as they will almost all be new, and taking this exam for the first time.

I have to say it is unnerving for me too, as expectations are high, and I have been doing this for a good number of years now, so the pressure to not look bad or make mistakes is also high.

The idea of course is to learn. It always amazes me, that even though I perform Bowen Technique on patients nearly every day, that my 'position' and 'movement' needs polish. Each time I attend one of these courses, there is sure to be a move or two where I have drifted a bit, although this year I managed to be out of line by about an inch, which fortunately wasn't critical in this particular case, but could have reduced the effectiveness of the therapy in certain cases.

Hence why it is so important for me to get back to basics, regularly.

I never stop learning.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and I pray that the New year brings Prosperity and Peace to you and your families.

TTFN

More Anatomical Discoveries

Greetings All.
It has been a pretty hectic week - dissecting bodies at Imperial College London and then holding the CPD course on the latest findings a day later at the Holmedale Health Centre in Exeter for a range of therapists.
Once again the dissection was overseen by Professor Kerry Davis, and held by Julian Baker who is the Principal at the European College of Bowen Studies. We were concentrating on the lower body this time, and looking at the fascial connections from the pelvis down the leg and the multiple links all the muscle have at the Sacrum - which seems to be more like a giant junction box for a surprising number of muscles.
One of the key discoveries we made was how the hamstring muscles are not quite built as they appear in the diagrams (surprise surprise). Particularly the Biceps Femoris muscle. We have tended to view this muscle as starting at the base of the pelvis and finishing at the head of the tibia rapping around the knee.
What we discovered was that the the Hamstring fascia actually starts at the sacrum and ends around the ankle at lateral maleolis - this has significant impact on how we view what hamstring does and the various whys and wherefore when someone gets a Hamstring strain for example.
All exciting stuff, and once again this new found knowledge will be put into practice at clinic.

TTFN

SHIPS Physio Testimonial

A few weeks ago I delivered a relatively short lecture on some of the aspects I will be covering in the upcoming 'New Look at Anatomy' CPD course in Exeter on the 22nd June.
Within a few days I met the organiser of the event - Andy McKellar who is the principal at SHIPS Physio in Totnes, who specialises in Strokes, Head Injuries and Parkinsons. He was somewhat excited as he had experimented with some of the concepts within the lecture and applied them using his own physio skill set when treating patients. Below is the resulting written testimonial:

Bowen Therapy in Devon animation - just a bit of sillyness

Pennies & Pounds

After a relatively minor car crash a year ago, I am even more keen to get across the importance of getting yourself treated following even slight incidents that may or may not result in any obvious injury.

This may seem like scaremongering, or even a way to generate more income for therapists. However this is not the case at all. In my case I was in a rear end collision where the back of my car was dented significantly, the resultant impact meant I also used my brakes to stop myself hitting the car in front, and my head was thrown backwards, then forwards at point of impact.

This is a common state of affairs - within a few minutes I had neck and left shoulder pain. We call this whiplash. Being a therapist, I booked the closest appointment I could find, which ended up being a back and neck massage. I would have had Bowen Therapy if I could have found someone quick enough. So within an hour of the impact my body was being treated.

As it happens, I ended up with about 5 or 6 treatments over a 6 month period of Bowen Therapy which went through the insurance company - and I can assure you my body needed it.

So what is my point?

In my experience the majority of whiplash type problems occur 6-9 months following a minor car incident. The reason for this tends to be due to the fact that at the moment of impact, the shockwave will travel down the spine, and if there is braking involved, down the right leg.

Initially the recipient may have a bit of neck ache or maybe not for a day, but then they think nothing of it as it goes away, and in many cases, the vehicle itself may only have a minor dent in the bumper.

However the shock that has struck the body both physically, and we mustn't underestimate this, emotionally and psychologically. The shockwave, as I have already mentioned, ends up usually around the base of the spine, and also the tensional shock of applying the brakes on the right leg.

This will work it's way up the body over a period of months. Sometimes this will manifest itself as a bit of backache, but because it is so long since the accident no-one puts two and two together. 6 to 9 months down the line, the patient starts to experience neck pain, headaches and all the whiplash type symptoms. By then of course everyone has forgotten about the car crash.

My advice, is regardless of whether or not you feel hurt following a car accident, get some treatment of some kind ASAP. Err on the side of caution - even if there is no physical damage, how many of us can truly say that we aren't going to be affected in any way by being struck by a piece of metal weighing more than half a Ton travelling at 20/30 mph or more?

It can be a shocking experience in many ways; physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Why only get treatment when something is visibly serious? Small things given time can add up to big things - As granny always used to say: Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.

TTFN

The Achilles Effect

I had a conversation recently with someone who I hadn't seen for quite a while. He mentioned he had been off for some months as he had broken his Achilles Tendon - Ouch!

