Word of mouth is the best way of advertising they say, so let me share this story with you.

I asked Martine to share this letter with you. I just wanted everyone to know how beneficial her treatments are and how much they help in general wellbeing.

I first went to Martine in 2011 so I have known her for a while, I was amazed by how much I improved after her treatments.

Over the years I have told many of my family and friends to go and see her when they are in pain, and they have not been disappointed.

When my late husband was terminally ill she came over to our home and treated him in his.

She is not just my therapist I consider her my friend also.

She genuinely cares about someone's pain, she is honest, she doesn't beat around the bush, she does her job and does it well.

I always tell her she has healing hands, I can feel my body respond straight away, but it usually takes a couple of day's for my body to be back in balance, but that's the nature of the treatment so I know it takes a couple day's for it to set. Considering that I always wait until I am nearly crippled before going to her.

She is a miracle worker.

All i can say is :"go and have some Bowen and or Emmett you won't be disappointed".

Anna

Now how lovely is this letter.

I think of Anna as my friend to we do have some good laughs together ;))

Martine

Been everywhere

 

Few weeks ago this fellow walked in (his wife booked him the treatment) telling me he has this Sciatic pain. Pain in the lower back, going down the buttock and the leg. He had been everywhere, but never got any relieve. His wife send him here after seen me herself, but he wasn’t to convinced.

Why would I be able to help him while no one else could?

 Now that was not the first time I hear that, so I said well let’s see what happens with Bowen and Emmett. I see these problems a lot and it’s not often I can’t help someone with this.

 Clothes can stay on, my hands on is very soft with little brakes between the moves, I could hear him think; “more $$ down the drain”.

I booked him in for a week later and send him off.

 A week later he comes back.

Big smile as he walks through the door. You woman I don’t know what you did, but almost all the pain is gone just a little bit of a tingle in the right leg. I have wasted so much money and here you barely touched me and I’m feeling great.

I see you do horses as well, does it work the same? I just laughed here he didn’t believe in it and now he wants his horse treated.

 To finish of my story he came back for a 3th treatment and had no more pain, he was happy as a pig in mud. Few weeks later he cancelled his 4^th treatment because he didn’t need it he still felt really good.

 I think he should buy his wife some flowers don’t you J

 Martine your Bowen and Emmett therapist

Do you need to sit down to put your pants on?

 

Funny the other day I had this elderly couple walk in for their last treatment, when I asked them how they were feeling, they said really good.The lady said she feels so much more agile she can move so much freer.

Both said they don’t need to sit on the edge of the bed to put their pants on.

 I laughed, because I hear that so often and said I should write that in my next story haha.

She went on and told me she just thought it was part of getting older, the stiffness, the tricks she used to get certain movements done, but now she feels so much better and never thought she would feel like this again.

Her husband was standing there agreeing with her the whole time, nodding his head.

Before she walked out I let them read this and asked if she mind me calling them an elderly couple.

She said; “no we are elderly but now feel 10 years younger.”

 I feel so lucky I stumbled across Bowen and Emmett therapy all those years ago.

The opportunity to make people feel this way is just awesome, it warms me up hearing the story’s and seeing the happy faces on people because they feel so much better.

 Most people think they have to live with their problems, but this is not always the case, if the body can heal itself it will when it gets the right treatment.

The only thing you have to do is to give it a GO and see how the treatment can improve your life.

Martine XXX

a new chapter

More and more I hear people from people they have a family member or friend who wants to come and see me, but they can’t walk up the stairs.

I even get pulled up on the street people telling me the same thing.

Some of my loyal clients who I have been seeing for many years are finding it harder and harder, but they persevere because they know how good it makes them feel.

So here I am walking down the street and I see the building I have loved to be in for 10 years is empty again. I thought what the heck, I’m ringing to see what the rent is like, and I realise my dream can come through. So then it went real quick.

I HAVE MOVED

I am so exited, my partner and I put in many hours to get it to look like I visualised.

I’m even changing my logo I had for 12 years, it’s looking good.

