From blog: BeYoutiful.
If you can already touch your toes, then we’re very happy for you. For those who can’t – and that includes a number of us at Wahanda HQ – it looks help may be at hand. Or, ahem, foot…
Research into UK fitness levels has shown that 50% of Brits cannot touch their toes – a figure that sheds a great deal of light on our lifestyles. Lack of activity and a reluctance to exercise is leading to the shortening of hamstring muscles, which in turn can have some pretty gloomy health consequences. As Bowen Technique expert Julian Baker puts it, ‘being able to touch your toes is not just a party trick – it can mean the difference between chronic pain and comfort.’ Well, that’s certainly made us sit up and listen…
So where does the Bowen Technique come in? This fascinating therapy relies upon trained practitioners using their thumbs and forefingers to make rolling movements across tendons and ligaments – and it looks like it can have pretty impressive results. According to a new study by Coventry University, the Bowen Technique can dramatically increase flexibility, to the extent that some people may find themselves able to touch their toes after as little as a week.
Julian Baker, who is director of the European College of Bowen Studies, says ‘I’m astonished by the long-term effects of this therapy treatment. For the high proportion of the UK population unable to touch its toes, even an introductory workout could induce levels of pain incurring long recovery periods.’ Well, then, what are you waiting for?
Popular with athletes, who use the therapy to reduce the damage done by sports injuries, the Bowen Technique also comes highly recommended by adventurer Bear Grylls. After undergoing treatment from Bowen practitioners to mend his back, which was broken during SAS parachute training, Grylls is apparently hooked. And if it’s good enough for him, it’s definitely good enough for us – after all, our biggest adventure is having to navigate the Tube at rush hour.
Feel like reacquainting yourself with your toes? Find out more about this therapy at www.thebowentechnique.com or browse for Bowen Technique practitioners near you. Time to show those hamstrings who’s boss…
Article published by Wahanda.com, research provided by www.thebowentechnique.com