He had of course been going through the usual physio process which is great.

However I then asked him how his breathing had been, and of course he looked at me aghast and asked how I knew, as it has been troubling him for a while, and doctors have come up with nothing, he was starting to think it was something more serious.

The reason I asked the question of course was that the Achilles is not just a thing on it's own, it is part of a continuity of fascia and muscles known as the superficial back line. This in essence runs from the big toe all the way up to the back of our head. As an analogy imagine a giant elastic band stretched from your foot to the top of your neck. Now imagine what would happen if you cut that elastic band at the foot - thwack!

In real terms, your body is not built quite like that, but the effect of an Achilles breaking is not far off. The shock wave created will run right up the body, and in my experience the most common problem following such an injury is the patients breathing, quite literally the shock wave has taken their breath away.

If you apply this way of thinking with any Sports type injury, you may find a series of other little (or maybe not so little) problems, aches and pains you have been experiencing since the injury, you may find they are all connected.

TTFN

Dissection at Imperial College

Greetings all and welcome to my first post of the year.

It has been 3 years since the first ground breaking layered dissection at St.Georges Hospital Medical School (see post Jan 2008).

This year, another first, once again held by Julian baker - Director of the European College of Bowen Studies, under the watchful eye of Professor Kerry Davis - Head of Human Anatomy Imperial College London.

Our purpose this time was extending the discovery of the upper body by doing another layered dissection, but this time including the head, neck and jaw.

Once again I found the traditional anatomical illustrative references somewhat misleading, as they discount so much of what is intrinsically connected i.e. fascial tissue. The shear diversity of fascial tissues and layers is a study in itself, particularly around the head,cheek and jaw areas.

Ultimately we could have spent days if not weeks on this one area of the body as it is so complex.

What I took away from this dissection was how important the Facial and Neck muscles are for our ability to breathe. How even something like jaw ache or an ear infection could quite easily interfere with our breathing pattern and posture at quite a significant level, and if left unchecked could create a vicious circle of problems.

I must point out as before that it is only due to the incredible generosity of the individuals, and their families, who have given their consent for their forms to be used in the furthering of medical science that such educative dissections are possible. It has been once again an honour to have taken part, at what I have learned will be applied over the coming months in my Bowen Therapy Practice.

Finally a big thank you to Amanda Hermitage who organised this event, and also to Julian Baker whose never ending commitment to the furthering of our understanding of just how and why Bowen Technique works on the Human Body.

TTFN

Austin

Sports Injuries

Another great weekend of learning with the rather marvelous Paula Esson - famous in the Bowen world for her work with the Leeds Rhinos Rugby team, who then went on to win the world championship. A professional sportswoman herself from the age of 15, Paula brings immense practical experience as well as her Sports injury rehabilitation expertise.

One of the key inroads that she seems to be making in recent years is with a successful multi-disciplinary approach to therapy and recovery, as well as structured preventative methods moving forward. The example of many professional sports stars who's injury rates plummet once under the watchful eye of Paula and her team of highly skilled therapists - preventing injuries happening in the first place being a preferred way, as opposed to a damage control approach.

Needless to say I learnt lots, and will be introducing some of these new skill sets into clinic practice.

TTFN

Outside the Comfort Zone

Greeting All. Have just come back from two days of mind blowing training by the ever astounding Chris Astill-Smith of 'Metabollics'. What this guy doesn't know about Human Biochemistry probably isn't worth knowing. His approach is to apply this incredible knowledge into useful and practical application within the medical world. He classifies himself as a 'Functional Biochemist' and uses his expertise in Applied Kineisiology and structural manipulation to further to add to his amazing ability to track down the sources of the various ailments the body suffers from - sometimes this may be biochemical or nutritional, other times it may be neurological or mechanical. Needless to say he gets results. The teaching courses he delivers are still in my opinion some of the best delivered in our industry. It is never the same old stuff, and each time I am well outside my comfort zone, which pushes my learning ability.

You may ask what a Bowen Therapist is doing learning about Biochemistry. Personally I think the better educated and the more I can learn about how the body heals, or indeed what makes it go wrong, the better I become as a practitioner.