Not 10 min after I put my flag outside I had old clients walk through the door that I hadn’t seen for 8 years because they couldn’t climb the stairs, booking in a treatment. WOW.

Walkers, wheel chairs, anyone who wants to, can come and see me now, and I’ll do my best to relieve them of their pain.

Pain is not the only thing that I will be treating from my new home away from home.

I've added some extra services to my list.

Eyelash extension - who doesn't want to look pretty        

Henna tattooing    - who doesn't want to look funky

Body plastering     - capture those special moments in life

I am exited to add these to my list of things that I offer, I love being creative and I can't wait to share this with others.

Unfortunately the corona virus is going around, so I’m taking extra precautions in hygiene and I expect my clients to do the same.

Together we can fight this virus and get things back to normal.

Want to come and check it out, I have a reopening on the 18 apr. From 3 – 5 pm your more then welcome to pop in.

Martine your Bowen – Emmett therapist

Auch that knot

All the time I get people in and they tell me they have a knot.
When all the fibres in the muscles are long and even it is healthy, but when they twist and cause a knot we feel pain. In the medical field they are called myofascial trigger points.

We loose range of motion and flexibility because the nutrients and circulation is not optimal in that particular area.
You are likely to change how you move, sit and stand just to avoid that pain but this is making the problem worse and you create a poor posture, creating more tightening in other muscles and developing more imbalances.

Stress is a big one it slows down blood circulation, I often get people in that tell me they are stressed and have neck ad shoulder issues, this is because they are tensing up that area and slowing down blood circulation.
Water intake is another one and then of course the biggest one is just living life.
We are movable objects and just like every other movable object we wear and tear that's why you get your car serviced, put new oil in so everything moves smoothly again.
Untreated muscle knots can cause chronic pain and lead to other health issues.

Bowen and Emmett work the same way, they allow the body to reset and balance itself, it allows the body to contain fluid. That's why it is important to drink enough water. When the body is hydrated the muscle fibres glide over each other freely and the is less or no friction.

Feel better with Bowen and Emmett.

Martine

Bowen and Anxiety

“Can you help me? I hear this question a lot.

There aren’t many things Bowen Therapy isn’t effective for so usually my answer is yes.

Most of the time people suffer physical problems, but sometimes it’s a mental issue.

Recently I started treating my most challenging client to date.

He was having some stress due something that had happened to him caused by someone else, and one morning he woke up and it was like there was a switch flipped in his brain, he suffered severe anxiety and started to get all sorts of autoimmune problems. He more or less turned gray overnight and then started loosing a lot hair creating bold spots.

Then to top it off he had a minor stroke earlier this year.

He also started to get pain everywhere, back, neck, legs he could barely move any more.

He looked like a little crippled old man and he is only a couple years older then me I really felt for him.

I started treating him and his wife was at his side, she couldn’t sit in the waiting room he had to have her by his side.

He was very relaxed during the treatment and decided he would continue with treatment protocol.

Long story short on his 2th visit he was much happier, looked more colourful and cracked a joke here and there.

On the 4^th treatment he walked in by himself so I asked where is your wife? She was at home, OMG what an improvement in such a short time, I was so happy for him.

He did confess he took a vallium, but hadn’t had one ever since starting the Bowen.

He has had 9 treatments now and every time he feels better, his hair is growing back WITH COLOUR and him and his wife feel like they are getting there life back.

I’m so happy to have been able to help him with my Bowen Therapy and hope with all my heart he will be 100% sometime.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

Now I’m in the clinic all day (oh well during school hours from 9 till 2.30) I’ve noticed I’m getting a lot more people walk in and enquire about what I do.

The sign at the front has a list of conditions that we successfully treat with Bowen Therapy and let’s face it there aren’t many people who don’t suffer some form of back pain.

Back problems are the most common problems of the people who come through my clinic, and I’m proud to say by the time these clients finish their series of treatments they are usually pain free.

There are lots of back problems some are more serious then others.

There can be bulging discs, degeneration of the vertebrae, muscular tightness, compression on the Siatic nerve, the list goes on and on.

