Bowen Training UK

THE PSOAS IS RARELY JUST A HIP FLEXOR

A therapist recently asked me:

“Why does this client’s psoas keep tightening again?”

It’s a good question.

But perhaps not the most useful one.

Because before asking why the psoas is tight, we might first ask:

What is the psoas responding to?

The breath?

The diaphragm?

The pelvic floor?

The jaw?

The nervous system?

The body rarely works in isolated parts.

A muscle that appears to be the problem may simply be participating in a much larger conversation.

This is where many therapists become frustrated.

The treatment works.

The symptom improves.

Yet somehow the pattern returns.

Not because the technique was wrong.

But because the body may have been adapting to something that was never recognised.

The real skill is not always knowing what to treat.

It is learning how to observe.

How to recognise patterns.

How to identify where the body is asking for change.

And how to work with the body rather than against it.

This shift in thinking transformed the way I work.

Instead of asking:

“What’s tight?”

I became more interested in:

“What is this body trying to achieve?”

Often the answer is very different.

And often the results become more lasting.

This fascination with patterns, fascia, TMJ, breathing, the vagus nerve and whole-body relationships led me to create a new guide for therapists:

Working With The Nervous System

A Therapist’s Guide to Fascia, TMJ, the Vagus Nerve and the Nervous system.

FREE copy here on my site: https://jacquihoitingh.com/training-page -guide-to-fascia

Most therapists spend years learning techniques.

Far fewer are taught how much their own nervous system affects the quality of their sessions.

Your speed.
Your breathing.
Your level of stress.
How present you are.
Whether your nervous system feels calm… or overloaded.

Clients feel far more than we realise.

One of the things I’ve observed repeatedly over the years is that when therapists regulate themselves first, they begin listening differently.

They observe more.
Feel more.
Notice more.
And often work with far less force.

Sometimes the greatest shift in a session is not another technique…

but the therapist becoming more regulated, present and responsive themselves.

This is becoming a huge part of the work I’m now most passionate about:
helping therapists reconnect not only with their skills — but with themselves too.

Beyond Technique 🌿
The Listening Body

The Body Is Always Adapting

One of the things I notice repeatedly through Bowen Therapy is how brilliantly the body adapts.

Sometimes to stress.
Sometimes to pain.
Sometimes to injury.
Sometimes simply to years of “holding it together.”

The body is constantly trying to protect us.

A shoulder lifts.
The jaw tightens.
Breathing becomes shallow.
The hips stiffen.
The nervous system becomes hyper-alert.

Over time, these adaptations can become so normal that people stop noticing them completely…

Until the body finally begins speaking louder through:

* headaches
* fatigue
* jaw tension
* neck and shoulder pain
* anxiety
* poor sleep
* digestive issues
* lower back pain
* feeling constantly “wired”

Often the body isn’t failing.

It’s adapting.

And many symptoms are actually the result of the body trying to compensate, protect and keep functioning under long-term stress or overload.

This is one of the reasons Bowen Therapy can feel so different.

Rather than forcing the body aggressively, Bowen works with the nervous system and fascia, helping the body soften protective patterns and reorganise tension naturally.

Sometimes the body doesn’t need more force.

It needs enough safety to stop compensating.

The body is always communicating.

The question is whether we are listening.

(PLEASE SHARE to help educate others about the nervous system and the body’s incredible ability to adapt.)

Beyond Bowen Retreat
by Jacqui Hoitingh

Over several days in the Scottish Borders, experienced Bowen Therapists came together to slow down, refine their work, and reconnect with the deeper art of listening to the body.

This is what happens when experienced Bowen Therapists step away from busy clinics… and into the Scottish hills?

Something shifts.

This Retreat was never about learning “more techniques.”

It was about refining touch.
Deepening observation.
Understanding the nervous system more profoundly.
And remembering what happens when we slow down enough to truly listen to the body.

Over six beautiful days in Scotland, therapists immersed themselves in:

✨ Advanced Bowen Training
✨ Nervous system understanding
✨ Intuitively feel how a body communicates
✨ Hands-on practitioner refinement
✨ Walks in nature
✨ Deep conversations
✨ Beautiful nourishing meals
✨ Laughter, connection and restoration

Because great practitioners don’t just learn technique.

They develop presence.

In the pauses between treatments…
Around the dinner table…
Walking through the hills…
Something important happens.

The practitioner resets too.

Thank you to this beautiful group for your openness, warmth, humour and willingness to learn so deeply.

And a special joy to have new instructor Angela alongside me, continuing the evolution of Bowen with such grounded presence and care.
And to Dana who kept everyone nourished in both body and spirit.

