The Bowen Technique was first developed in Australia by Thomas Bowen (1916 to 1982). His interest and study of the human muscular structure led to the development of this gentle body-work technique.

Tom’s asthmatic wife, Jessie, benefitted from special respiratory moves developed by her husband, who then went on to run an extremely busy clinic in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.  Tom also ran special clinics for people with disabilities, in memory of a granddaughter who died aged 5.

Tom regarded only a small number of his students to be fully competent in his method, including Keith Davis, Kevin Neave, Nigel Love, Romney Smeeton, Kevin Ryan and Ossie Rentsch.

At Tom’s request, Ossie Rentsch and Rene Horwood (Tom’s secretary) documented the technique.  Ossie was authorised by Tom to teach the technique and in 1986 he began to do so, firstly in Australia and then in other countries, arriving in the UK in 1993.  Since then, the knowledge has spread around the world and now thousands of Bowen practitioners help clients address a wide range of issues.