Workshops on different kind of healing
By Marge C. Enriquez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:10:00 09/15/2008
MANILA, Philippines—After a car accident in 1983, Andrew Zoppos, a Greek émigré to Australia, wore a neck brace for five years. He studied myofascial release therapy, deep tissue therapy, hypnotherapy, energy works (reiki, pranic healing, universal healing), universal pendulum healing and even acquired the basics of physiotherapy.
But none of them helped his condition.
Then he underwent the Bowen method. He was freed of his neck brace for life.
The Bowen technique involves gentle manipulation by the hand of specific points, retuning the body to heal itself. “The only difference is we do not force the body to do what we want. We are facilitators; we give the work to the body and it is responsible for its own healing. Like homeopathy, we reset the body to heal itself.
“It is a simple technique developed by a simple man. Tom Bowen was a carpenter who worked in a cement factory. His wife had asthma. After several sessions, it stopped,” he explains.
Zoppos studied traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, trigger point therapy, massage and opened his own practice and worked in three clinics.
Zoppos then studied at Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia, under Oswald Rentsch, the only person authorized by Tom Bowen, founder of this technique, to teach his work after his death.
Body as a whole
“The Bowen technique was introduced as a holistic therapy, addressing the body as a whole, as a complex structure of interconnected systems. I had my own experience with my muscular problem, but it was hard for me to believe this therapy could address internal organ conditions, emotional issues and chronic diseases,” says Zoppos.
After his first Bowen class, Zoppos treated an old patient with lumbar disc hernia. None of the manual healing modalities had helped her. After a few sessions of Bowen, she could walk by herself with no pain; after two months, she resumed her activities.
He had also treated an asthmatic and a seven-year-old with bed-wetting problems.
Effectivity
Zoppos could attend to as many as 100 clients a week—with all sorts of problems, from organic to breathing abnormalities, sports injuries, emotional issues, muscle and skeletal problems and chronic ailments.
The method is recommended for pre-surgery and post-surgery, for faster healing, for pregnancy and childbirth, so that infants upon delivery will not feel as much trauma.
“Not many explanations were given when I first took the course. I learned mostly from experience and had to accept the reality and believe the obvious: everybody was feeling better with Bowen!” says Zoppos.
He says scholars explain that Bowen becomes effective once the body is totally relaxed. “Then the inner ability of the organism to take care of problems existing in the system is activated.”
In the early ‘50s, Bowen discovered the method to reinstall the original blueprint of the body. He believed man has the necessary tools for self-healing. The modern lifestyle, with its unhealthy environment, processed food or stress, weakened the natural defense mechanisms. The aim of Bowen technique is to reactivate the cell memory in healing the body.
“Bowen’s treatments always start with two moves over the erector spinae muscles, that were proven to be exactly overlapping the most important memory centers of the body. Studies showed that patients usually report memories from their childhood, previous trauma or long forgotten actions, just after the first moves of the Bowen procedures. Most probably, the body is using the same principle as induced hypnosis: bring back to surface the trauma from the past, so the system can identify it and eliminate it.”
Zoppos, registered senior international instructor and honorary life member of the Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia, will again conduct workshops on Bowen Therapy in January 2009. Call 0919-4556746 or e-mail bowentechnique.bacolod@gmail.com.

Interested, huh? Do visit our friends at:
An online journal - Strix Toledo - http://strixter.bravejournal.com/index.php

Bowtech - The Original Bowen Technique - Philippines
http://www.bowentechnique.ph/ bowentechnique.bacolod@gmail.com

manualmed.bravehost.com
manualmed.blogspot.com