Usually there are a combination of things that cause us to be sore or in pain very seldom do I see someone that has the hips in place, so on the first visit I more then likely perform the pelvis procedure and in the 9 years that I have been doing this that procedure only failed me probably a handful of times and when I see that person back the week after the pain is less and the pelvis has levelled up.

On the first visit I always do a full body treatment, because you might have pain somewhere, but everything else in the body is affected by this and it could well be that the back pain comes from tightness in the hamstrings as well as an unbalanced pelvis.

Have a look in the mirror and see if one shoulder is higher then the other, this can also cause problems in the lower back and of course problems in the shoulders and neck, it can then result in headaches.

So you see one problem somewhere can cause another problem somewhere else, so by treating the body as a whole I’m more likely to get you feeling the way you should be feeling.

I always say you get your car serviced so why not yourself you probably need it more then your car J.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

business exelence awards

A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail saying that I was nominated in the business awards. Well what a surprise who would have thought, I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

I was very humbled and I don’t know who you are, but thanks.

Sometimes I get a letter, phone call, text message from people whom I treated thanking me because they are feeling so good. It always lifts me up, because after all that’s my goal to make people feel better.

Muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia contain specialized cells that communicate with the brain and spinal cord.

 In a relaxed position our muscles have a certain length and sometimes due to bad posture, accident or working conditions these muscles are being stretched, tendons, ligaments and joint lost their tone or tension and don’t know how to get back to their original position.

Through the Bowen therapy the muscles go back to balance and it normalises our tension levels.  It lessens or elimination the pain and allows an increase in movement around the joint and as a result the body function is back to normal.

The aim of Bowen is for the body to heal itself and correct the dysfunction so people don’t have to keep coming back for treatments.

Muscle memory is being reset by the body itself so unless you keep reinjuring yourself the body will stay in a happy balance.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

a body's response to Bowen Therapy

As a Bowen therapist I know how amazing the treatment can be.
I have experienced some great reactions during treatment on myself and also while I treated some of my own clients.
Recently one of my clients walked into my clinic for his appointment, or maybe I should say stumbled, because he was more or less crawling into the clinic from back pain.

Earlier that day he worked on his farm and had to pull a tarp, he felt pain in his hip, but kept on going with his duties. Later he twisted and the pain shot in his hip.
After that, that was it he was not able to move.
He never felt before the 20 k he had to travel into town was that long. (lol he was still able to joke).

Because he was in such bad shape I treated him with our motto " less is best", and booked him in again for the week after.

This time he walked in no worries, and told me the pain was much less.
On his visit the week before I noticed he had very tight hamstrings so I checked them this time again.
They still felt tight so I decided to do the hamstring procedure again.

When I walked back into his room after the 2 min brake during the moves, I noticed his calf muscle was spasming, I asked if that had been going on for a while and he told me it started when I walked out after the hamstring move.
I quickly grabbed my mobile to record it and after another few minutes it finally stopped.
I finished off his treatment and helped him of the table.
Back into the front office I asked him how he was feeling and to no surprise of me he was pain free.

I have not seem him back since, how wonderfull.
Every body loves Bowen.

Fascial lines

fascia is the thin see through layer between skin, bone, muscles, nerves, tendons etc etc, and it surrounds everything in our body even the smallest cells. (if you look at raw chicken breast you can see it easy its the slimy film that surrounds it).

Although it is unbroken, it does have specific lines.
All these Fascial lines have a function.
A lady called Kelly Clancy from Seattle came over to Brisbane to do a course called Bowen, Tensegrity and the Fascial Lines.
I attended the course and she taught us how we can test the Fascial lines to see which ones are tight and might be causing us to be in pain and how to treat accordingly.
It was one of the best courses I have been to I loved, loved, loved it.
Now I just have to practice it a lot to get good at it.
Practice makes perfect they say, and only the best is good enough for my clients.

When the fascia is dry it restricts our movement.
Just look at it this way, if a door creaks you put oil on it and it stops creaking until the oil dries up again.
Bowen helps the body hydrate so therefore it results in less restriction, which means less or no pain.

