About the Guest
Bo Forbes is a clinical psychologist, embodiment guide, urban contemplative, and research collaborator in the science of well-being. Her paradigm-bending work explores the body as an essential part of transformation and the inextricable links between individual and collective well-being. Bo’s work is interdisciplinary, and integrates emerging research in science, psychology, somatics, and contemplative practice with decades of experience on the front lines of somatic education. Since the 1990s, her experience in the field of trauma and social epigenetics has included inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, private practice, organizational consulting, somatic therapy, and scholarship. She has a unique perspective on embodiment: she works intimately with the body in relation to trauma, and has also experienced, written about, and spoken publicly about sexual assault and harassment. Her mother was a prisoner of war in World War II who between the ages of 7 and 12 was forced to march through Kenya, Uganda, and Siberia. And until the age of two, she lived with her parents on a Seneca reservation in New York before its destruction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; her master’s thesis focused on the bodily rituals of indigenous cultures. Bo co-teaches a course at Tufts University with colleague Kris Manjapra that focuses on colonialism, social justice, and the body. She is the founder of Embodied Awareness, an online education company, and teaches workshops and trainings internationally. She recently presented her work on interoception, connective tissue, and emotional health at the Fascia Research Congress in Berlin. She has written scholarly and lay articles for numerous leading magazines, and is the author of Yoga for Emotional Balance: Simple Practices to Help Relieve Anxiety and Depression and Her newest book on the science and practice of embodiment, is slated for publication in early 2020.
In this episode, you will learn:
- Conceptual insight is not required for change
- Exteroceptive, proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness and how it relates to neuroplasticity and connective tissue
- Social justice – implicit bias and our “social immune system”
- Yoga and contemplative practices‚ relationship to healing, practicing vs. processing, and social justice