Simply Bowen Therapy in Sydney, Australia | Physical therapist

Simply Bowen Therapy

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 451 117 387

Address: Goodsell St 2044 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Website: http://simplybowentherapy.com.au

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• Medical and health
• Physical therapist
• Alternative & holistic health service

25.01.2022 Im starting to put the room back together, ready for next week... Both chairs have now been sanded back and bees-waxed, and I love how they now look ! but they do show up how shabby the seat covers have become - a job for next week when I find some new fabric and a staple gun... what colour do you think the seat should be ?

25.01.2022 my workstation hack, to try to have me stand a little more while I do paperwork and TAFE studies - an Ikea breakfast in bed tray-table on my desk to make a standing desk ! its surprisingly a good height ergonomically for my hands (although not the screen), better than when Im seated !

25.01.2022 with things settling down here now, I have re-enabled online bookings and am able to take new clients. Note that the system will automatically an a half-hour after the appointment time, to ensure clients dont cross paths and time to clean... that might mean that some times may not show as available - if theres a time you want, and it doesnt seem available, give me a quick shout and Ill check (and can add manually if possible)

24.01.2022 Finally, with more free time now available, Ive had time to finish part 1 of a blog thats been in the works for too long... Part 2 will be finalised soon too ! "In this blog, Ill cover what those glutes are and what they do, followed by some simple assessments to understand glute weakness in the next, well cover why that glute or those glutes may be weak, and how Bowen can (and you) can help !"

23.01.2022 The last on exercises to help hip flexors for now (and the last video for a while... I'm still getting over myself doing any, let alone two in a week - eek !) Anyways, a good way to help posture is something fairly simple - imagine that a string is attached to the top of your head, pulling you upright... you'll notice how well aligned your body becomes ! and, yes, the trick is to keep it up until your body does it naturally... I remember when I was on my hiking holiday in Se...ptember... I felt myself leaning forward, countering my backpack, so started to imagine that string pulling me upright - not only could I feel my abdominals strengthen as I became more upright, immediately my stride changed and I felt so light on my feet ! Let me know how you go if you try it !

23.01.2022 one of my favourite stretches in the morning routine - pigeon pose... its helping to open up my hip, so my butt and abs are in with a fighting chance ! and Im feeling the difference, together with my regular-ish Bowen... Benefits - Increases hip mobility - Uses core strength to keep your hips level.... - Calms your mind. - Targets the psoas muscle and hip flexors. want more good stretches to complement Bowen ? https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/pigeon-pose

22.01.2022 Went for a stroll around the block today... new art in Caroline Lane, parallel to my street...

22.01.2022 Despite Covid numbers in the area being really good, I'm still maintaining the additional 15minutes between clients, and this is automatic in the online booking system. If you're trying to book online and can't see the time you want, shoot me a quick message - there may be a way to fit you close to that time that's not visible in the online system... perhaps moving another appointment slightly, or having you wait in the car until the prior client leaves... although, with days filling up again, it may not always be possible...

22.01.2022 I was looking for pictures of some exercises for helping maintain Bowen results after those hip flexors are less tight - et voila, there was a picture online that had them without more effort from me ! lunges are great to stretch the hip flexors, helping keep them from shortening... bridge is nice for strengthening glutes while opening the hips... plank is definitely the way to go for abdominal strength (NOT crunches, which shorten the hip flexors) - make sure that form is go...od and abs are doing the work - no butt in the air, no rounded shoulders ! and bird-dog is great for overall core strength https://www.issaonline.com//pelvic-tilt-what-is-it-and-how

22.01.2022 Over the past couple of weeks, Ive been getting into a few things... one has been to give the chairs in the treatment room a little treatment... They were originally acquired from a neighbour as they put them out on the street - no space for them among kids, and said theyd originally come from a local church. I gave the dark varnished timber a quick clean at the time, and replaced the dodgy red vinyl seat cover and stuffing. I love how they now look with the varnish removed, starting to match the old fireplace... one is done, the other to be done this week, before both getting a dose of beeswax...