There are 7 Fascial lines.

#1 The Front Functional Line

We use it in general movement and it gives strength to op-positional limbs by linking them together. It also counter balances us while walking. Problems with the Front Functional line can cause shoulder Pain, thoracic (chest) pain, lower back pain, hip pain, and respiratory issues.













#2 The Back Functional Line

This is practically the same as the front functional line, but then on the back, it's also used while we move and links the opposite limbs together and helps us keep our balance while moving.
Both functional lines are the most superficial
lines which means they are the lines closed to the skin, the others lay underneath these.

Most of the basic bowen moves are done over the Back Functional Line, when there is a problem within the fascia in this line it can cause respiratory problems, shoulder problems, chest problems, lower back problems, hip and leg problems.
As you can see the problems in both lines are the same.
This is because both lines work together and if the one has a problem the other is affected by it as well.





#3 Superficial Back line
It goes from the bottom of the toes (plantar surface) all the way up to the eyebrow line on our forehead.
As you can tell by it's name it connects the whole back of our body.
It creates extension and resists flexion
It's job is to keep us up right.
Problems within this fascia line can cause neck, chest, lower back pain, problems in the hamstrings, calf and ankles and pain in the foot.

Whilst doing some forward stretching tests we found problems in the
neck, although after some further testing of the hamstrings we found
those problems weren't located in the neck, but caused by the hamstrings.
After treating the hamstrings the range of motion and problem in the
neck got much better.




#4 Superficial Front line

It connect the whole front of our body from the top of our feet to either side of the skull.

It balances the Superficial Back Line, again these two lines work together.

The overall movement function of this line is bending forward from trunk and hips (flexion), bend our knees (extension) and bring our foot up (dorsiflexion). It also allows a complex set of movements at the level of the neck.

Problems within this line are the same as in the Superficial Back Line.

To be continued.
I'm not finished writing this blog so please keep an eye out for the rest if your interested.
You can also click on this link and like my Facebook page The-Dutch-Touch-Bowen-Therapy
so you can easily see when it is updated.

photos from Thomas Myers, Anatomy trains, 2th edition
information taken out of the course and Thomas Myers, Anatomy trains, 2th edition

Cellular change with Bowen Therapy

I always rave one how good and powerful Bowen therapy is, well a fellow practitioner engaged a pathologist to check the blood of her clients before and after treatment.
The picture below shows the results.

Bowen Technique is a series of gentle but powerful soft tissue movements, using the thumbs and fingers over muscles, tendons, nerves and fascia to restore the self-healing mechanism of the body. People are amazed at the sensations they feel during and after a Bowen treatment.

It also works with our energy systems. not just the central nervous system.
Our meridians which are like rivers that dissect our fascia, organs and all body matter. Every cell in our body has it's own electromagnetic field and each field pulses at different vibrations. These fields respond to internal and external environments. Our body is constantly seeking it's desired balance.
No 2 bodies are the same.

Our bodies are made up of many different cells: heart cells, liver cells, kidney cells, skin cells, and the list goes on. Each cellular structure is surrounded by fascia. fascia is like a web that wraps around all our cells, organs, bones, muscles, tendons, tissues, vessels, Its acts like a telephone with many lines that are con

stantly transmitting and receiving. It is predominately collagen.
Collagen has a characteristic of toughening when under stress it turns in like a glue or gel like substance.
Bowen therapy helps bring back the hydration in the fascia so it becomes more fluid like, it takes the stress of it.
And these days our lives are becoming more stressful.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

References:
Kay Stammers: Student nurse, Bowen Technique practitioner, Remedial Massage Therapist. Maria Waldock: Pathology Technician (Diploma of Applied Sciences – Pathology) www.mylifeblood.com.au
http://bowentraining.com.au/.../cellular-change-bowen... 

