Following 2-yearly endoscopies since 2008, and three years of severe emotional stress, I was diagnosed with Barrett’s oesophagus in February 2015. I still don’t know if the actual diagnosis or the way in which it was communicated to me was more of a shock. I was given a prescription for a PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) and told I’d be taking it for the rest of my life. 3 months down the line, and barely able to stand, walk, eat …or smile … I visited my daughter’s Naturopathic Doctor in Canada who recommended – among other things - that I start having regular sessions of Bowen therapy on my return home. I had heard of Bowen therapy, and knew it was a ‘sort of massage’ but that was as far as it went. It is much more than this: its ‘moves’, performed by hand, address the whole person rather than individual problems, and what is currently going wrong, both physically and emotionally, so that the body understands how to heal itself. I visited Tatiana Vincent in the Var Départment of France on a weekly basis during September and October 2015. During this time, she examined with me the causes and history of my digestive problems, offering both dietary and practical solutions in terms of understanding how to re-energise and to believe in myself once more as my self-confidence had been completely shattered following the brusque and unexpected scientific medical diagnosis in February. Each visit to Tatiana started with a chat – reactions to the previous treatment and the way forward. Lying very comfortably on her treatment couch, I received the gentle hands-on therapy, easing muscles to completely relax me, and enabling the ‘moves’ to penetrate to a deep cellular level. This process was allowing my body to heal itself – thus relieving pain and making me feel much more positive. By the time my very short programme of sessions came to an end, I was feeling infinitely better, both physically and emotionally, than when I had first met Tatiana. Now that I am back home again in England, I shall continue Bowen sessions with my local practitioner – who had sent me Tatiana’s details in the first place – in the hopes of inducing my body to keep up the good work!
Cirencester UK 3rd December 2015