LAURA Murray hasn’t looked back since swapping sirens and stretchers for meditation and massage tables seven years ago.
The former paramedic is now a highly sought-after Bowen therapist and has been treating patient’s aches and pains in her Fremantle clinic for just over a year.
Bowen therapy is a home-grown holistic approach to pain management that was first introduced over 50 years ago by Australian sports therapist Thomas Bowen.
“It is a type of gentle bodywork that targets the muscles and fascia (soft tissue) in order to provide effective healing,” says Murray.
“These moves send messages deep into the body’s cellular memory to release stress and heal, which results in effective pain relief and a general sense of wellbeing.”
• Laura Murray is one of the few qualified Bowen therapists in Perth. Photo by Jasmine Kazlauskas
After suffering injuries so severe she was unable to continue work as a paramedic, Murray says she turned to alternative medicine and therapies for pain relief.
“My first experience with Bowen therapy was as a patient and I was amazed at the results,” she says.
“I couldn’t believe that something so gentle could be so effective.”
Murray said the ideology behind the treatment “promotes healing from within and allows the body to do all the work”.
“If we look at today’s medicine and techniques, a lot of it is forcing the body to do something that it might not be ready to do,” she says.
Due to the “extremely gentle” nature of the procedure, the treatment is suitable for everyone from “newborn babies to heavily pregnant women, to the elderly and athletes.”
In addition to the physiological benefits of Bowen therapy, Murray said it can have a profound effect on a person’s psychological wellbeing and can alleviate symptoms of “depression, anxiety and stress.”
Murray noted that Bowen therapy is “becoming more recognised” in the medical community and she often treats patients referred to her by local GPs, physiotherapists and chiropractors.
Laura Murray’s clinic is located at 75 Wray Avenue, Fremantle.
For more information or to make an online booking visit http://www.lauramurray-bowentherapy.com.au.
by JASMINE KAZLAUSKAS