Virginie Dulac-Better Health Bowen

13/01/2026

So true. Even an old coccyx injury can affect the neck and jaw.

A tight hip can strain the lower back.

A stiff neck can cause jaw pain.

Your body is a network — and Bowen Therapy considers the whole map, not just the trouble spot.

08/01/2026

Our body holds so much wisdom. Have you tried Bowen Therapy?
It gives the body, fascia gentle but powerful signals to relax, rest and release blockages, physicals and emotionals

The body has an extraordinary capacity for self-regulation and balance.

Bowen Therapy is designed to work with that innate intelligence — offering gentle input and then allowing the body time to respond.

Healing isn’t imposed.

It’s invited.

01/01/2026

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and joyful new year 💕

A New Year doesn’t have to be about reinvention or resolve.

It can simply be a moment to acknowledge what’s been carried — and what doesn’t need to come along.

What would you like to leave behind?

19/12/2025

Trust your body’s inner wisdom.

Bowen Therapy does not impose change through painful manipulation.

It invites change through its gentle moves that partner with the body’s innate intelligence.

Consider the countless processes your body performs every day without any conscious effort on your part.

This is the body’s innate intelligence, and what we, as Bowen Therapists, aim to work with to restore balance and well-being (to the best of your body's ability).

As a bonus? It's incredibly relaxing!

16/12/2025

Bowen Therapy gives time to the body, to connect with its inner wisdom to heal.

The fascial system is rich in sensory receptors and responds to a wide range of input — including gentle, specific cues.

Bowen Therapy is designed around this understanding, using precise moves and intentional pauses rather than relying on sustained or forceful pressure.

What looks minimal on the surface is actually a considered, anatomy-informed approach.

27/11/2025

I am looking forward to go to Brisbane next week to complete my next level of Craniosacral Therapy training. I will be attending the Stress and Trauma Response course. With the right support, the body can release trauma. Craniosacral Therapy and Bowen Therapy can be helpful in this process.

Studies show that the body can store emotional, physical, and sexual trauma, which can then manifest as physical pain. This happens because the brain doesn’t separate physical and emotional pain, and the nervous system can store trauma, leading to symptoms like chronic pain, headaches, fatigue, and digestive issues, especially in those with PTSD.

▶️How trauma is stored and expressed physically:

📑Embodiment theories: These theories suggest that traumatic experiences are stored in the body’s somatosensory system as implicit memories and can impact physical sensations and responses later in life.
📑Brain and nervous system response: The central nervous system processes emotional and physical pain similarly, and trauma can lead to chronic stress responses.
📑Chronic pain: There is a higher prevalence of chronic pain in survivors of childhood sexual abuse, as well as a link between trauma and conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
📑Manifestations: The physical pain can be a warning sign that emotional work needs to be done or a result of unresolved trauma in the nervous system.

▶️Examples of physical symptoms: Common physical symptoms include:
Headaches
Muscle pain and stiffness
Gastrointestinal issues
Fatigue
Increased heart rate, sweating, or trembling
Sexual pain or dysfunction

You must release the trauma from your body in order to heal. I will put a few somatic exercises in the comments section for you to try on your own, but more severe cases should seek professional guidance. Your trauma is never your fault, but, unfortunately, healing has become your responsibility. Take great care of yourselves sweet friends.
PMID: 21647882

27/11/2025

Trauma is often spoken about as something held in the mind or heart — a memory, a scar, a wound that shapes how we see the world. sychological. It is physiological. It settles into the body, into the fascia, into the nervous system, and more quietly than we realise… into the lymphatic system.

Your body remembers.
Even when your mind tries to forget.

The lymphatic system is embedded within fascia — the connective tissue web that wraps every organ, muscle, and nerve.

Fascia is highly innervated and responds intensely to emotional states.

Your fascia holds what the mind cannot process.

