A first time experience with Bowen Therapy

A sore back is somewhat expected after 6 weeks travelling around Europe, maybe it was the long flights and endless hours in a bus, maybe it was the walking around the beautifully uneven cobble stone streets. Whichever it was, it left me hobbling around holding my lower back.
I booked into see Jeannine for my first ever Bowen Therapy treatment 3 days after my return. This is what you should know, I’m not a massage person – I had a massage years ago and vomited because the pain was so much (I did have a very stiff neck) so I was a little nervous about getting this treatment done, as I really didn’t want to be sick. I’ve also been known to cry at the physio, when the pain is a lot.
Read bellow for my positive experience with Bowen Therapy.
During the treatment
Jeannine sat me down and asked where the areas of concern were; my back and calves – blame the walking. I then lay face down on the table, which was covered in a soft blue blanket, and a cushion was placed under my ankles. Jeannine used 10-20 seconds worth of small moves, and then stepped away and to give my body time to respond to these. She explained to me that Bowen Therapy is about waking up the parts of your body to heal itself, it’s not supposed to feel like she is kneading knots out or have the same feeling as a massage. For this I was grateful and began to really relax.
Towards the end of the hour we did some stretching, these where similar stretches I had attempted to do myself (being a sport and exercise science graduate I knew where was hurting and stretches to help) but I couldn’t quite release the tension. Jeannine was able to release tightness and then stretch it out allowing the blood to flow around the area, promoting healing.
I walked out of the room relaxed and in significantly less pain than when I hobbled in an hour earlier.
Aftercare rules
Jeannine gave me some rules to make sure that the treatment had the best changes to heal my body. These were; no extreme temperatures until the next morning (which meant that I needed to have a luke warm shower), as well as to drink plenty of water to keep the body hydrated. Everything works better when its hydrated!  
Night of the treatment
I was hobbling- but in a different pain. It was what I’d describe as a ‘good sore’ my muscles had perhaps been slacking off and had now been woken up and my body was working on healing. The funny thing is the pain wasn’t even a spot Jeannine had touched – she had just woken up the area and the body was doing its own thing. I knew why Jeannine mentioned the rule of no extreme temperatures now – all I wanted to do was snuggle up with a heat pack on my back. I resisted and drank a herbal tea and went to bed.
The next morning
All the niggles seemed to be gone, I had no real pain left – just a small awareness that the area was still tender. I went along my daily activities with a bounce back in my step.
Five days post treatment
My back is feeling amazing! I would defiantly use Bowen Therapy and recommend to anyone and everyone who is after a gentler treatment for pain.