Janet Savage Therapies
The Bowen Technique and Reflexology

Their Histories

History of The Bowen Technique


The Bowen Technique itself was developed by Thomas Ambrose Bowen of Geelong, Australia, in the 1950's. Tom Bowen himself had no formal experience in any field of therapy or medical study and, over the years, took various labouring jobs.

How he came by his remarkable gift is not certain, but he did work on animals before working on humans. It is said that he would help people at work with small and simple moves whenever they had aches and pains. Such was the demand that he eventually gave up his day job, started treating full-time and became one of the busiest therapists around. In a report on alternative therapies commissioned in 1974 by the Victorian state government, Tom Bowen stated under oath that he was doing an estimated 13,000 treatments a year. Most of these were not repeat treatments, with 88% of them being first or second treatments.

Tom Bowen's approach to therapy was based mainly on his deep intuition and understanding of what an individual needed. As a result, many of his theories and methods of treatment may seem somewhat unusual but the results speak volumes for their power and effectiveness.

Reflexology has a history going back 5,000 years in China, India and Egypt. Indeed, a wall painting found in the tomb of Ankhmahor, circa 2,350 BC shows, what is believed to be, a foot treatment taking place. Reflexology in the West has largely developed to what it is today, however, over the past 100 years. At the beginning of the 20th century an American, Dr William Fitzgerald, investigated the effects of treating organs via pressure in the zones of the body. In the 1930's an American lady, Eunice Ingham, developed it further by plotting the zones throughout the body - she worked solely on the feet, as she felt that far superior results were obtained. She also developed the forward, alternating creeping movement. Her nephew, Dwight Byers, continued her work and became Director of the International Institute of Reflexology in the USA. In the 1970's he started running training courses in London and many of the most famous Reflexologists in this country today trained with him.

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