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It is miraculous!
Dear Louise,
I am amazed how the body progresses with the Bowen technique
and particularly with one female patient whose calf had been
crushed in a ski accident, 16 years ago. After one year in the
hospital, the after-effects where a mass of flesh intertwined
and glued to the bone. When bare footed, she could only walk
on the tip of her toes.
She has tried many modalities. Her distorted foot caused much
pain. I started the Bowen treatment 18 months ago with sessions
every month or so. Progressively the flesh detached itself from
the bone and I was completely flabbergasted to see the calf
was re-forming. The scar tissues closed up. The posterior muscle
chain of the leg became functional between the root of the thigh
and the sole of the foot.
She can now lay down her foot completely. She feels the muscles
working. The skin grafts left fibrous red rolls of scar tissue
on her buttocks and on the inner part of her leg. They are now
reduced to flexible fine white lines.
We continue to work together. The psychological impact is enormous.
She went through heavy phases: frozen back for weeks…
she had to let go so much on the emotional level. She persevered
and I have faith.
It is miraculous! Thank you Louise, from the bottom of my heart
for having transmitted this powerful modality that I, with great
results, combine with muscular chains, Chinese points and meridians.
Violaine Preitner, St Prex, Switzerland
Helen's shoulder
Helen (64) is a diabetic awaiting a heart transplant.
A childhood bout of rheumatic fever left her with a heart that
is presently working to 15% capacity. Then eight months ago
she suffered a stroke and lost over fifty pounds. Determined
to heal, Helen had been going for physiotherapy up to three
times a week. When I met her for the first Bowen session, she
showed concern about her right arm. It felt very numb and she
could not lift it without using her other hand to assist and
even then she could only lift the arm just inches past her waist.
Her right hand curled into a tight fist and she demonstrated
to me how she could open these fingers using her other hand.
Even then she had to concentrate intensely.
Because of Helen’s frail body physique and condition,
I made the Bowen moves incredibly light. Some moves were practically
“air” Bowen. The plan was to do all BRMs and the
shoulders. However, after the BRMs, Helen stated that she was
very tired. We ended the session and she sat on a couch awaiting
her ride home. As she drank water she commented, “Look
at this!” She rotated her right shoulder in little circles.
Helen got quite excited and kept working the shoulder and lifting
her right arm. With giggles of pleasure, she showed me how she
could lift the right arm higher and higher. Within an hour she
could lift the right arm with her left hand up to shoulder height!
Not only that, but she could open her fingers and flatten her
right hand upon her thigh without using her other hand.
Over the next few days Helen reported to me how her mobility
improved where, with her left hand, she could lift her right
arm straight up in the air. She could open her hand more easily
too. It is now a month later and Helen is lifting weights and
doing circuit training on a universal gym to build up muscle
so she can lift her arm unassisted. She said she could not do
these weight exercises before Bowen because of the limited mobility.
In physiotherapy she lies on a bed with her right arm dropped
to the floor and she can now lift it up to the bed without using
the other hand. Helen had other good news. She has been told
that her heart has improved and she does not need a new pacemaker
at this time. Her determination and courage has taken her beyond
what doctors tell her she is capable of. It is amazing to see
how the most gentle Bowen moves have played such a role in her
healing. She would have had another Bowen session by now but
she lives a distance from me and we have not yet been able to
connect.
I had only completed Modules 1 to 4 when I worked on Helen.
My instructor, Kim Guerin, repeatedly taught me “less
is more”. How true, how true! I was reduced to happy tears
when I saw how the lightest and most basic Bowen moves made
such a profound difference for a woman who had undergone so
much and persevered. I can only imagine how more Bowen sessions
will help her on her healing journey.
Jo-Ann Kennedy, Balgonie SK
Bowen gets them in and Bowen gets them out!
I got pregnant with my first baby the first time I tried at
age 37; that was in 1998. When she was about 14 months old,
my husband and I decided to try for a second baby. After the
first month and the second month and the third month and the
fourth month and the fifth month and the sixth month, it was
very strange that I wasn’t getting pregnant.
So I went to the gynecologist for exams: everything was fine.
I even coerced my husband into doing a sperm test: everything
was fine. I started taking homeopathic
remedies for another five months and still no pregnancy. Then
I decided to see an acupuncturist and I had about six weekly
sessions. And still no pregnancy. Shortly after, I had lunch
with my friend and former Bowen teacher, Louise Tremblay. I
mentioned to her that I was trying to get pregnant for about
a year using homeopathy and acupuncture and herbs and anything
I could think of, because, as a naturopathic doctor, I have
all these tools at my disposal and I often treat people who
have infertility. Seeing my frustration, she said, ”Well,
let me do Bowen on you.” As I was also a practitioner
of Bowen, I told Louise that was a great idea; we should have
done it a while ago. We agreed to get together in the next couple
of days.