21.01.2022 the therapist becomes the client... oh, my body was aching... my weird reactions to something (still believed to be gluten/grain) made themselves known last week via abdominal and neck pain (I know those scalene and SCM pain patterns !!)... then into my SI joint on Saturday... ouch ouch ouch ! starting to feel everything start to ease again... thanks Spring Bowen Therapy !... PS. Im sporting my day-off hair-not-do ! maybe next time I think ahead to try to look more instaworthy... oh, well...

21.01.2022 have you been sitting too much lately too ? and with this cold, damp miserable weather, I fear Ill be indoors too much for a while longer !

21.01.2022 another posture photo from the book... Last week I mentioned a guy who had some back issues... he noted that he hyperextended his knees often, and when doing so noted that his butt stuck out and his upper body pulled forward - a more exaggerated version of this lordotic posture...

21.01.2022 as another "new" week comes to an end... I saw this cartoon from Leunig this morning... a very wise duck !

20.01.2022 I know that I only shared this a few weeks ago (or was it longer ?!?!), but Im finding that is really applying to me at the moment... I had a weird time with my body (but not weird at the same time, because Im getting to know these weird patterns now), with a chain of pain heading from neck to arm, ribs and into my lower back... My back is feeling so much better after the couple of Bowens, but I know that I need to do more - the focus last week was a stack more stretching, especially hip opening stretches and now this week its about strengthening my abs and butt ! Im already feeling the difference from the stretching !! http://simplybowentherapy.com.au/help-weak-glutes/

20.01.2022 A comment a couple of days ago from someone with a hip replacement had me look back at something I'd written a while back... I remember the client, who didn't recover well from a hip replacement. 9months later, he couldn't walk without support. The first treatment, he used a frame to walk in. The second treatment, he was frameless but supported by his niece. Arriving for the third treatment, he was batting away his niece's attempts to help... "Chances are that the body wa...s not in the best of shape prior to needing surgery. The body was likely moving differently, holding itself not right, compensating to help manage pain or enable movement. The fascia restrictions and muscle memory won’t disappear with surgery, and the body won’t suddenly gain alignment. Surgery causes disruption to the body, not just at the site of surgery but also the muscles and tissues in surrounding areas. The hip is being dislocated. Muscles and ligaments are being pulled and stretched to enable that hip joint to be accessed and replaced." Note to self... must finish writing up those scar tissue release case studies to be formally qualified - that will also help !! http://simplybowentherapy.com.au/hip-replacement/

19.01.2022 This was supposed to be my friends and I in a few weeks, beginning our pilgrimage that would require a few trips, since none can really take enough time off for the full 1200km... Clearly, were no longer off to Japan (although phone lines are jammed so I cant cancel my air ticket)... As a result, I will remain open through early April - as long as it remains safe to do so... I have a good stock of soap and sanitiser, and taking recommended precautions to minimise any risk.... The online calendar is now updated... At this quiet time, I might get my act together with finishing those part-written blogs... I know Ive said that before...

19.01.2022 Im trying to get my fitness back, with plans to hike in September (border-opening-permitting), so getting out into the park and off for a few hikes... Late last week it was a hike in the Blue Mountains, down Wentworth Falls, along Wentworth Pass, and up the Valley of the Waters... yes, it hurt, but it was pretty ! Hopefully therell be more hike pictures in the next couple of months (as well as some Sydney Park ones, as we hit there for morning workouts)

18.01.2022 It's been a very hot couple of days around here - 40C is not enjoyable... On Saturday, I managed to keep up the water, but today I was busy and lost where my water bottle was... I need more this evening ! ... "drinking plenty of water " is important to the body's health "helping the body stay de-stressed in parasympathetic state, help the body flush the lymphatic system of toxins, and have enough water leftover to ensure the fascia system still has enough to become a supple... sponge." Not sure if you've drunk enough today ? take a peek in the loo before you flush ! http://simplybowentherapy.com.au/water/

18.01.2022 Has anyone had much experience with any of these breathing techniques ? I tend toward those Ive done in yoga practice... love a yin practice with long exhalations, and I often need to focus on using my diaphragm (not my chest/neck muscles)... https://www.theguardian.com//are-breathing-techniques-good

