hpagano

Psychologist and yoga teacher Bo Forbes uses the resonance between psychology and yogic philosophy to explain restorative yoga to practitioners and teachers in a manual that includes (but goes far beyond) explaining how to get into and out of the poses. She links anxiety to the rajasic guna, depression to the tamasic guna, and strives to find emotional balance (sattva). Revelations to me included: 1. that depression and anxiety are two sides of the same coin and stem from the same causes 2. that depression and anxiety often alternate day to day or even moment to moment 3. that depression and anxiety live in both the mind and body; a person experiencing a depressed body can simultaneously experience an anxious mind, and vice versa 4. that the subtler the physical experience in the pose, the easier it is for the nervous system to balance. I am still working through the exercises and postures in the process of building my own restorative practice, but I have already incorporated those exercises which most resonated with me into my own practice and teaching.