Of course, when I had been trained in Bowen I learned there
was a coccyx move that could help pregnancy but somehow I just
didn’t pursuit it. Strange sometimes how the things right
under our noses are the things we don’t see! So Louise
Tremblay treated me. She did the basic moves and the coccyx
move. She reiterated the protocol about when to try and I followed
her instructions to the letter and the next month I was pregnant.
Now, call this coincidence? Possibly. I had a very nice baby,
baby number two.
About 18 months later, my husband and I decided to have a third
baby. I hoped it would happen fairly quickly. But finally I
was in the same position: after eight months still no pregnancy.
I tried acupuncture again. Still no pregnancy. I called Louise
Tremblay and I said “Well, Louise, I don’t really
want to wait a year or more so we should do the same thing you
did last time. Remember, I got pregnant right after you did
it.” She said: “Of course we should do it.”
So I saw her a couple days later. She did another Bowen series
on me including the coccyx move and the next month I was pregnant.
Call it a coincidence? Now I doubted it.
I had a healthy pregnancy but started to feel anxious toward
the end as my husband was supposed to be out of town at a conference
until one or two days before my due date. I invited Louise Tremblay
to be my back-up person in case I went into labor early. She
would be there with me to deliver the baby at home with the
midwife, the same one with whom I had delivered the last one
at home. She agreed. I felt comfortable with Louise because
we had become friends over the years since the second pregnancy
and because she has a very calm and steady presence which I
knew would be very appreciated during labor. Also she is a great
homeopath and Bowen practitioner and I thought those things
might come in handy if need be.
I went into labor late which was lucky because my husband was
able to be there. Louise attended the birth. It was a very slow
and weak labor and at the very end of it, after 8 hours, I had
a lot of trouble pushing the head out. My cervix was fully dilated
and I was pushing but the head wouldn’t move. This is
nerve racking at any point but especially during a home birth
because you always have the idea in the back of your head that
you may need to be transported, which was not in my birth plan!
Finally Louise said: “why don’t we do the coccyx
move?” Of course, it is only safe to do the coccyx move
on at pregnant woman at the end of labor when she is fully dilated.
The midwife didn’t seem too trilled with the idea because
I am sure she did not know what the coccyx move was, but I told
Louise to go ahead. She did the coccyx move and the baby was
born about two minutes later.
After about 20 minutes of holding the baby, my midwife was concerned
that I hadn’t delivered the placenta yet. So she started
massaging my belly and pulled on it a little bit but it still
wasn’t coming out. So Louise said: “lets do another
coccyx move.” She did it and the placenta came out two
minutes later. All I have to say is, I am very sensitive to
the coccyx move.
So we considered naming our little boy Tom… or Louis.
Bowen gets them in and Bowen gets them out!
Dr. Lisa Samet, N.D.
You should be proud of what you are doing!
Hi to my fellow Bowen students and my honorable teacher,
Do you remember, I had a few questions about the “gentle
stroke of the forearm” after Move 2 of the Forearm Procedure?
Being Cartesian with scientific training and being an Osteopath
on top of all that… I need to understand what I am doing
when treating my patients. The Bowen technique is very effective
at bringing out this type of questioning! As this “gentle
stroke” appeared to me to be very light and unnecessary
so I asked Louise about it and she replied: “I don’t
know, just do it”.
Last week, a patient who had loved her first Bowen session came
back for a second one to address her arms and wrists. She had
surgery for both carpal tunnels without not much results.
I did BRM1, 2, 3, Shoulder, Elbow/Wrist and Forearm… and
the famous “gentle stroke of the forearm”…
and then suddenly an enormous emotion sprung up, with spasmodic
breathing, with uncontrollable sobs, etc. I covered the patient
and she laid there for half an hour.
When she got up and joined me, she was grinning from ear to
ear and she said: “Sir, you should be proud of what you
are doing, what you have given me is worth all the money in
the world. This was stuck in me for many years. When you gently
stroked my arms, it was as if you have pulled it out of me,
it was enormous.”
And me who, in the pause, was reading the instruction manual
and asking myself: “Should I or should I not do «gentle
stroke of the forearm»? This story is interesting because
it underlscores the power of the Bowen technique and that it
should be practiced as in the Instruction Manuals even if we
do not understand it totally and we do not know all of the intellectual
thoughts of Tom Bowen.
Michel Jacquet, Étaples, Pas-de-Calais, France
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