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The following commentary is based upon the unpublished transcript of
the proceedings before the Osteopathy, Chiropractic and Naturopathy Committee
at Geelong Australia on Monday 8th of October, 1973.
Thomas Ambrose
Bowen was born in 1903. He went to school in Geelong during the depression
of the 1920's and left Ashby State School in grade 8 (about 14 years
old). This was his only formal education. He had no secondary or tertiary
education.
As a young man Mr. Bowen worked in miscellaneous laboring jobs performing
unskilled work. In 1958,he was working as a laborer at the Geelong cement
works (not as an industrial chemist).
For several years Mr. Bowen cultivated and developed an interest in
massage and bodywork. He spent time observing football trainers and
various others and spending a lot of time with local football clubs
etc.
In 1959 at the age of 43, he began a full time practice in remedial
therapy. He called himself an Osteopath (at the time it was an unregulated
profession and the title was available to any who wished to use it -
a bit like "Bowen Therapist" is today!) and he practiced what
he called "soft tissue manipulation".
He claimed that his fingers could sense vibrations in the muscles,
nerves and soft tissues. That tension in the muscles helped him find the
right places to manipulate.
He found
text books on Acupuncture and Shiatsu quite interesting and obviously
influential in developing his work.
Tom Bowen was concerned that practitioners were popping up all over the
place and that they may not be properly trained -"where are all these
practitioners coming from? One day you see a person in Homeopathy and
the next day he's a D.C. (chiropractor). This is one of the things I am
worried about".
Although he was himself untrained, he was eager and prepared to go through
relevant examinations in order to get registered. ("I think the quicker
it comes the better . If I sit an examination and I fail, I suppose that
is it. I will accept that"). He was concerned that chiropractic qualifications
(at that time) were too easy to get and they overshadowed more subtle
osteopathic techniques.
Mr. Bowen said he would modestly estimate
his own success rate to be about 88%. He believed coffee was the main cause
of migraines and that 90% asthmatics got relief through his manipulations and
diet changes (no sago, rice, spaghetti, fried foods, potatoes, onions, dairy
products, chocolate, pastry, peanuts, strawberries, or passion fruit).
He never
advertised, he relied upon word of mouth. His gross income (mostly cash) was
roughly $45,000 in 1973. (A three bedroom home in Melbourne's eastern suburbs
could be purchased for around $12,000 that same year).
** Reprinted from Bowen News, Volume 2, Issue 1, November 1997
I expect to pass through this world
but once.
Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any
kindness that I can show to any fellow creature,
let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again. | 