🤍 You Are Not Broken

Trauma may have shaped your physiology, but it does not define your

🌿 The Silent Weight: How Emotional Trauma Impacts the Lymphatic System

By Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD, MLDT & CDS

Trauma is often spoken about as something held in the mind or heart — a memory, a scar, a wound that shapes how we see the world. But modern science is revealing something truly profound: emotional trauma is not just psychological. It is physiological. It settles into the body, into the fascia, into the nervous system, and more quietly than we realise… into the lymphatic system.

Your body remembers.
Even when your mind tries to forget.

And one of the most sensitive systems to emotional distress, prolonged stress, and trauma is your lymphatic system — the very system designed to keep you healthy, detoxified, and resilient.

💧 The Lymphatic System: Your Silent Protector

The lymphatic system is your body’s waste-removal and immune defense network. It moves lymph — a clear fluid filled with immune cells — through vessels and nodes, clearing:
• toxins
• pathogens
• excess fluid
• inflammatory molecules
• metabolic waste

It has no pump like the heart.
It relies on:
• breathing
• muscle movement
• hydration
• sleep
• parasympathetic tone

Anything that disrupts these — especially emotional trauma — can disrupt lymph flow.

💔 How Emotional Trauma Affects Lymphatic Flow

1. Fight-or-Flight Physiology Slows Lymph Drainage

Trauma activates the sympathetic nervous system. This “fight or flight” state causes:
• shallow breathing
• tight chest and diaphragm
• muscle tension
• reduced gut motility
• vasoconstriction

The lymphatic system depends heavily on relaxed, deep breathing, abdominal movement, and muscular rhythm. When trauma locks the body into a stress state, lymph flow becomes sluggish.

This can lead to:
• facial puffiness
• neck swelling
• abdominal bloating
• chronic fatigue
• tightness around the ribcage
• headaches
• weakened immunity

Studies now show that chronic stress suppresses lymphatic function and alters immune responses.

2. Trauma Stores Itself in Fascia — and Fascia Houses Lymph

The lymphatic system is embedded within fascia — the connective tissue web that wraps every organ, muscle, and nerve.

Fascia is highly innervated and responds intensely to emotional states. Under traumatic stress, fascia can:
• tighten
• thicken
• lose elasticity
• become dehydrated
• restrict lymph flow

This is why people with unresolved trauma often feel:
• tight necks
• rigid shoulders
• abdominal pressure
• heaviness in the chest
• a “blocked” throat
• unexplained swelling

Your fascia holds what the mind cannot process.

3. Trauma Increases Inflammation — and That Overloads the Lymph

Trauma increases systemic inflammation through cortisol dysregulation and immune activation.

Higher inflammation means:
• more waste for the lymph to clear
• more burden on lymph nodes
• increased risk of stagnation
• higher fluid retention

For many people, this shows up as chronic swelling, unexplained weight gain, or persistent puffiness — even when diet is perfect.

4. Trauma Alters Breathing — and Breath Moves Lymph

Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the single strongest lymphatic pump in the body. But trauma often creates:
• shallow breaths
• upper-chest breathing
• restricted ribs
• tight diaphragm

Without the “pump,” lymph slows, stagnates, and accumulates.

This is why so many clients describe:
“I feel stuck,”
“My body feels heavy,”
“No matter what I do, I feel swollen.”

Their lymph is simply reflecting their trauma-impacted breath.

5. Emotional Suppression Creates Physiological Congestion

The lymphatic system is highly reactive to emotions. Tears, grief, fear, adrenaline — all shift hormonal signalling that impacts lymph flow.

When emotions are suppressed instead of released, the body often shows:
• throat tightness
• chest pressure
• digestive bloating
• water retention
• immune fluctuations
• sluggish circulation

Your lymph mirrors what you carry emotionally.

🌸 Signs Your Lymphatic System Is Responding to Emotional Trauma

You may see:
✓ Puffiness in the face, under eyes, or neck
✓ Bloated abdomen
✓ Fluid retention in legs
✓ Chronic fatigue
✓ Brain fog
✓ Muscle tightness
✓ Constant infections
✓ Slow healing
✓ Hormonal imbalance symptoms
✓ Difficulty losing weight

These symptoms are not “in your head.”
Your lymphatic system is telling a story.