TTFN

Bowen Conference 2010

Greetings all.
Hot on the heels of the seminar last month, (which was a great success and has led to being asked to deliver another up in Bristol) This years 2 day Bowen Conference featuring some excellent speakers - among others Robert Schliep (Professor Fascial Research at Ulm University), Tom Myers (Anatomy Trains), and the 'new kid on the block' and for my money the show stealer of the whole conference Dr Lorimer Moseley (Fellow at Oxford - Pain Research). My hat goes off to the main organiser of the conference ( although it involved so many others) our very own Jihan Adem of Totnes, Devon. It must have been a logistical nightmare getting speakers in from all over the world, coupled with the flight ban the week beforehand - well done Jihan!
It is interesting to note that Fascial research which officially only began life in 2007 (although Robert Schliep wrote his first papers on the subject in the late 80's) and at that time was on the cutting edge of medical discovery, has made significant headway in such a short time - to the extent that mainstream health magazines are starting to publish articles on the subject. This coming months Men's Health magazine for example is dedicating a double page spread to fascia, and Robert Shliep's work. Which for all those body builders and fitness folk out there will really put a cat among the pigeons.
Lorimer Moseley's talk on pain and how the human body percieves it was a real eye opener, and his delivery was erudite and detailed yet extremely interesting and enjoyable. One of the key things he put forward was that Pain is entirely subjective, this is not new in itself, as there have been various experiments using hypnosis and suggestion to indicate that the level of pain inflicted can be the same but the persons perception of how much pain is felt can vary significantly. However Dr Moseley's studies indicate something far more exciting. He has found that the brain decides how much pain is felt not simply based on priority or how bad/dangerous to survival the injury may be, but also based on the body's previous experience too. Although like many things this sort of thing seems obvious, but it has far reaching consequences. This is yet another piece of research that bolster the Placebo arguement. The word placebo is often used as a negative, as in its 'just in the mind' and yet as the ancient Greeks believed millenia ago the perception of all things is the mind! Hence this Pain research proves that indeed it really is all in the mind. This is backed up of course by harvard Medical School's recent discovery that every cell in our body has receptors for hormones, this means that in theory you really can have a 'happy cell' or a 'sad cell' depending on how you think or feel. Interesting times indeed!

TTFN

Water of Life!

A belated happy new year to you all for 2009.
Bowen Technique has gained considerable ground since I began almost 5 years ago. When I started most people on hearing of the therapy would say 'Bowen What?'. Now mainly due to Julian Baker's hard work at the European College, coupled with significant research projects both in the UK and USA, Tom Bowen's legacy is making its mark with the medical community and getting considerable press coverage.
With all this, I am continually reminded that a good percentage of patients I see would probably not have the problems they are presenting if they simply drank water 'little & often' every day.
In fact part of the process of the Bowen Technique treatment is that the patient need keep themselves correctly hydrated between sessions.
Somehow we seem to forget than we are, as humans, reckoned to be around 75% water, but we refrain from supplying it with a good source of the stuff - and NO, regardless of what anyone says, coffee does not count.
Get the basics right first, it then makes the chances of the rest getting better much quicker.

TTFN

Austin

Disection at St.George's

This week I had the honour of taking part in a two day dissection of the upper body organised by Julian Baker (Head of European College Bowen Studies) at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London, under the watchful eye of Professor Ceri Davies and his highly skilled assistants.

What set this dissection apart compared to the norm, was that it was working on the physical form layer by layer. There are few people in the world that have had the privilege to witness such a dissection let alone take part.

I was one of a handful of Bowen Therapists attending this event. The purpose from my point of view was to understand more fully what it is that I am affecting when I make a Bowen move on the body. Many body workers believe that we work on muscles, to alleviate tension and bring about change. After this dissection I can say with certainty that I have spent the last 3 years working on 'Fat & Fascia', and will continue to do so for the rest of my Bowen career or until humans are built differently.

What I have learnt more than anything is that :

A) Fat (adipose tissue) & Fascia (thin tough layer surrounding practically everything) has a significant role to play in the health and general well-being of the individual. And that our attitude towards Fat as being 'BAD' is quite evidently wrong and probably dangerously stupid.

B)That anatomy books although useful to a certain point can not only be unhelpful at times, but down-right misleading at others when one begins to look at the body as a whole and the interaction supposedly separate muscles have on another area of the anatomy, only to find that there is no division of muscle at all, except the one a surgeon decided to make 500 years ago.

C)The effect immobility in a given area of the body can have on the make-up of layers on the body, which in turn can affect other aspects of the anatomy.

Understanding what I have learnt and applying in clinic will be an ongoing process. But what I can say is that the last few days have been a real eye opener on many levels, and an invaluable experience which will hopefully help me to help others more effectively.

My special thanks go to the two donors who bequeathed there physical forms for the study of medical science. This work is only possible due to their incredible generosity, together with their families who have acquiesced to these donations. I feel enormously privileged to have been granted such an opportunity to learn so much.

My thanks also go to Julian Baker whose tireless commitment to Tom Bowen's work and the Bowen Technique has enabled us to push forward the boundaries of our understanding of how the body heals, and how we can as practitioners help it along the way.

Cheers

Austin Burn-Jones ECBS MBTER

Bowen Technique Practitioner