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Depth of Pressure for Moves A question often asked by Bowen students is, “How hard do I press?” There may or may not be a standard amount of pressure, depth, or speed to a ‘classic’ move, but I doubt it, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, there is a lot of variability in each client’s constitution and health in general, and the sensitivity of the target muscle or tendon. And it does not address differences between practioners’ strength, sensitivity, finger size, thickness of skin, etc. So even if it were considered important to give the client a consistent experience from one move to the next, it would involve a variety of levels of input to accomplish this. The Bowen move actually lends itself to many types of application, from a whisper to a jolt, from a drawn-out tone to a staccato snap, and all have their place. Sometimes this is immediately sensible, e.g. “Bigger muscle, deeper move.” Sometimes it’s counterintuitive, but ultimately just as sensible. The big hunk with the overdeveloped musculature might be just so primed to resisting all normal or deep therapeutic efforts. When this is the case, only a seemingly insignificant, patently ignorable (homeopathic) contact will sneak under his radar and have a deeper effect. The second basic reason for not standardizing the move invokes the question, “What do you want to accomplish with your move?” Understandably, one wouldn’t even ask it if you assume that moves are merely parts of procedures, and not expected to stand up on their own. Have you ever wondered why different therapeutic systems, including classically taught Bowen routines, share so many points? We might suppose that this is naturally the case, because fundamental truth is equally available to all, and apt to be independently discovered by talented researchers. And as many of us have discovered, accessing additional points with Bowen moves can bring a richness to your practice, and often startling results. But that’s not the whole story. I’ve come to believe that though many of these points may coincide by surface geography, they are not identical. Several points may in fact be stacked, one below another, and individually accessed by varying depths of pressure. For example, neurolymphatic and neurovascular points are relatively superficial. They will be bypassed and not treated (in fact, possibly further clogged), by an application of pressure more suited to, say, acupressure or muscle trigger points. Every detail of your move — the tissue-pull, the length of pause, the pressure while pausing, and the depth of move and follow-through — all become significant in light of what exactly you want to stimulate. Relax, though; in application this is not as mentally demanding as it may sound. With practice, it becomes a fairly natural process. Keeping in mind a sense of intention (without getting ruled by it!) is how you learn what is working and what isn’t. This is one of the main focuses of the Bowen Bridge classes. So what do you want a move to do? Maybe to soothe, sometimes to ripple, sometimes to give a mild electrical buzz. Sometimes you may want it to irritate and disrupt, in order to cause a reflex release somewhere else. If there’s one general guideline, try neither to go so hard that you cause discomfort, nor so gently that you can’t feel the signal. And pay attention to the result – of every move. Gene Dobkin This article is reprinted with permission from In Touch, Journal of the Bowen Therapists’ European Registry. |
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U.S. Bowen |