🌿 What Helps? Gentle Support for a Trauma-Sensitive Lymphatic System

These gentle approaches can help restore flow:
• diaphragmatic breathing
• lymphatic drainage therapy
• walking
• hydration in small, frequent sips
• fascia stretching
• vagus nerve stimulation
• grounding
• emotional release work
• trauma-informed therapy
• warm compresses
• anti-inflammatory foods

Healing the lymph requires healing the nervous system.
Healing the nervous system requires acknowledging the emotional body.

Your lymphatic system is not weak — it is responding to your life.

🤍 You Are Not Broken

Trauma may have shaped your physiology, but it does not define your future. The lymphatic system is incredibly resilient and responds beautifully to gentle, compassionate care.

Your body remembers, yes —
but your body can also release,
reset,
rewire,
and heal.

You are not behind.
You are not stuck.
You are not alone.
Your lymph simply needs permission to flow again.

📚 Scientific References

These reputable sources support the physiological links between trauma, stress, fascia, immunity, and lymphatic health:
1. Peters, E. et al. (2021). “Stress and the Lymphatic System.” International Review of Neurobiology.
2. Bremner, J.D. (2006). “Traumatic stress: Effects on brain and body.” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.
3. Schleip, R. et al. (2012). “Fascia as a sensory organ.” Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.
4. McEwen, B.S. (1998). “Stress, adaptation, and disease: Allostasis and allostatic load.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
5. Porges, S. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory.
6. Zhang, Y. et al. (2015). “Stress-induced lymphatic dysfunction.” Nature Immunology.
7. Walker, J. (2020). “Breathing and lymphatic circulation.” Journal of Applied Physiology.

📝 Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.

19/11/2025

The Lymphatic System of a Griever 🌿

The Body Remembers What the Mind Tries to Forget

There are wounds the world cannot see.
The ones you never speak about.
The ones you try to bury under strength, responsibility and routine.

You tell yourself you’re fine.
You tell yourself you’ve moved on.
You tell yourself that “time heals.”

But your body knows the truth.
💚
Because your body remembers everything your mind tries so hard to forget.

Grief doesn’t disappear just because you silence it.
Trauma doesn’t dissolve simply because you refuse to look at it.
Pain doesn’t leave the body because you decided to “be strong.”

The body stores what the heart cannot carry.
💔
It hides in the fascia, the deepest connective tissue holding your life stories.
It sits in the tightness of your shoulders, the lump in your throat, the heaviness behind your sternum.
It wraps itself around the diaphragm, stealing the breath you need to heal.
It settles in the abdomen, slowing digestion and filling the lymphatic system with inflammation.

This is not weakness.
This is physiology.
This is a nervous system that has had to protect you for too long.

When grief goes unspoken, the lymphatic system becomes overloaded.
Stress hormones thicken lymph.
The fascia tightens and restricts drainage.
The vagus nerve retreats.
The body shifts into a long-term protective state.

And then you start to feel it.
🌿
The swelling that won’t leave.
The bloating out of nowhere.
The sudden weight around the belly.
The fatigue that rest can’t touch.
The random pains held in places where memories once broke you.

Your body is not betraying you.
It is communicating.
It is whispering, “There is something here that needs your compassion.”

Healing begins when you allow your body to exhale.
When you soften the areas that have been holding the hardest.
When you release the lymphatic pathways that froze in moments of fear, loss or shock.
When you finally give yourself permission to feel what you avoided just to survive.

You do not heal by pretending the pain isn’t there.
You heal by creating safety for your body to let go.

Because here is the truth:
Your body has always remembered you.
It held the parts of you your mind could not face.
And it is ready to release — the moment you are ready to listen.
🌿✨

10/11/2025

During a treatment, every sensations from the Bowen moves matters. Your body is trying to tell us a story.

Your body doesn’t speak in words — it speaks in signals.

Each one has a story to tell.

Bowen Therapy honours the whole picture — not just where it hurts.