Wat is Bowen Therapie

tijdens een behandeling

D'r word vaak aan me gevraagd wat is dat nou eigenlijk wat je doet en waar is het goed voor.
In Nederland is Bowen nog niet zo bekend 't begint te komen, maar zoals met alles dat duurt even.
Bowen komt oorspronkelijk uit Australie en door de positieve resultaten word 't door heel de wereld steeds meer geliefd.

Een behandeling bestaat uit een serie van zachte manipulerende rollende bewegingen over spieren, pezen, gewrichtsbanden en zenuwen.
Hierdoor verminderd de spanning van de spieren met als gevolg dat het lichaam zichzelf gaat herstellen.
Deze bewegingen noemen we 'moves'. en worden met de duimen en vingers uitgevoerd

Tijdens en na deze bewegingen registreren de proprioceptoren (stand en bwegings detectoren in spieren en pezen) dat het lichaam niet in de juiste positie zit.

Door over de jaren heen een verkeerde houding gehad te hebben kan dit ontstaan of door een plotselinge val, beweging of ongeluk.

De Bowen move werkt dan als een katalysator en geeft via de sensorische zenuwbanen en het ruggenmerg de afwijking door aan de hersenen. Daar worden de signalen verwerkt en vergeleken met de rustspanning die er ter plekke zou moeten zijn. Vervolgens word de corrigerende informatie via het ruggenmerg teruggekoppeld aan de veelheid van spieren, zodat zij hun juiste rustspanning en ondelinge balans terug vinden.

Het lichaam compenseerd lokale problemen, je kunt dit vergelijken met een nood reparatie, maar daarmee is 't probleem niet opgelost en vroeger of later heeft dat gevolgen.

Een slechte knie kan bijvoorbeerd een slechte heup veroorzaken en dat kan dan weer een slechte shouder veroorzaken waardoor de persoon weer nek klachten of hoofdpijn kan krijgen. 

Zolang die knie niet beter is worden de andere problemen ook niet opgelost.

Min of meer tijdens en na de behandeling gaat het lichaam zichzelf corrigeren en meestal na een dag of 2 voelt de client zich een stuk beter.

Vaak gebeurd 't dat na een of andere behandeling de client zich beter voelt, maar na een paar dagen komt 't probleem weer terug, dit komt door dat de spieren een geheugen hebben en zij na de behandeling uitendelijk weer terug gaan naar de positie waarin ze waren voordat ze die behandeling gehad hadden. Met de Bowen is 't net andersom 't duurt meestal een paar dagen voordat je je beter voelt, maar als het lichaam zichzelf uiteindelijk in de juiste positie heeft gezet dan blijft 't ook zo en automatish word dit als het nieuwe geheugen gezet.

Bowen is geschikt voor jong en oud

Voorbeelden van klachten die behandeld kunnen worden zijn:

·   Rugpijn en ischias	·   Fibromyalgie
·   Ongelijke beenlengte	·   Chronische vermoeidheid en M.E.
·   Nek-, schouder- en whiplashklachten	·   Stress en overspannenheid
·   Knie- en enkelklachten	·   Astma en bronchitis
·   Sportblessures	·   Hooikoorts en andere allergieën
·   RSI (o.a. muisarm en tennisarm)	·   Spijsverteringsklachten
·   Migraine en hoofdpijn	·   Menstruatie- en hormoonklachten
·   Oor- en kaakpijn	·   Zwangerschapsklachten
·   Bedplassen (bij kinderen)

Het lichaam is een wonder en Bowen spreekt haar taal.

Energy, Vibration and Bowen

To be a registered Bowen practitioner I have to do 32 hours of continued education units (CEU points) every two years. 16 of these I can obtain by doing special workshops and for the other 16 I have to attend 2 days of the normal training courses we do to get our cert.IV or diploma.

Last month there were two workshops I wanted to attend.

The first one was Energy Vibration and Bowen. This one was given by the two people I got my cert.IV and diploma with so I was very familiar with my teachers Ann and David Winter. ( www.annda.net )

During a treatment we work on the fascia system. This is a spider web like net made from collagen fibers that runs throughout the entire body, separating and binding together muscles and organs.

