• Check in, centering, balanced hatha yoga set considering contraindications, relaxation (with imagery as appropriate),
• Balanced pranayama considering contraindications, meditation/centering.
• Include at least one suggestion from Karma, Bhakti, Raja, or Jnana Yoga tailored for this client.

Note that I have repeated a couple of things from previous work we did together as a reminder.

Asana Practice:
Do the asana you enjoy.
o Tadasana - add affirmations - “I am strong and flexible”
o Half-moon
o Uttanaasana
o Ardhad Chandrasana like a 5 pointed star with hands free
o King Dancer
o Standing Twist
o Six SRF asana

Breathing Practice:
o SRF Breathing practice to purify the nerves and brain, or the double breathing.
o Nadi Sudi for 5 minutes. Add affirmation when breathing in, something you want to develop in your life, and breath out something that you want to change or eliminate. For example:
 Inhale ‘I am calmness’, and breath out ‘tension’
 Inhale ‘I am content’, breath out ‘sadness’
 Inhale ‘Harmony’, breath out ‘impatience’
o Do Nadi Sudi before you do meditation to help you to quiet your mind.

Meditation Practice:
Mantra repetition - following your breath with a mantra, it could be like we discussed - breath in ‘Friend~my Soul’ and breath out ‘not the mind’. Say it mentally. We discussed that our friend is our Soul and that we can call within to that friend to guide us.

Obstacles to Meditation:
o Make sure you are in a comfortable sitting position, make any adjustments that you have to make early on.
o When hearing sounds during meditation that you have no control over, try to go deeper into the meditation, and resolve to not allow the sounds to disturb you.
o Breath normally ~ slowly during meditation. Do not try to make your breath happen. Allow the breath to calm you down to relax you. In order for this to happen the breath should be normal, gentle and allowed to become slower, and you will find that your mind begins to follow and relax.

Hug Yourself sometimes: you are your best friend. Hug yourself with love. You can teach your son to do this and you can do it together. You can teach your mother too.

Breathing Practices To Substitue For Habits:
Do these practices instead of the things that waste time:
o Do Breathe of Joy during the day.
o Incorporate an affirmation with Nadi Sudi, or just do the breath – breath in something that is significant to you, we practiced breathing in ‘peace’ and breathing out ‘tension’ or breath in ‘I got this’ and breath out ‘impatience’. Try to do Nadi Sudi longer when you have time. This will build your practice for when you take the Medical Exam – so that you may practice for 20 minutes before starting the Exam.

Wisdom Practice:
We discussed that we want to be/feel painless rather than painful or pleasurable. To do that we must think clearly and be discerning about our thoughts and mindfully control our thoughts and emotions. We must nip painful thoughts and emotions in the bud to change these patterns. If we desire pleasurable thoughts and emotions eventually/inevitably they will turn into painful thoughts and emotions. We simply want to live painless lives and connect with our true self which brings the true pleasure we seek.1

For this we must become stronger – how do we do that? “We have to ‘increase the pull of the painless’ whirlpool of clarity, discernment and selflessness through meditation, prayer and selfless action, the study of high ideals, and or mantra repetition adds force to the momentum of painless vrittis (thoughts), strengthening their influence in our lives. We do this overtime.”1 To do this we must dedicate time to go inside to cultivate peace inside of us, to connect with our Soul – “Then the Seer [Self] abides in His own nature.”

We discussed in previous sessions that when we are in a situation that we cannot externally change, we must change our internal environment, the way we see and think of what is happening. When we change our internal environment, the external environment will also change. And also, praying to God to help us in difficult situations.

In this session we studied and discussed about Sutra I.15 – Vairagyam/Non-attachment – The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment. We spoke about how desire leads to expectation and selfishness. We can see these things in ourselves and we can see them in our loved ones. The family, co-workers, and friends are the training ground for these experiences and the opportunity for us to change to evolve – or in other words to loose the baggage we carry. We discussed how non-attachment is one of the keys to painlessness.

We discussed acceptance and flexibility with family situations and especially on the weekend when they want to spend time with you.

Recall that when you see that your brain needs a break, instead of allowing your mind to interpret that as eating, make the effort to be mindful and do something else instead to give your brain a break. Do Nadi Sudi to rebalance the brain, or Breath of Joy.

Laugher Yoga helps to change your mood within minutes by releasing certain chemicals from your brain cells called endorphins.

Benefits of laughing yoga include:
• Stress relief
• Boosting the immune system
• Enhancing respiratory function
• Improving cardiovascular health
• Strengthening relationships
• Increasing joy and positivity
• Reducing depression and anxiety
• Better sleep quality
• Higher pain tolerance
• Lower blood pressure

1Inside the Yoga Sutras, A Comprehensive Sourcebook For The Study And Practice of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, by Reverend Jaganath Carrera.

Centering.

Asana –
o Tadasana with affirmation
o Half-moon
o Uttanaasana
o Ardhad Chandrasana like a 5 pointed star with hands free
o King Dancer
o Spinal Extension and Flexion
o Standing Twist

SRF Breathing practice to purify the nerves and brain. It has aspect of Seegra Savaasana.

Six SRF asana, same as before (no new SRF asana have been added).

Full body tense and release (Seegra Savaasana).

Body scan.

Breathing Practice – Nadi Sudi – 5 minutes.

Meditation – JAPA guided, inner best friend/her soul.

Discussion on how the assignments/homework went for client. How the personal sadhana is going?

Briefly reviewed Wisdom teaching - Sutra I.5 – There are five kinds of mental modifications which are either painful or painless.

Wisdom teaching – Sutra I.15 – Vairagyam/Non-attachment – The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment.

Client was much composed during this session.

Client reported that she has able to get up before her son in the mornings and spend a few minutes in silence and quiet. This has been her meditation in the past week.

Client’s mother has decided to return to her country in September so client will enroll her son in school from the morning until the afternoon. This will be a big change and the client accepts this change.

Client is taking the Sutras seriously, and she is beginning to understand that the habits we have created have deep seated patterns. She is being guided to have patience and self-compassion when a dominating pattern wins over her efforts to recognize what she is trying to change.

Client mentioned about learning how laughing is good for you, so we tried ‘Laughing Yoga’. We faked it till we felt it. And it was great for us both.

I was good to see that client rebounded and used the tools that she has been taught to help her rebound.

The client is very interested in learning and helping herself and changing, and I find this very encouraging.

I glad to report that FM has agreed to be my Cap Stone client and she is committed to the hours. She has agreed to provide feedback.

Centering.

Netra Viyayaman.

Asana –
o Tadasana with affirmation
o Half-moon
o Uttanaasana
o Ardhad Chandrasana - like a 5 pointed star with hands free
o King Dancer
o Spinal Extension and Flexion
o Standing Twist

SRF Breathing practice to purify the nerves and brain. It has aspect of Seegra Savaasana.

Six SRF asana, same as before (no new SRF asana have been added).

Full body tense and release (Seegra Savaasana).

Body scan.

Breathing Practice – Nadi Sudi – 5 minutes.

Meditation – JAPA guided, inner best friend/her soul.

Discussion on how the assignments/homework went for client. How the personal sadhana is going?

Briefly review Wisdom teaching – Sutra I.15 – Vairagyam/Non-attachment – The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment. Page 22-27

Wisdom Teachings:
Titiksha – cultivating even-mindedness/mental evenness, patience, dispassionate endurance. Gita pages 201-3, 474
Sutra I.12: These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment.
Sutra I.13: Of these two, effort toward steadiness of mind is practice.