This is Beyond Bowen.

Not more doing.
More listening.

— Jacqui Hoitingh
Senior Bowen Instructor

Happy International Nurses Day!! Bowen Training UK Bowen Association (UK) understands how vital your contribution is to medical care as well as our complementary therapies! A BIG thank you to you today!! 🤩International Nurses Day
Mental Health First Aid EnglandAllergy and Free From Show 2026Bowen Association of AustraliaBowen Association of Ireland

Happy 💙

Today we thank nurses for their unwavering commitment to patient care and the difference they make to people's lives every day.

Discover our latest nursing opportunities here https://www.awpcareers.co.uk/careers/

With Mental Health First Aid England BTUK just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉. We are supporting Mental Health Awareness Week 2026! We believe everyone has the right to good health and wellbeing!

The neck is rarely just “tight muscles.”

This area is deeply connected to:
• the jaw
• tongue posture
• breathing
• swallowing
• posture
• the diaphragm
• and the nervous system itself

This is why people with jaw tension often also experience:
• headaches
• neck pain
• shallow breathing
• voice fatigue
• throat tightness
• anxiety
• dizziness
• poor sleep
• feeling constantly “on”

Sometimes the body isn’t simply tight.

It’s compensating.

In Bowen Therapy, we often see the jaw, neck and nervous system behaving as one connected pattern rather than separate problems.

When the body feels safer, breathing softens.
The jaw softens.
The neck softens.

The body begins reorganising tension differently.

The jaw is rarely just the jaw.
And the neck is rarely just the neck.

As it is Mental Health Awareness Week (11th to the 17th of May). I have reflected on this weekend event and my takeaway learning. There were many, but the one that had the most impact on myself? - seeing the change in a persons’ face before and after the taster session. Being in pain can be stressful, so witnessing people relax, pain lower or disappear.. (this lady had the range of movement back in her shoulder.. - on the Sunday). The relief 😮‍💨 to ‘feel better with Bowen’ was fantastic to see! It made me consider the Sadie Bristow Foundation and the parents who are on constant high alert and how that can cause PTSD. It was a privilege to offer over 60 taster sessions and witness the changes and develop my understanding of other charities where the Bowen Technique might be of benefit to help those manage their own mental wellbeing whilst caring for another. 🥰
Bowen Association (UK)Bowen Training UKAllergy and Free From Show 2026The Sadie Bristow FoundationMindMental Health FoundationSANE Mental Health Charity

Wow the Allergy and Free From Show 2026!! You certainly didn’t disappoint us!! Over 60 taster treatments carried out on necks, shoulders, knees… together with demonstrations of the respiratory emergency move!! There was one lucky winner from the Sadie Bristow Foundation who won BAUKs free treatment voucher.. as well as the taster session at our BAUK and BTUK stand! Thank you to all who came to our stand.. we really hope you are !

The Jaw Is Rarely Just the Jaw

Most people think jaw tension is simply stress, teeth grinding, or TMJ.

But the jaw is often part of a much bigger story.

One of the things I’ve noticed repeatedly through Bowen Therapy is that people carrying tension in the jaw are rarely only holding it there physically.

The jaw is deeply connected to the nervous system, the neck, the diaphragm, posture, breathing patterns, and even the pelvis through the fascial network of the body.

This is why someone with jaw tension may also experience:
* headaches or migraines
* neck and shoulder tightness
* dizziness
* poor sleep
* anxiety or feeling “wired”
* clenching or grinding teeth
* digestive tension
* shallow breathing
* lower back or pelvic imbalance

The body is always adapting.

And the jaw is one of the places where the nervous system often shows us that someone has been holding tension, pressure, responsibility, or emotion for a very long time.

Sometimes it’s stress.

Sometimes it’s hypervigilance.

Sometimes it’s simply being “on” for too long.

Many people don’t realise they are clenching until their body finally starts speaking louder through pain, tension, headaches, or exhaustion.

What makes Bowen Therapy interesting is that we don’t try to force the jaw to release.

Instead, we work with the nervous system.

Gentle moves over very specific points in the body send information through the fascia and nervous system, allowing the body an opportunity to soften protective patterns and reorganise tension naturally.

Often the jaw relaxes not because we attacked the jaw directly…
but because the body no longer feels it has to hold so tightly.

This is also why Bowen can sometimes create changes in areas that seem unrelated.

The jaw is rarely just the jaw.

It’s part of a much bigger conversation happening throughout the whole body.

To find a Bowen Introductory Workshop near you check our site

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