Bear Grylls claims Bowen is “vital support”

Bear Grylls, the valiant adventurer and TV presenter, was one of the guests on Saturday night’s Jonathan Ross show.

Bear was promoting his new book – A Survival Guide for Life, and also spoke a little about the kind of things he does to keep himself in shape and healthy. We know one thing that helps Bear when he returns from his worldwide exploits – and that’s Bowen.

Bear appeared alongside Kylie Minogue, Russell Howard and Muse

Bear has regular treatments with Sussex based Bowen therapist Sarah Yearsley, and now regards these as an essential part of his preparation and recovery. “Bowen has helped keep my body together despite the continual bashing it takes,” he explains: “It’s a vital support in putting right a whole range of new aches and pains, making sure that old injuries don’t cause me problems, and helping me fight stress and fatigue.”

Rather than 'making' the body change, Bowen 'asks' the body to recognise and make the changes it requires. With primarily fingers and thumbs, the Bowen practitioner makes small, rolling movements over muscles, tendons, ligaments and soft tissue at precise points on the body, using only the amount of pressure appropriate for that individual.

No hard-tissue manipulation or force is needed or used. Between each set of moves, the body is allowed to rest for a few minutes, to allow it to absorb the information it has received and initiate the healing process.

On his Channel 4 show, Born Survivor, Bear performed freefall parachute jumps into extreme terrain -- including landing in trees, glaciers, and sand dunes -- back flips from a helicopter into a lake, abseiling down sheer cliffs and a range of other acrobatic activities.

He has also been under great stress from the many different environments -- including jungle, desert, mountains in winter and summer, open sea -- and has had to tolerate extreme heat, cold, dehydration and fatigue. He usually has only a few days to recover from each episode, while the pressure is increased still further by a very demanding travel schedule.

So it’s fair to say that Bear’s body has taken a thrashing. And this is not aided by niggling old injuries like a broken back from a parachuting accident and a bad foot injury from a motorcycle accident.

Bear learned about Bowen therapy from his wife Shara, who herself contacted therapist Sarah Yearsley after hearing about its positive effects in treating chronic back pain.

The specific conditions Sarah has helped Bear to overcome include a rotated pelvis, tight and shallow breathing, a strained calf muscle, extreme exhaustion and stress, and a toe injury.

“Bear provides a perfect illustration of the amazing versatility of Bowen,” she comments; “It helps him across a full range of conditions – not only alleviating pain but boosting his immune system and helping minimise fatigue. Of course, he isn’t a typical patient, but most of his problems are no different from those I treat in people with normal lifestyles.”

Read Bear Grylls’ Bowen testimonial in full here

If you are interested in how Bowen Therapy can help you, visit the website, or call 0844 561 7173.