Kayko did an excellent job providing a clear and complete use case summary for her client (IRB). She described the reason why her client sought yoga therapy (physical pain, stress, anxiety, lack of sleep) and illustrated how her client's intense job contributed to those issues. Kayko's assessment of her client's needs across the Pancha Maya Kosha Model was thorough and insightful. Kayko worked with her client to identify realistic short-term and long-term goals for yoga therapy, and she provided details on how yoga practices could benefit her client. Kayko listed (and offered her client) a valuable list of resources to support her yoga therapy practice. In addition, Kayko did an excellent job documenting the activities, homework assignment, client progress, personal self-reflection, and next steps in each documented session.

Kayko demonstrates an exceptional understanding of the core concepts of yoga therapy, and she provided an excellent summary of what her client was experiencing, how yoga therapy practices could help address her client (across multiple Koshas), and why she chose specific yoga tools to aid her client's physical, energetic, mental / emotional, intuitive, and spiritual layers.

For example, in her client's care plan, Kayko documented how yoga therapy could help her client. She provided a comprehensive understanding of how yogic tools could address her client's needs at each Kosha layer & across Kosha layers. She included resources to validate her recommendations & to highlight benefits that the prescribed yoga practices could offer her client. Very well done.

I am impressed by how Kayko is evolving as a yoga therapist. In this case study, Kayko demonstrated her ability to offer yogic tools to address her client's physical & psychological health and bring more balance into her life. Kayko understood how the intensity of her client's job (10-12 hours a day / 7 days a week) was impacting her physical health (back pain, headaches), energetic health (lack of sleep, lethargy, brain fog), mental health (stress, anxiety, worry), intuitive wisdom health (low self-confidence, unable to set boundaries), and inner peace.

Through the use of movement, breathing practices, chakra / energy awareness, meditation, deep relaxation, and yogic philosophy (e.g. pratipaksha bhavana, 4 locks & keys), Kayko provided well-reasoned sequences at each session to assist her client in becoming more self-aware, self-confident, and self-caring during the 5 weeks of practice.

In particular, I was impressed with how Kayko used self-reflective exercises (e.g. What is physical pain telling you? What lifestyle changes can you make? How do you establish boundaries? Where is anxiety coming from?) during the 5-week yoga therapy session to help her client reduce lower back pain & improve mobility, ease her stress & anxiety, and become more self-aware & self-supportive of herself. She helped her client understand the source of her physical / mental / emotional pain -- and she helped her client build skills (e.g. sun salutations, breathing skills, mudra and witnessing meditation) that her client could use when she experienced stress & anxiety related to work.

Kayko's understanding of her client's needs, yoga therapy tools, and their application was clearly demonstrated as highlighted by feedback from Kayko's client, who reported that she “uses the slow, long breath to relax the tight muscle in the lower back.” Mudra during the meditation “was helpful as it brings the focus back to the physical sensation of the fingers.”

Kayko did an excellent job gathering information from her client during intake and working with her client to set reasonable goals. She then performed research to identify resources that would support the care plan that she developed. As Kayko continued to meet with her client, she modified the care plan to reflect changing needs. For example, her client initially reported problems with sleeping but by the 2nd session, she was sleeping much better, so Kayko removed a planned "sleep hygiene" practice & replaced it with an affirmation practice to help boost her client's self confidence. This is an example of Kayko's growth as a yoga therapist -- she is adjusting her sessions to meet her client's needs. When her client had a set-back, Kayko used techniques such as normalizing, showing compassion, and building rapport to demonstrate her support of her client's path and to motivate her client to cherish each accomplishment "one baby step" at a time.

Kayko did a very good job identifying homework for her client to practice between sessions, and she clearly documented next steps after each session. When needed, Kayko did an excellent job adapting those plans to address her client's needs. At the end of the 3rd session, Kayko's client reported that the quality of her sleep had significantly improved, that she had no headaches, that her lower back pain was less, and that her stress level was lower.

Kayko provided relevant and credible information to validate the yoga therapy care plan that she put together to address her clients needs. She referenced several resources on how yoga therapy can assist with lower back pain, stress, anxiety, insomnia, and self-confidence. In addition, Kayko referenced Yogic philosophy -- identifying specific yoga sutras and chakras to aid her client in her journey. Finally, Kayko referenced sources for meditation practices to help her client develop compassion and loving-kindness towards herself.

Kayko is definitely growing as a yoga therapist, and she exhibits critical thinking in her approach with her client. During the initial intake, Kayko gained an overview of her client's life & began to see how her client's work life was impacting her home life, overall health and happiness. Kayko's assessment was wholistic, thoughtful, and insightful. For example, Kayko assessed that her client's extended time on the computer (10-12 hours a day) was causing sensory overload (Raga Klesha/attachment), so encouraged her client to set boundaries between work & personal time in order to reduce unhealthy habits that led to pain & suffering. Kayko also demonstrated critical thinking by assessing that her client's inability to relax was partially caused by a misconception of "I am not good enough" -- leading to a negative cycle of too much work without experiencing a sense of well-being. To help her client cultivate a greater sense of self-worth and self-compassion, Kayko introduced yogic techniques such as pratyahara during body scan, witness practice (Jnana yoga), and Metta / Loving kindness meditation during client sessions. Kayko personalized home practices to help her client incorporate change into her every day life, such as journaling or incorporating affirmations into her daily meditation or breathing practice. As a result, her client was better able to approach a difficult colleague to reduce her workload, use gentle stretching postures to help her ease physical pain, and become more mindful in taking care of herself, which has contributed to a sense of well-begin, happiness and contentment.

Kayko did an excellent job helping her client identify long-term (e.g. bring more balance into the physical energetic & mental body and a positive attitude toward self) and short-term (e.g. increase resiliency against stress/anxiety & cultivate compassion towards self & others) that she could achieve. In addition, Kayko worked with her client to devise a home practice that was specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART goals), to help her client succeed in small ways. One example of a SMART goal was: "Disconnect from work at 6:00 or 6:30 pm. Leave your home office. Leave your workspace for physical activities, such as walking the dog or Sun Salutations". By understanding her client's lifestyle, Kayko was able to help her build a sustainable home practice.

To measure whether or not the care plan was helping her client meet her goals, Kayko asked her client to measure her pain, stress, and self-compassion at each session. By the end of 2nd session, Kayko observed that her client was starting to take ownership of her practice & by the 3rd practice, her client was seeing measurable results (improved sleep, no headaches, reduction in lower back pain, improved boundaries between work & personal life, greater self-confidence).

Kayko's writing skills and professional is exceptional. This case study was beautifully written from beginning to end. The problem was clearly outlined, goals were well-defined and measured, and care plan and activities were well-documented. Kayko provided deep analysis in each progress summary and found creative ways to motivate her student. She properly referenced resources and provided aids to help her student with their home practice. Very well done.