(Next time you have chicken breast for dinner have a look before you cook it, the shiny thin slippery see through layer on the outside of the meat is the fascia.)

When we do a Bowen move we release this fascia and it sends a vibration through the body to the brain. When the brain receives this it then sends a vibration back to the muscles to relax and go back to the original length and position.

During the next days after the treatment the body will still respond to the Bowen work and each day after the treatment the body will re-balance itself a bit more, so each day we feel a little bit better.

Because the body itself does all the work it might take a few days and usually the results are permanent.

If you’re interested to having a treatment or you happen to have a horse that is sore and you want to try Bowen on it please give me a call. (I qualified Bowen on horses last year)

Martine your Bowen therapist

Parkinson

I had a phone call of this gentleman. He told me he had Parkinson. Trough a friend of his who also suffers Parkinson he got on to this book called; Stop parkin start living, written by John Coleman.

John Coleman also had Parkinson he was in stage 3 (there are only 4 stages). Being a naturopath he kept looking for a way how to treat this condition with natural therapies.

He tried them all, some did help him, but it wasn’t until he tried Bowen therapy in combination with hydration formula’s that he started to get better. Parkinson is a neurological disease and there is no cure for it, but after 4 years of regular Bowen he was symptom free.

My client’s Parkinson condition wasn’t as far developed as John’s and he didn’t want it to get that far neither.

Because his son and his son’s wife are regular clients of mine he rang me and asked if I could help him.

I told him I had no experience with treating Parkinson, but I had heard of the book and because I know how the Bowen works on the central nervous system I booked him in.

It has been such a good experience for both of us.

Over the last 6 months his speech has improved and his posture is way better he barely slumps forward any more. He says he feels a lot more balanced and happier now. He can also walk normal now. As a matter of fact he went for a walk with his wife and she could not keep up with him.

How’s that for improvement.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

part of life

A lot of people seem to think they are sore because that’s part of life, part of getting older.

This is not necessarily through. Our body doesn’t like being sore, it’s just that it doesn’t know how to make itself better.

The Bowen can help with this.

Each move we do on the body is a signal to the body of how to realign itself.

So after the treatment the body is going to adjust itself and put itself back into alignment. This might take a couple of days, but because the body has done it itself instead of being pushed back into place it is more likely to stay like this.

When the body is pushed back into place the muscles (muscles have a muscle memory) will go back to what they remember before they had the treatment hence your back to being sore again.

I hear all the time: “I have been there or I have had such and such treatment, but it only last a couple of days”.

Now you know why, the body goes back to what it was before that particular treatment because that’s what the muscles remember.

After Bowen the muscles take on a new position by themself and that’s why the muscle memory will be replaced with the new position the muscles are in.

It might take a couple of days for the body to do so as it usually takes a couple of days for the body to get sore again after some other types of treatment.

Martine your Bowen Therapist

HIp pain

Many people will experience hip pain at one point in their life.
We have some great Bowen procedures that will help align the body and give it a chance to reduce inflammation and allow pain signals to relax.
The Bowen pelvis procedure is nothing short of amazing in how quickly leg length discrepancies equalize. Other areas to address for hip pain are how the sacrum is balanced between the pelvic bones, hamstring/quadriceps balance (including taking a look at the semi-known gracilis muscle), nerve pain referred from the coccyx (tail bone), low back tightness, and one of my favorites the psoas muscle.
The psoas (commonly called the hip flexor) attaches to the lumbar spine and discs, wraps around the pelvic bowl (with another muscle called the iliacus) and inserts into inner hip at the lesser trochanter of the femur. Often times tight hip flexors (often caused by prolonged sitting) will change the position of how the femur (upper leg bone) rests in the acetabulum of the femur (hip socket). This often contributes to hip pain and other structural problems. I have found the Bowen psoas release is a very effective and non-invasive technique to relieve the psoas. It is great for not only hip pain, but also sciatica and herniated/bulging disc symptoms (anywhere in the spine, not just the low back!). I have also found this procedure is very effective for people with shoulder and neck problems.
All people who sit a lot should get their psoas muscles released.