- 47-year-old female, employed full-time, small business owner, single parent of a 9-year-old girl.
- High levels of stress – personal and professional.
- Has been pretty active till she had her child and her focus shifted to being a provider and single parent.
- Has high Anxiety, Insomnia, Indigestion and elimination problems.
- Has GERD, which flares when she’s anxious.
- Takes acid-reflux medication as needed.
- Occasionally uses anti-anxiety medication, when not able to function. Sometimes uses marijuana for relaxation and sleep.
- Mother diagnosed with lung cancer, also a stressor in her life.
- Likes to swim, play pickleball with friends and tries to take Pilates class, whenever she can.
- Is in a weekly therapy, journals when she can remember to do so.
- Feels lonely, would like to have a life partner.
- Tight hip flexors, chest breather. Low back tension, as she’s sitting most of the day for her work
- Her goal with these sessions is to lower her stress with accessible tools and tips. Feel good about herself again through movement and self-care.

- Extended Exhalation. Bringing attention back to her breath to trigger relaxation response.
- Gentle stretch ‘n flow practice, to help her connect to her emotions (Manomaya kosha), through breath (Pranamaya Kosha) and physical postures (Annamaya Kosha).
- Asana practice to stretch and strengthen the muscles of the body. Heart-openers to bring feelings of love towards herself. Spinal extensions to counteract the effects of sitting the whole day.
- Guided relaxation and Yoga Nidra to help with deeper relaxation.
- Loving-kindness meditation practice to help her be in touch with her inner Self.
- Practicing some of the breathing with her daughter to find the connection, which she says that she seems to be losing. I also invited her to bring her daughter to one of the sessions, if she feels comfortable with it.

1. Francis AL, Beemer RC. How does yoga reduce stress? Embodied cognition and emotion highlight the influence of the musculoskeletal system. Complement Ther Med. 2019 Apr;43:170-175. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.01.024. Epub 2019 Jan 31. PMID: 30935526. How does yoga reduce stress? Embodied cognition and emotion highlight the influence of the musculoskeletal system - PubMed (nih.gov)
2. Cramer H, Peng W, Lauche R. Yoga for menopausal symptoms-A systematic review and meta-analysis. Maturitas. 2018 Mar;109:13-25. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.12.005. Epub 2017 Dec 6. PMID: 29452777. Yoga for menopausal symptoms-A systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed (nih.gov)
3. Dol KS. Effects of a yoga nidra on the life stress and self-esteem in university students. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2019 May;35:232-236. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2019.03.004. Epub 2019 Mar 8. PMID: 31003664. Effects of a yoga nidra on the life stress and self-esteem in university students - PubMed (nih.gov)
4. Zeng X, Chiu CP, Wang R, Oei TP, Leung FY. The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review. Front Psychol. 2015 Nov 3;6:1693. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01693. PMID: 26579061; PMCID: PMC4630307. The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review - PubMed (nih.gov)

• Yes

Check-in. She said she got good sleep last night and has been waking up earlier. Has anxiety of “not getting 8 hrs. of sleep”, even though she wakes up on her own. We talked about Pratipaksha Bhawana and how can she practice that in her daily life. We talked about it being a practice and will take time, in the meantime, being gentle with herself if she’s not able to get a handle on it.
Practice included centering- body scan, extended exhales, supine warm ups, Bhujangasana, Shalabhasana, short sun salutation, Warrior II, reverse warrior, side angle, chest opening breathing. Ended with tense and release in supported reclined shavasana, Loving kindness meditation towards herself, and Bhramari pranayama. I also played a meditation calming music on YouTube during relaxation
She had she had a realization during the meditation about her and her daughter’s relationship, which she didn’t share with me.

Practice extended exhale for 5 rounds of breath, whenever she feels anxious. Suggested to listen to short meditations on Insight timer app.

Said her week went well, been practicing extended exhales but needs reminders. I suggested to set an alarm on her phone and practice five rounds every couple of hours. She has started 10 min asana practice watching You Tube videos.

When the session started, there was a lot of background noise because of the neighborhood children playing outside. I realized that my client was ok but it caused a little bit distraction for me. Took a few extended exhales and let go of the expectation from the session, which helped immensely.

Keep practicing Extended exhale, more heart openers, balance and guided relaxation.

• Yes

Check-in. A talk about stress, stress response and relaxation response and vagus nerve. Suggested some practices like gargling, splashing the face with cold water and rubbing the temples. Suggested the count for extended exhalation, which she found helpful.
Practice included strengthening asana flow like Plank -> Down dog -> Plank. Threading the needle, cobra, Sphinx, bridge, Belly relaxation, feeling the breath against the belly. Restorative Shavasana, tense and release, Affirmation meditation (I’m safe, I’m home, I’m taken care of) and Bhramari.

Set up a timer in her phone for every couple of hours to practice extended exhalation for 5-10 breaths. Practice some vagus nerve stimulation exercises when in a stressful situation.

Travelled to CO, to help a friend plan a party. Didn’t get much sleep during the week because of the change in place and the stress of the party and work. Had Esophageal spasms and can’t seem to breathe. Remembered the extended exhalation and did a couple of rounds, which helped but says that she’s not used to breathing like that, so needs a lot of practice. She keeps doing Bhramari at night with her daughter and asked if she can bring her to our session one day.

She asked me to send her an email which lists all of the practices that we did. I realized that having a handout of practices that I can pick and choose for each client would be very helpful. I’m going to use template from Canva and come up with handouts that I can send to the clients. It would also be helpful to send them reminders about their HW, 3-4 days after our session.

Adding couple strengthening asanas for core, like boat and holding the stretch for 4-5 breaths. Revisiting stress and relaxation response.

• Yes

Check-in. We revisited Pratipaksha Bhavana and asked her to think the renovation as a positive thing. I suggested to her to have her landlord over for maybe tea/coffee or dinner and talk about her considering what you think would help you in the house.
Practice included breath awareness, body scan, extended exhale on the count, Netra Vyayamam, Warm ups for lower and upper body, ‘Shush breath’ (I learnt this from Brigitte, in her Prenatal teacher training), where you say sh… when you breathe out. This helps engage the core. Balancing table, bridge, legs up the chair, boat, knees to chest, figure 4, reclined shavasana, tense and release, loving-kindness meditation towards herself and ended with Bhramari.

She had her journal with her in which she wrote down the practices. Keep practicing extended exhalation for 5-10 breaths, every couple of hours. Keep up with her 10 min of Yoga practice.

She’s a little stressed with her landlord renovating the kitchen, since she’ll have to pack up everything. She’s stressed about how she’ll get time with her work and her daughter’s school. I suggested if she can delegate some things and involve her daughter in the process as well. She’s also worried about what if her landlord does something to the house that she doesn’t like. She said she has been doing Bhramari with her daughter every night before bed, but her daughter hadn’t participated till last week. She asked for it before bed, when my client forgot about it. 😊
She has been practicing 10 mins of Yoga every morning, watching YouTube videos, that’s helping her be more active. She’s worried about her core strength and also would like some asanas that’ll help with elimination.

It made me really happy that I helped with a nightly routine with her daughter. In a little way, I contributed to giving her child a tool that she can carry with her.

I learnt a lot of things from my sessions with CM. I used to think that I would be working primarily with people who are 65+ But I realized that I was putting myself in a box and there are so many people that I can help, regardless of their age. I was scared at first but having worked with people less that 65 years old has brought a new understanding, appreciation and confidence in the work that I am doing.

Working on strengthening her core. Asanas for helping in digestion and elimination. Pranayama, guided relaxation and yoga nidra for stress relief.