18.01.2022 There's been a run of people with back pain recently (and shoulders too, but that's another story), with one or both hip flexors shortened, resulting in a forward tipped pelvis or a pelvis that seems twisted... oh, and this run does include me, with one hip flexor giving my SI-joint grief... It's a fairly common pattern... tight hip flexors, tight lower back, weak abdominals and glutes... interestingly, many people think their hamstrings are tight (but they can touch their toes !) - but they're usually overworked, trying to do the work of the weak glutes while in a state of tension... There's a few things that can help reinforce improvements after Bowen treatment has got you a bit more level... I'm going to share some of these over the next week or two...

18.01.2022 my new (old) book arrived in the post a couple of days ago ! it might have originally been written a long time ago (co-author of first and second additions passed away in 1979 !) and the photos are decidedly old-fashioned... but the information is great ! I'd been battling with an online copy, but nothing beats flicking through pages...... Expect some more assessments and posts in the near future !!

17.01.2022 so, it seems that the assessment I've always known as the "hand behind the back" test actually has a proper name ! The Apley scratch test ! who'da thought !! one movement - the right picture - involves the arm adducting, and internally rotating with the fingers pointing up the spine, like reaching to put a bra strap on. This is the one a client today struggled with... The movement in the left picture involves the arm abducting, and externally rotating with the fingers pointing down the spine reaching as far behind you as you can.

15.01.2022 As I have zoom happy-hours with friends, the conversations are different depending on the person... people experience grief differently, and express it in our own way... "We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesnt feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and were grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air."

15.01.2022 the last favourite stretch to share for a while... happy baby ! In a session one morning, the app told me to do this one early on... with my tight hips and big back arch, I could barely get into it... when repeated near the end of the session, well... I didnt look like that yogi, but it was far easier and more comfortable, as my body was more relaxed... This one opens and stretches the hips... Stretches the inner groins... Lengthens the spine.... What are other peoples favourite stretches ? https://marketing.gaia.com//happy-baby-pose-ananda-balasana

13.01.2022 the time has come to officially close my doors for a while... although, in reality, its been about a week since I last treated anyone... my weekend-gig in the home-brew shop has been manic - seems brewing supplies are the new toilet paper - so the last week has been busy supporting non-Bowen business while I let Bowen go quiet... Centrelink will keep me going, allowing time for things on that list I never seem to get to... replacing no-longer-stretchy elastic in couch cover...s, sanding and restoring chairs in the treatment room, and even finishing that damn blog I started but has kept me stuck... and thats just the start of the Bowen-list ! See yall on the other side of this weird time were living through...

13.01.2022 one of the other things to help maintain balance and good posture is something that's quite simple, really... stand on both feet !! and, I'll also add... when you get out of bed, or out of a chair, make sure that both feet are planted on the ground before standing up ! I'm working on some videos for next week... a few more things that can help !... source = "https://www.azquotes.com/quote/681432"

13.01.2022 wow... I cant remember the last time my fingernails were this long ! They wont last though... between driving me crazy because not used to having nails, and getting into the garden and diy stuff around the house...

12.01.2022 It's common to attract clients with a particular posture type... for me, with my butt-out-tight-hips, I seem to attract majority of clients with the same... But, I've had a few notable ones buck the trend of late ! One lady was having aching neck and shoulders, with headaches and pain... one look at her from side on and her pelvis was thrust forward, shoulder blades were inches behind her butt, and neck and head forward to compensate... ... A classic "sway back" with short+strong hamstrings and elongated+weak hip flexors, upper back extensors and neck flexors. (picture from Kendall et al - Muscles: Testing and Function, with Posture and Pain)

11.01.2022 a bit of construction in the house these past days... thatll be the window from the front room... gone ! new cedar windows being installed... double-hung for ventilation - versus the top pane painted shut and the bottom pane having broken sashes and not stay open... oh, and fly screens too ! with beautiful timber surrounds... will give a peek once done in the meantime... dust and cleaning... and then varnishing !

11.01.2022 I love a little Sunday evening hammer toe taping... especially when the toes become straight (and my client smiles !)

