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Ease Anxiety With Bowen Therapy

Lady staring into space looking sad - picture for Blog Silverdale Natural Therapy - Anxiety

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Life is filled with stressors can affect our mental and physical well-being. Stress is normal and healthy. Yet, if we’ve been exposed to constant stress, loss and unresolved trauma it can manifest in many ways – anxiety being one way.

Anxiety, is a common and often debilitating condition, affecting many of us, even millions worldwide.

If you suffer from debilitating anxiety, know you are not alone.

There are many reasons of it. Some we may be aware of, some we don’t. Yet there are many many ways we can learn to manage anxiety and support ourselves to find the calm amongst the storm.

Anxiety can be learned behaviour something that arises in families, how we’re taught or not taught to deal with negative emotions and as such these can be overwhelming to manage.

These feelings can bring a sense of panic and foreboding. However, these can be managed.

With the right tools to manage emotions, we can become less triggered and bring a greater sense of calm when things arise.

If you find you’re overly sensitive and empathic to your environment anxiety is such that is can feel totally encompassing, however there are ways to build the system and strategies to calm the mind when we take on more than we can handle.

This is usually emotion and energy that is not ours to hold, and we do it naturally and without thinking. There are ways to build, master and have awareness how to use and support our energy.

Side Note: Flower Essence Therapy can also support. Flowers such as Yarrow, FringeLily Twiner and many others calm and support creating an inner and outer safety net so you can feel good within and not governed by continual overarching feelings of anxiety. You can read about this here.

I’ve seen many people find their inner calm and use their anxiety as an indication to slow down, connect and stay present. It may feel overwhelming at first – however they find ways to manage, ease and even eradicate anxiety altogether.

Anxiety can arise when we think of things too far into the future.

Sometimes you may replay old events re-traumatising again and again.

Some of these events may have already occurred, others yet to manifest. This way of thinking can come from the innate need of processing events before they have occurred. A coping strategy so many of us adopt. Alerting you to any dangers before it has even happened.

This strategy keeps you in a heightened state, the fight and flight switches remain on, even though there is no real threat. This can be exhausting.

Anxious Symptoms can also include

  • Excessive Worry and Overthinking: Anxiety involves persistent and uncontrollable worry about a wide range of concerns. Usually played out in the mind over and over again. This can sometimes make them disproportionate to the actual threat.

  • Physical Symptoms: Anxiety can manifest in various physical ways, such as muscle tension, headaches, stomach aches, sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath. This comes from not knowing what to do to support. One can start to shift out of these states by doing something to shift their energy. EFT Tapping in one such way – you can read about it here.

  • Restlessness: You may feel constantly on edge, restless, or unable to relax. This can lead to behaviours like fidgeting, pacing, or being unable to sit still.

  • Irritability: Anxiety can find you more easily irritated, agitated, or quick to become annoyed, even in response to minor stressors or disruptions. Snapping at people and overly triggered and impatient.

  • Difficulty Concentrating: Concentration can be challenging. Focusing on tasks a strain, due to racing thoughts or preoccupation with anxious concerns. This can affect work, school, and daily responsibilities.

These symptoms can vary in intensity and frequency from person to person, and the presence of these symptoms for an extended period may indicate the need for professional help.

You can manage anxiety. Starting very small. These can create powerful and positive change and deepen the relationship you have with yourself. These can range from breathing techniques, keeping a journal, exercise, meditation, and muscle tension exercises.

While there are various approaches to managing anxiety, one lesser known but highly effective method is also Bowen Therapy. Bowen Therapy can help ease anxiety and promote relaxation.

The Connection between Bowen Therapy and Anxiety Relief

Bowen Therapy influences the body is such a way through slow, gentle movements and these help release tension within the fascia. It supports us to reconnect to the body bring a sense of inner safety.

The fascia is a connective web of tissue that surrounds all your organs, muscles and ligaments. When one part of the body is touched this influences another part of the body.

Each move works in harmony with another and this give the brain a simple message to relax, let go, you are safe. Shifting the system from a fight and flight state to a relaxed one. You can read more below how Bowen can support and relieve anxiety.

  • Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System: Bowen Therapy influences the autonomic nervous system, helping to shift the body from the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) state to the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state. This transition promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and alleviates anxiety symptoms.

  • Muscle Tension Reduction: Anxiety often manifests physically as muscle tension and pain. Bowen Therapy’s gentle moves target tense muscles, encouraging relaxation and reducing physical symptoms associated with anxiety.

  • Stress Reduction: Bowen Therapy can help lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress. This can lead to decreased anxiety levels and an overall sense of calm.

What to Expect During a Bowen Therapy Session

During a Bowen Therapy session, you’re fully clothed. Gentle rolling movements are made on specific areas of your body. These moves may target muscles, tendons, fascia, or nerves.

Communicating with the body in this way, Bowen Therapy can release pent-up emotion and allows it readjust, bring about the possibility of creating new patterns and new neural pathways to rectify old ways of thinking and feeling. Bowen Therapy releases somatically, allowing for a natural shift in posture and re-establishes a connection in a holistic way.

Benefits of Bowen Therapy for Anxiety:

  • Reduced anxiety and stress levels
  • Improved sleep quality
  • Enhanced overall well-being.
  • Greater ability to cope
  • Relief from physical symptoms of anxiety, such as muscle tension and pain

Understanding Bowen Therapy:

Bowen Therapy, also known as the Bowen Technique, is a holistic bodywork therapy developed by the Tom Bowen in Australia.

It is a non-invasive, gentle, and profoundly relaxing treatment that involves precise movements on specific points of the body.

These movements stimulate the body’s natural healing intelligence, leading to many benefits, including anxiety relief.

Bowen has a natural way of calming the mind and reconnecting the body.

The movements work with the body. At certain times, the body is given time, usually 2 mins, to integrate the information it receives.

By doing this the body calms, moving out of a stress state into a calm, peaceful and integrative state. The brain starts to signal the body it is ok to relax and feelings of safety to let go and shift where it needs to move. Postural changes can be quite significant.

Many find that those things you may have stressed about prior are no longer prevalent.

Complementary Approaches

While Bowen Therapy is highly effective in easing anxiety, it is often used with other anxiety management strategies. Mindfulness practices, regular exercise, and counselling can provide a holistic approach and gift anxiety relief.

Flower Essences can support the mind and alleviate mind chatter and bring greater focus. You can read about this here.

While the journey to managing anxiety may be overwhelming at times, it’s essential to remain patient with yourself and seek professional help if needed. Remember, you don’t have to navigate this path alone. 

With the right combination of strategies you can find your inner calm, use anxiety as a signal to slow down, connect, and stay present. You can create a game plan tailored to your specific needs, offering you the support and relief you seek. 

For those interested in learning more about Bowen Therapy and how it can support you to find anxiety relief, check out this article on “What is Bowen Therapy?” .

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