Bowen Technique By Karen
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Helping the Body to Rebalance and Repair
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The Bowen Technique Panic attacks
Posted on 20 January, 2013 at 6:25 |
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Today’s
Therapist
International
Trade Journal Issue 56 January February 2009
The
Bowen Technique
Panic attacks by Janie Godfrey Most of us are well aware of the
intricate and deeply linked connections between the mind, body and spirit in
the human being. Each of our ‘systems’
supports and expresses issues and events that are happening in the other – for
good and for ill. But when we feel waves
of delight or excitement in relation to something wonderful happening in our
lives, we don’t feel we need to seek therapeutic intervention for it! This of course is not the case when we are
struggling with the upsetting, alarming and seemingly inexplicable symptoms of
panic that are the body/mind’s response to a trauma of some sort. The Bowen Technique is thought of
as a mainly as a therapy that deal with the aches, pains and injuries of the
body, but it also has a remarkable ability to deal with the emotional level in
its gentle non intrusive way. Just recently
16-year-old Annie was brought for Bowen treatment because of a history of panic
attacks that were now impacting on her life very
significantly. The first signs of any
panic responses from her began 10 years previously when, as a little girl of 6
she had broken her arm at the elbow and was in hospital for six days
immediately after the break and then for two further days later to remove a
plate. For about a year after those
experiences, she ‘woke’ screaming with night terrors and began sleepwalking. (Night terrors can occur
in children usually between the ages of 3 years and 8 years and they seem to be
caused by unresolved psychological conflicts, traumatic events or fatigue. They are characterized by episodes of abrupt
awakening, usually with a panicky scream, and accompanied by intense anxiety,
confusion, agitation, disorientation, unresponsiveness, marked motor movements,
and total amnesia concerning the event.)
Annie’s recent history (last few years) was
of frequent panic attacks, characterized by heart rate increase and a feeling
of terror rising up from stomach to head.
She was also suffering from a number of phobias, such as the dark,
crowded places and claustrophobia. She
was having trouble staying at school for more than a few hours at a time
without at least a small panic attack and when she had major ones (at least
once a week) she would have to be picked up and taken home. In addition, her sleep was constantly
disturbed and she had trouble dropping off to sleep.
She had, of course, been taken to her
doctor a few years earlier and her mother told me that the doctor had said that
the NHS couldn’t do anything for Annie until she turned 18, so “go away”! Hard to believe, but that is what was
reported. In the meantime, Annie had
connected with a counselor and had been seeing him once a fortnight for some
months before her first Bowen treatment.
Other interesting things to note: Annie reported that she virtually never drank
any water if she could avoid it, as
she disliked it. She was also eating up to 4 packets of crisps
per day and used artificial sweetener for anything she wanted to sweeten.
After her first treatment (in late
September), the most noticeable response to Bowen was that Annie’s aversion to
water changed dramatically: she was
immediately very thirsty and drinking tons of water completely off her own
bat. Her sleeping patterns also changed
quickly and she was going to bed earlier and sleeping well. She had some small panic attacks in the week
after her first Bowen and a longer lasting one was not as intense.
After treatment number two, she was
definitely seeing a big change with many more panic free days and being able to
do more with friends and family outside the house and was remaining in school
more. This pattern of good improvement
carried on week by week with only a few regressive wobbles that were not too
serious.
Annie had seven treatments between late
September and the very end of November and will now only return if she has any
relapses or feels the need to ward any shaky feelings off. And Annie is a changed girl: she is staying at school all day with no
problem, is a regular at band practice, is able to go out to shops and to lunch
with friends, and is still voluntarily drinking plenty of water, sleeping well
and hasn’t touched crisps in weeks!
Annie’s experience provides a good example
of how Bowen can work at energetic and emotional levels. A great many of the moves in Bowen do go over
acupuncture points on meridian lines and seems to be able to break some of the distressing
mind/body links that result in such things as panic attacks and other emotional
disturbances such as phobias. Also, we
know that Bowen often makes people thirsty when they are not drinking enough,
and this was a big feature of Annie’s response.
Some dehydration was likely involved with her lack of well-being, in
addition to the chemicals and salt that came with her diet of crisps.
When she first came for Bowen, Annie asked
me not to shut the treatment room door during her Bowen sessions (even though
her mother was always in the room throughout the treatments). At the final Bowen appointment, she didn’t
even notice that, out of habit, I had closed the door.
© E.C.B.S Janie
Godfrey is a Bowen Technique practitioner in Frome and has been in practice
since 1999. She also works part time at
the European College of Bowen Studies office. Contents
provided by the European School of Bowen Studies (ECBS)
For
further details about the Bowen Technique please contact Karen on 01954 260 982
/ 07714 995 299 or email [email protected] |
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