10.01.2022 the room is back together and seeing more use again ! woohoo ! its also lovely to catch up with current clients who I havent seen in a while... Ill reopen to new clients in a few weeks...

10.01.2022 when someone in complaining of muscle tightness, it always requires various investigations to find out whats really going on... "When someone says they feel tight in a particular area, they might be referring to several different complaints." " the feeling of tightness is just that a feeling which is not the same thing as the physical or mechanical property of excess tension, or stiffness, or shortness. You can have one without the other."... this article has some great examples of the kind of "tightness" that many of my clients talk about !

10.01.2022 another of my now-frequent stretches is lizard pose - but not like the lady in the picture, of course... my knee is definitely on the ground !! Great for me to help open the hips, hamstrings, groins and hip flexors. In theory it helps trengthen the inner thigh muscles on the front leg - but with my tight adductors, I find it stretches them too... or perhaps Im doing it wrong...

09.01.2022 a few people have been talking about their working from home set-up... often the dining room table is getting a workout - one client has said that they needed to move there, as their windowless study was ok for short spurts or the odd wfh day, but was downright depressing every day ! and many have gotten proper desk chairs... This easy to read article from "our ABC" is a good basic guide, with tips for working at home, and a few workstation hacks !

09.01.2022 The treatment room will smell of varnish for only another week... still some paintbrush effort ahead this week... oh, the mess and work, but the new windows are worth it... Unfortunately, itll still be covered by the old curtains for a while, until new blinds can be measured and made...

08.01.2022 one advantage of life being quieter, is that I found time to do some things that had been put aside a while... when I was in the UK, I travelled a lot in Eastern Europe - some while still working, some after I quit to be a Bowenista - and collected a lot of natural yarn from various countries (and a would-be country called Transdneistra)... these were knitted into squares of varying stitch counts and ply, most were blocked... and then put into a bag for years ! Many of you w...ill have seen Claude in my house, so will recognise his usual look of disapproval (although 10 seconds after this photo, he curled up on the blanket in complete approval !) With weather so cold and staying in, hopefully Ill have a "complete" blanket a few more weeks... or at least enough to cover me !

08.01.2022 In the past couple of days, theres been a notice that Bowen Therapists are now not required to close. Having said that, Im going to hold off re-opening until May 4, to finish a few repairs started in the room, and to put procedures in place to assure the safety of all. Online or phone bookings are now available. The system is adjusted to automatically block the 30minutes after the appointment time, to ensure no crossing of clients and give time for cleaning/sanitising betw...een clients. Full details will be emailed to my client list. My infection control training is completed, now that the traffic to the system meant that I could access it ! Notice from NSW Health: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au//covid-19-health-services.as

08.01.2022 one of the things that stuck with me from a webinar course on tensegrity was that "pain is where the structure is locked long, treat where it is locked short"... where it hurts and where treatment is needed are not the same ! the classic example I often use is this one... upper back pain, especially when sitting at a desk all day... "a shoulder rub is what I need" is often heard, with requests to rub the rhomboids between the shoulder blades... sitting a bit hunched, the rhomboids can tend to become locked long, thus painful there... but its often the pectorals that are the cause of that pain, locked short, making shoulders rounded...

08.01.2022 I dont do chest moves very often, but the upper ones can be awesome when pec minor is on the short side... a guy today (without shoulder problems) was lying on his back, and one shoulder (the problem one) was raised, like in the photo (from good old Kendall, Muscles - Testing and Function with Posture and Pain)... a quick supine chest move, left for a couple of minutes - and both shoulders were back on the table...

