• 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.

Continue to practice Vrksasana, Virabhadrasana II, Marichyasana II and Matsyendrasana - adding Trikonasana, Parsvakonasana and Salabhasana, with the addition of engaging one leg and glute complex at a time to lift and extend the leg. Perform one extra set on just the right side.

Continue to practice Dirga Swasam with awareness of softening the belly

Check In and Homework Review

Awareness Practice

PSS and PEG Assessments

Asana - Trikonasana supported by a wall and a chair, Parsvakonasana in a chair, Salabhasana

Pranayama: Dirga Swasam review, with a focus on breathing into the belly

Guided Meditation: Soft Belly (Stephen Levine)

Shavasana and Yoga Nidra

Client arrived overall sattvic. Overall had a good two weeks, although shared one situation where she became frustrated with herself: she could not find her daughter's car key for over an hour, and frantically searched, allowing herself to get angry during the process. After she stopped, stepped back from the situation and asked herself why she allowed herself to get so upset. I celebrated the fact that she stepped back - separating herself from the emotion(s) and the thoughts and observed.

PSS score: 10/40, PEG score: 1/30

Client has been consistently practicing the asana we reviewed last session: Vrksasana, Virabhadrasana II, Marichyasana II and Matsyendrasana, along with the "block deadbug" variation I showed her to engage the TVA. She reported an increase in comfortable range of motion with lateral abduction and flexion of the left shoulder. She also has noticed a reduction of tension in her right hip where she has the mesh. She has continued regular sessions with her counselor as well as MFR bodywork, and at the suggestion of her MFR therapist, started using walking sticks with her daily walks. She noticed with the feedback provided by the sticks that she tends to "overexaggerate my movements," and asked herself, "Why do you push so hard?" She recalled many years ago when training as a barista at Starbucks, she pushed too hard/was overly aggressive in movements using some of the machines. She shared that she has been trying to "just feel" the sensations in her body during both her asana practice and her daily walks.

During her practice of Trikonasana to the right side, she felt her obliques on the left side "singing... but I'm not pushing more than I should." She felt engagement of her left glute medius and left shoulder, which she described with an "active stretch in my left pec and shoulder." During Trikonasana on the left side, she felt the stretch through the left calf and hamstrings, with some engagement of the quads. She felt no discomfort at all in the right hip.

During her practice of Parsvakonasana, she really felt the connection of the contralateral hips and shoulders. When the right leg was in front, she kept her left arm extended lower, within the comfortable range of motion of the shoulder. When the left leg was the leg in front, she felt "warmth and tension" in the left hip - and when it felt too intense, cueing her to gently lift up through her core made a difference. She also felt a deep but comfortable stretch through her right hip.

As she revisited Salabhasana, I added an element: keeping her hands connected to the ground, she alternated lifting one leg slightly off the ground by engaging her glutes, then the other. She felt her right glute complex was more challenged than the left, so I encouraged as part of homework to perform an extra set on the right side. She did feel some fatigue through her shoulders, so we also examined a variation of performing this standing at the wall, focusing on thoracic and cervical spine extension.

I guided her through a guided meditation from Stephine Levine called "Soft Belly." The client had much to share afterwards, beginning with a sense of starting the meditation with "separateness...not one with my belly." As she initially tried to connect a sense of relaxation with the inhale, she felt "resistance, choppiness," but she was able to remain relaxed. When the meditation cued "mercy", she felt "acceptance," and described the experience as "powerful in the most gracious way." Overall after the meditation she felt that she "breathed more deeply and softer."

It brings me so much joy to see the excitement Kimberly has in experiencing sensations in her body, and adjusting her practice based on what she is experiencing moment to moment.

The next session will be our close out session for the Capstone, although we will continue to meet as she transitions to becoming a regular client.

Check In and Homework Review

Final PSS and PEG assessments

Awareness Practice

Review of the toolbox:

Asana - 12 Fishman poses, Embodied Lord's Prayer, Restorative poses:

Pranayama - Dirga Swasam, Waterfall Breath, Extended Exhalation, Nadi Shodhana

Raja - Yoga Sutras and the corresponding scriptures

Bhakti - ?

Karma - ?