‘Throughout my life I have been fascinated by natural therapies’

13 Apr

Despite a career spanning a wide range of industries, Nambour Bowen Therapist, Annie Allan always found herself drawn to natural therapies and helping people.

“I have basically done everything from massage and counselling, to cleaning, to working in Special Education, but I always end up in positions where I am helping people,” Annie said.

“Even as a child, I wanted to help people and throughout my entire life I have been fascinated by and studied natural therapies,” she said.

“It was in my early 20s that I first discovered Reiki because I was aware from childhood that I had a natural ability and feeling for energy and felt I needed to understand and explore this more so I could utilise it appropriately.

Reiki treats the whole person including mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing.

“It just made so much sense to me. I have seen people experience relief from all kinds of chronic health conditions and the effect of this has been life-changing for them,” Annie said.

Six years ago, Annie began her study of Bowen Therapy and this has complimented her Reiki practice very well.

Bowen Therapy is a holistic remedial technique that aims to treat the cause of joint pain, muscle issues, sports injuries, ongoing or intermittent pain and dis-ease. The technique involves gentle soft tissue movement in a very specific way, stimulating the connective tissue around muscles and successfully addressing the concerns presented. It is safe for children, adults and seniors.

It is widely used to relieve and resolve both long-standing and also sudden onset pain. As a stand-alone or as a complementary therapy to existing chiropractic or physiotherapy programs, Bowen Therapy has proven to be an effective technique to manage conditions such as acute and chronic pain associated with musculo-skeletal or neurological issues, fibromyalgia, back pain, lumbago, sciatica, chronic fatigue syndrome, neck pain, arm pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, TMJ syndrome (jaw pain), shoulder pain (frozen shoulder), leg and foot pain (e.g. plantar fasciitis), depression, anxiety and stress, asthma, sporting injuries, traumatic injuries and general joint pain.

“Both Bowen Therapy and Reiki are grounded in energy work,” said Annie. “My clients are people of all ages, from all walks of life, with a very broad range of physical and emotional issues. I find that the sooner people come to see me, the better and faster their progress. As with any health condition, the longer you leave it to treat it, the slower, more complicated and difficult it may be to address. Every person responds differently to Bowen”

Annie uses Bush Flower Essences in her clinic, and this ties in naturally with the other modalities she practices. “Flower Essences are gentle remedies that provide us with vibrational healing for a wide variety of conditions, particularly those related to emotional matters, which can often manifest physically,” said Annie. “They have been used safely for thousands of years by many cultures to treat underlying emotional causes of disease and to improve health and well-being. They work on harmonising negative feelings and belief patterns and can be used to treat health and emotional issues, to enhance clarity, courage, joy, strength and commitment to follow personal goals and dreams.”

• Sunshine Coast Health in Harmony, The Courtyard 4, 40 Howard St, Nambour. Phone 5476 1641.