What Does Bowen Therapy and Cornflour Have in Common?
Answer: Gently moves but profound results - Go too hard or fast and you meet resistance - Go lightly and gently and you are allowed in Stay with me for a minute and let me explain further.
No doubt most of you have at some time used cornflour to thicken a casserole or desert or at the very least know of cornflour, but I am sure none of you have made a mix of cornflour and water and stuck your fingers in it and played with it.
I was introduced to this idea by John Wilks at a conference.
He had a bowl of cornflour and water and sure enough we all had a play in it.
If you stick your fingers in the mix too fast you meet with resistance.
Yes that soft bowl of liquid puts up resistance nearly as if it has suction caps that grab your fingers when you try to push your way in or take it out too fast.
So too can a clients body if you stick your fingers or thumbs in too deep or too quickly your fingers will be met with the bodies resistance.
The moves can be done but far less effectively.
Back to the cornflour mix, drag you fingers through the mix too quickly and again you will get resistance.
Compare this to a slow gently move through the mix and your fingers are allowed to move effortlessly through the mix.
Parallel that to making a Bowen move on a client, make the move too fast and you meet resistance again from the body.
Make the move slowly and respectfully and you are allowed in and the move is made gently and effectively.
What a great teaching aid this bowl of cornflour and water turned out to be.
I really didn't get it until I had a play.
Please go and make yourself up a mix (I replicated the mix with 4 - 5 heaped tablespoons of cornflour to ½ cup water in a cereal bowl and allowed it to stand for 10 minutes or so allowing the cornflour to settle on the bottom) and see for yourself.
Test it out.
Dip your fingers in fast and see the resistance you get from the mix, then drag your fingers through quickly and then compare how you are allowed through the mix easily when you move your fingers through slowly.
When this concept is applied to a Bowen move and the body 'lets you in' instead of resisting I am sure the move must be far better received by the body.
If you are reading this and you have never had a Bowen Therapy treatment this is an indication of how gently a Bowen Therapy session should be - your body allowing and accepting the procedures.
Don't be fooled though, gentle moves elicit such profound results from a Bowen Therapy treatment.
If you are a Bowen Therapy instructor consider using this aid at your next module one class to help your students to grasp this concept, it no doubt will improve their technique quickly.
Please note that each Bowen moves requires its own unique pressure, challenge and speed, depending on where it is on the body and the sensitivity of the client.
This article is purely meant to share a slightly unusual approach to learning to help understanding of the concept of how a body can resist or accept moves and how by working with the body and slowing down moves they can be more effective.
No doubt most of you have at some time used cornflour to thicken a casserole or desert or at the very least know of cornflour, but I am sure none of you have made a mix of cornflour and water and stuck your fingers in it and played with it.
I was introduced to this idea by John Wilks at a conference.
He had a bowl of cornflour and water and sure enough we all had a play in it.
If you stick your fingers in the mix too fast you meet with resistance.
Yes that soft bowl of liquid puts up resistance nearly as if it has suction caps that grab your fingers when you try to push your way in or take it out too fast.
So too can a clients body if you stick your fingers or thumbs in too deep or too quickly your fingers will be met with the bodies resistance.
The moves can be done but far less effectively.
Back to the cornflour mix, drag you fingers through the mix too quickly and again you will get resistance.
Compare this to a slow gently move through the mix and your fingers are allowed to move effortlessly through the mix.
Parallel that to making a Bowen move on a client, make the move too fast and you meet resistance again from the body.
Make the move slowly and respectfully and you are allowed in and the move is made gently and effectively.
What a great teaching aid this bowl of cornflour and water turned out to be.
I really didn't get it until I had a play.
Please go and make yourself up a mix (I replicated the mix with 4 - 5 heaped tablespoons of cornflour to ½ cup water in a cereal bowl and allowed it to stand for 10 minutes or so allowing the cornflour to settle on the bottom) and see for yourself.
Test it out.
Dip your fingers in fast and see the resistance you get from the mix, then drag your fingers through quickly and then compare how you are allowed through the mix easily when you move your fingers through slowly.
When this concept is applied to a Bowen move and the body 'lets you in' instead of resisting I am sure the move must be far better received by the body.
If you are reading this and you have never had a Bowen Therapy treatment this is an indication of how gently a Bowen Therapy session should be - your body allowing and accepting the procedures.
Don't be fooled though, gentle moves elicit such profound results from a Bowen Therapy treatment.
If you are a Bowen Therapy instructor consider using this aid at your next module one class to help your students to grasp this concept, it no doubt will improve their technique quickly.
Please note that each Bowen moves requires its own unique pressure, challenge and speed, depending on where it is on the body and the sensitivity of the client.
This article is purely meant to share a slightly unusual approach to learning to help understanding of the concept of how a body can resist or accept moves and how by working with the body and slowing down moves they can be more effective.
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