Recover the alternative way with Valerie Tyler

10:57am Thursday 4th March 2004

YOU take your body for granted until it starts hurting then you look for something to fix the problem, whatever it might be.

One highly effective alternative therapy is The Bowen Technique, pracitised by Valerie Tyler in South Ruislip.

She originally became interested in the Bowen Technique as a way of giving extra help to some of her aromatherapy massage clients who were particularly suffering with aches and pains. She first qualified as a Bowen Therapist in May 1998 and has subsequently studied and obtained further qualifications at advanced level, as well as adding Reiki healing to her skills which she often incorporates into her Bowen or aromatherapy treatments.

Valerie is a member of the Bowen Therapist European Register and a member of the British Complementary Medical Association.

Bowen is a very gentle, soothing treatment, as suitable for fail elderly people or young children as it is for robust sports players and adults.

When you first experience it, you may think it is too gentle to have any fundamental effect, but your body will tell you otherwise.

Valerie will check the geometry of your body to see if one hip is higher than the other, to discover if your shoulders level, or if one area of your body is more tense. Then she will work methodically, addressing the specific problems you and she have identified, but also treating the whole of your body. Each move is a gentle pressure followed by a rolling motion, which is relaxing and soothing.

The Bowen technique can address joint and soft tissue sports injuries, back problems, sciatica, asthma and other respiratory problems, pelvic tilt, leg length imbalance, infertility, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow and knee problems, restricted movement in joints, teeth grinding, migraine and many other painful or lifestyle-limiting conditions. Theoretically, it resets the body to heal itself, balancing and stimulating energy flows and inducing a deep sense of relaxation.

Healing seems to occur by affecting the body's autonomic nervous system, which creates homeostasis at the cellualar level.

Whatever the theory, you may feel sleepy or energised immediately after a treatment.

Valerie works by appointment only, daytime and some evenings, and offers aromatherapy, full body or back and neck massage with personally blended pure essential oils.

For further information and to book an appointment, contact Valerie on 0208 841 8973