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LEG CRANKS AND HOLDING POINTS Learning Bowen is a blessing . . . and a challenge. The initial routines I learn bring surprising results and relief to a whole host of problems. But how do I process this, make it make sense? And what do I do next? Specifically, how does this fit into the context of other healing modalities? As do many others, at first I take seriously the challenge to use ‘straight’ Bowen exclusively and extensively. All dogma aside, shouldn’t one take a scientific stance? After all, if I mix ingredients together willy-nilly I won’t know what’s doing what. Eventually, I can see for myself which outside influences add or detract from this system. New levels of courses are offered. Each means more available moves and more opportunities. But when do I use them? What about minimalism? How much is enough, and when do I stop? Again science saves the day. After a period of over-steering, I start using some self-discipline. By adding the new material judiciously and paying strict attention to what works in which situations, my base of understanding grows in an organic, evolutionary fashion. And on it goes, with each new level or variation of Bowen we learn. I bring this up because some practitioners are, understandably, hesitant about diving into a Bowen Bridge class. Is this more of the same? Is it Bowen at all? Some kind of therapeutic anarchy? If it’s all just ‘Do what you feel,’ why even take a class? I’ve just about got Bowen routines down — do I really want someone pulling the rug out from under me so I have no idea what to do? To the contrary, after an initial shock, students quickly acclimate. The approach is in fact very sensible and ordinary, and they wonder how things ever got so stilted. This is the “scientific” way you act in the rest of your life. Would you build a brick wall without regularly checking the level and adjusting the consistency of the mortar? Cook a meal without tasting it a various points to know how it’s coming along? Speak to your spouse the same way every day, regardless of what mood he or she is in? When you know how to ask, and get comfortable listening, the body will tell you exactly what it needs. When you can see how the spine is straining against its natural curves, variations on basic moves will guide it back. When you understand the physiology of holding points (rather than just “blocking the energy”) a whole new world of technique emerges. When you really know what a move with a leg crank is doing, you’ll know how to apply it to the specific thoracic level that’s calling for it. And no, you don’t need to wait until next week, or even the end of the session, for a reality check — there are subtle but simple ways to gauge the effectiveness of every move. Some students (a few) leave the Bridge class and go back to essentially the routines they knew before. But it’s not quite the same. They’ve let go of some degree of innocence and are better at sensing and tracking what they do. Most students latch onto an expanded way of thinking and practice, and wouldn’t go back for anything. And the best and brightest bound off the springboard and take the work to levels that this happy teacher could only have guessed at. Gene Dobkin This article is reprinted with permission from In Touch, Journal of the Bowen Therapists’ European Registry. |
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