Kayko is becoming more and more skilled as a yoga therapist. Her documentation of this case study was very clear, complete and purposeful. In particular, Kayko did an excellent job with documenting the following:

* Intake summary & assessment & contradictions were very clear & compelling. I am pleased that Kayko is becoming stronger at assessing her client holistically from a Yogic lens. While Kayko continues to assess physical pains & goals, she is using other tools such as awareness of breath, chakras, the Kleshas and more to assess pain caused by low energy, pained caused by mental disturbances, pain caused by loneliness & feeling separate.

* Short-term & long-term goals were well-defined and realistic

* Initial care plan (with + / -- to indicate additions or removal) was excellent. Kayko describe how Yoga Therapy could help the client & highlighted activities across the Panchamaya Kosha model to cover body, energy, senses/mind, intellect/intuition, and bliss layers.

I am especially pleased to see how Kayko has expended the tools she uses in each layer. For example, in the Pranamaya Kosha layer, Kayko has become more comfortable including tools such as breathing practices, mantra/chanting & focal points to balance energy. In the same way, she's become more comfortable adding tools such as body scans, witnessing, reading (i.e. sutras), journaling, etc. to become more aware of senses, thoughts/emotions & to effect choice on how to respond.

Kayko listed relevant resources to support the care plan. Kayko documented each of the 3 sessions very well by highlighting the activities performed, offering a homework assignment & handouts, summarizing her client's progress, and providing insightful reflection on her own experience.

The case study was interesting and easy to review -- an exceptional job.

Kayko did an exceptional job at demonstrating the what, how & why of yoga therapy concepts AND she demonstrated excellent critical thinking & application of those concepts in her 1-1 sessions with her client. For example, Kayko addressed her client's physical pain by offering gentle & restorative yoga poses to release back tension & strengthen her client's core structure. She used asana, pranayama & energy work to support her client's low energy, anxiety & depression (i.e. legs against the wall, breathing practices, vocalization, guided meditation, mantra). To help client become more aware & compassionate, she introduced Pratyahara awareness (body scan), Jnana Yoga (witness practice, ie. Who am I), Pratipaksha Bhavana journaling. Kayko is demonstrating a greater understanding of the body/breath/mind/soul connection & how Yogic tools can help an individual across all layers.

Kayko's analysis of her client's physical, energetic, sensory/mind, intellectual/intuitive, and spiritual needs & goals. Kayko understanding, analysis, and action plan to address her client's physical pain was excellent. She evaluated medical diagnosis & patient-reported pain levels to create a thoughtful plan that included asana & pranayama practices to reduce pain, increase core strength, and improve resilience. Through the use of patient-reported wellness levels (e.g. anxiety, depression & sleep), Kayko was able to tailor pranayama, meditation, and mantra practices to help increase her client's self-awareness, emotional release & contentment. By introducing Yoga philosophy (e.g. Yoga Sutras, Jnana Yoga), Kayko helped client explore causes of pain and choices that she could make to live more ease-fully. Kayko clearly applied the tools of Yoga Therapy to assist her client in becoming more aware and active in her own well-being.

Kayko did a wonderful job synthesizing her client's physical, energetic, sensual/mental, intellectual and spiritual needs. And then she tailored an overall plan to address the client's multi-dimensional needs & goals. Kayko had a clear understanding of how lower back pain, vaginal burning, diarrhea, anxiety & depression negatively impacted her client's personal life, relationships with her partner & friends, sense of self, and sense of peace. Kayko's holistic approach to each session enabled her to help her client gain a greater sense of how the body/breath/mind are inter-related, and how the client could improve her overall well-being by addressing all layers.

I am impressed with how Kayko weaves Yogic practices together; for example, encouraging breathing during movement, mantra repetition during breathing practices, chakra activation phrases (i.e. heart opening & acceptance) during asanas etc. to guide her client in becoming more aware of how her thoughts/emotions/actions impact one another.

Kayko did an exceptional job in researching, documenting & offering her client resources to support the application of Yoga Therapy to address her clients goals of releasing back tension, strengthening core structures, improving energy while countering depression, activating relaxation, and navigating the ups & downs of life with greater ease & equanimity.

Kayko documented resources on how Yoga practices could address issues related to ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disorder, digestive ailments, licen planus, vulvodynia, and depression & anxiety. She used this information to inform her care plan and to provide her client with information that could support her home practice.

Kayko clearly demonstrates a difference between being a Yoga Therapist and Yoga Teacher. She demonstrates this through a more holistic analysis from a Yogic perspective of her client's needs & goals -- and then thoughtfully creates a care plan that can be modified as needed.

As she progresses in her case studies, Kayko has moved from offering a modified yoga class to offering personalized support as a Yoga Therapist. For example, in each session, she check-ins with her client, uses measurements to track progress, customizes the poses, breathing, mantra & witnessing practices to address her client's needs.

In another example, Kayko discovered information that suggested a correlation between back pain and arthritis. Kayko recognized that, as a Yoga Therapist, diagnosis was out of scope of her practice. So she carefully introduced the research she found and asked her client to discuss it with her document. This is an example of Kayko having a strong understanding on the role of a Yoga Therapist in relation to others in the health care community.

Kayko is becoming more and more effective in adapting, adjusting and accommodating her care plan to meet her client's needs. For example, during her 2nd session with the client, Kayko assessed that her client was too tired for her to introduce new poses that were too taxing. Instead, she introduced restorative poses and explored with her client what may have contributed to her client's lack of energy (e.g. spending time with friends, upsetting episodes with boyfriend) & recommended meditative activities to restore equilibrium.

Kayko did an exceptional job documenting this use case. The organization, structure, presentation of ideas, use of references were creative and clearly presented.