08.01.2022 One of my clients has been giving a few challenges of late... back pain, centring around the SIJ joint, with significant anterior tilt on one side... this has had be investigating further, looking at muscles involved, the obvious and less so... This article is one of the first I came across, describing his pain, and the fact that approach needs to go beyond what we do - the client needs to also change some postural habits thats not helping the back pain go completely... "Ano...ther detrimental effect of the anterior tilt occurs at the Sacroiliac (SI) joint. There is only a slight degree of movement at the SI joint. For the most part, this joint is tightly bound so that the sacrum and ilia on both sides are almost locked into position with each other. The anterior pelvic tilt alters the force loads at the SI joint and is a frequent cause of SI joint pain and dysfunction." See more

06.01.2022 Id meant to share some other stretches that were helping my hips and lower back... but plumbing, heating and dealing with rising damp got in the way ! and it was today that I remembered just how sore my back was a few weeks ago, and how good its feeling now ! I like to do a low lunge with my hands on either side of my front foot in the early part of stretches - and I still get the stretch ! - before I do this more upright, stronger stretch... the other variation I like is ...to move the front foot wider, with hands on the ground inside of the foot (because my adductors on the inner part of the thighs tend to be tight)... perhaps Ill try to find a guide to that for later this week if you like ? Anyways, this is lovely for stretching the hips, thighs and feet, and strengthening the back, legs and shoulders.

05.01.2022 when I lived in China, a lot of the old ladies used to walk around the park - backwards ! I used to think they were a little bit mad, but there's brilliance in the madness... when we walk (especially up stairs), we shorten our hip flexors... when we sit, they're short... when we sleep on our side, they're allowed to be short all night too... but do we really stretch them in everyday activities ? one thing I like to get clients to do is take a few steps backwards... trick that psoas a little, don't let it automatically contract !

05.01.2022 it was lovely to get back out into nature again on the long weekend ! a relatively short walk down near Mittagong, with plans to return after some house repairs... theres a couple of waterfalls (with water actually falling !) to go see, but Monday was the Box Vale track to a lookout, and back...

05.01.2022 Over the past couple of weeks, the ileocecal valve has come up as a potential problem area for some clients (and possibly myself !)... with a refresher on Saturday at a Bowen practitioner day to fine tune my moves... The ileocecal valve "is a sphincter muscle that opens and closes allowing for digested materials to move from the small intestine to the large. The valve also blocks these waste materials from returning from the large intestine and causing a back up in the small ...intestine. It is a one-way valve, only opening up to allow processed /digested food to pass through." It can give a range of symptoms, some seemingly unrelated to digestion... This article is a start, but Im trying to find some more information and research it all a little more... watch this space...

04.01.2022 a friend shared this yesterday... doing some of these little things can really help, I think... although I dont (yet?!) have a dog to play with, Claude the sometimes-grumpy old cat boosts my oxytocin with his tractor-like purring and snuggles...

03.01.2022 my client that I wrote about yesterday with the sway back does spend a lot of time at the computer... she does that a saddle chair, that it meant to help ergonomically, but looks like her strong muscles are over-riding the support the chair gives... Not the best picture, but the best I could find to demonstrate her posture when seated - the far right is a nice neutral spine, the centre is anterior tilted pelvis (like me), and the far left is this client with a posterior tilted pelvis - you can see how the upper body becomes slouched, and so not surprised by the taut, achy neck and shoulders !

02.01.2022 its a cold, grey day... my bright knitted slippers will keep me warm today ! now that Im back into the swing of treating again, I think its about time I got my act back together with Facebook... what kind of things would you like me to start sharing again ?

01.01.2022 part 2 of the blog about glutes is finally ready ! ah, the things you get to finish when life is quiet... but I am worried about how much sitting Im doing - need to work on my glutes ! "glutes generally become weak due to an overactive, tight, contracted something(s) else. These tight somethings else are often the result of something else. This could be an injury, inactivity, certain actions or bad habits". "The less straightforward answer involves working through the interactions between glutes and other muscles, and what those certain actions (or inactions), or bad habits may be to help resolve and it may not be just one thing"

01.01.2022 another client the other day had some back issues from lifting, but one of his "by the way" things was that he tended to hyperextend his knees and when doing so he noted that his butt stuck out... he also thought he had "tight" hamstrings... so that warranted a little thinking about... Hyperextended knees are the result of quadriceps being shortened... quadriceps actions are to extend the knee, with the rectus femoris part flexing the hip - helping to anterioriorly tilt the pelvis to make that butt stick out... the tight hamstrings would actually be taut, being held in a lengthened position - and doing moves over those hamstrings were like twanging a tight rubber band !