About Bill Bowers DC – Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT), Nutritional Counseling, & Therapeutic Massage

 
BillBowersPhoto3 Bill Bowers, DC
1307 University Ave., 2nd Fl.
Berkeley CA 94702..
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Call: (510) 843-8640
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About Dr Bill Bowers DC

I was born in Venezuela

..but grew up in San Diego and as a teenager my family lived in the Caribbean. As others might have joined the military and thus traveled abroad, in my case it brought me back to the US. I spent my college years and did my initial bodywork training in New York and Massachusetts, building up my first practice in therapeutic massage in New York City. In choosing a chiropractic college I took the opportunity to move back to California and haven’t looked back since. Every summer I camp and hike along the coast, in the Redwood Empire and the Sierra Nevada, and in the winter in Death Valley—show me a likely tree or rock face and I’ll try to climb it! I have also explored some of the hiking trails in the hills of the north and east Bay Area. I am always ready to discover and photograph more of California’s natural beauty. Mount Lassen is perhaps my favorite haunt.

Doubtless from my trilingual family origins I have a great interest in history, languages and other cultures. I read voraciously in history, science, folklore, mythology, and philosophy, and love poetry, historical fiction and science fiction. I love animals and in particular cats. I try to surround myself with art and color, as anyone who has visited my office can attest. I listen to music from many cultures and from classical to modern, although I confess my one great regret is never to have learned a musical instrument. Who knows? Maybe that will be next…

My philosophy

..both in how to analyze the body and in how to approach treatment, is founded on Sacro-Occipital Technique, which has an 80+ year history of innovation within chiropractic. While it is most famous for introducing the use of wedges for gentle but powerful adjustment of the pelvis and low back, it rests not on a symptom-by-symptom approach but on uncovering the distortion patterns through which your body attempts to compensate for stress and injury. Sacro-Occipital Technique or SOT is not limited to the spine but also addresses and treats the arms and legs, the various organ systems, and even introduced cranial work to chiropractic over 70 years ago.

Combining the truly holistic philosophy of SOT chiropractic with my background in bodywork and knowledge of nutrition, I’ve come to approach the body as nature’s computer, a system utilizing all its interconnections of bone, muscle, connective tissue and more to stabilize any injury and redistribute stress in order to allow you to function normally and without pain. Whether you are in my office for treatment of an injury, for help in staying at your best level of wellness or a combination, I do my best to understand your body’s compensation patterns and guide its efforts toward maximum healing and wellness. Put simply, it is very much like tuning an instrument, but the wonder is that it is a living instrument, to be tuned in your own personal key.

Everyone knows massage feels good

..yet beyond perhaps the relief of muscle spasm not many can name its other benefits. Working out muscle spasm also decreases pain, soreness and discomfort from tense muscles, but therapeutic massage also restores optimum muscle tone generally. One reason professional athletes, dancers and others who rely on peak physical performance receive regular bodywork is to ensure their muscles will be at their best, both in strength and in fine coordination. Additionally massage will stimulate the circulation of blood to levels normally reached through exercise; lymphatic circulation will similarly benefit. As a result, you experience a bodywide boost in both detoxification and in immune function, leaving you feeling cleaner, clearer and healthier. Deep tissue massage will give nerves all over your body a beneficial wake-up call, resulting in improved skin sensitivity, balance and presence in your own body. Further, the relaxation you experience receiving therapeutic massage helps shift your nervous system away from the “fight or flight” state we too often experience with modern stress, guiding it instead toward a state in which healing and regeneration can get the focus they deserve. Skin tone improves as a combination of these effects on underlying muscle tone and healthy circulation—why cosmetologists and spas include massage in skin care regimens.

Finally, when you consider the effects of ageing on muscles, nerves, circulation and skin, the anti-ageing effects of regular massage become readily apparent. All in all, receiving regular therapeutic massage is not a luxury but perhaps one of the best investments in preventative, holistic health you can make.

Craniopathy

..like the osteopathic discipline of Cranio-Sacral Therapy, addresses itself to analyzing and adjusting fixations in the skull plates. Many of us have heard of full-spine adjusting; craniopathy addresses itself to the part of the nervous system that is above the spine. As I’ve heard said by craniopathy instructors, “It’s not all in your head—just 80% of it.” Many of us are aware of the circulatory system and the blood-brain barrier; craniopathy works to optimize circulation on the brain side of that barrier, the circulation of the cerebro-spinal fluid that brings nutrients and oxygen to our brain and takes away by-products, allowing it to do its many jobs.

The bony plates of the skull are not completely fused; we know this because we’ve found position-sense nerves in the sutures which wouldn’t be there if there weren’t motion to detect. This range of motion is quite small—1/40th of an inch or less, around half a millimeter—but to trained hands it’s not difficult to sense. Without this normal range of motion we couldn’t compensate for small changes in the fluid pressure inside, leaving us vulnerable to headaches, sinus issues and other undesirable symptoms. Without this range of motion circulation would diminish, and the brain would be left with reduced nutrients and energy with which to run your body and allow your senses and mind to function.
Cranial adjusting is very subtle. As with any adjustment proper position and contact are key, but the doctor uses very gentle pressure to guide your cranial plate back into its normal state—the real movement is accomplished by your own breathing with this guidance. Patients have described the experience of cranial adjusting as extremely relaxing, with feelings of buoyancy to the point of being “in zero gravity.” Cranial work is a great favorite among my patients.


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