• 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 with whatever asana and pranayama is working best for her, focusing on mini-sequences that allow her to maintain her energy flow (warm up, back bend, forward bend, inversion, twist) and centering, purifying, balancing with her pranayama. Continue to work on the TMJ with the neck and upper back therapeutic movements. Do some form of meditation at least once every day for 5 minutes. check in with the body multiple times throughout the day and do grounding and/or progressive muscle relaxation. Continue with the witnessing and labeling practices. Yoga Nidra scripts from YouTube at night.

Continued as previous, her PSS-10 scores were 20 (10/14) and 24 (10/17). In terms of our physical Hatha Yoga, we continued as previously, opening with detached progressive muscle relaxation (the body rests, awareness remains 10/14, jnana focused) and an invocation (let every sensation be an offering toward health OR the greater good OR to space around me, 10/17, karma focused).
We then moved into physical yoga, in both sessions we stuck to what has been working for her: Neck strengthening against a wall, chin tucks, shoulder rolls, with the addition of lion's pose and Jihva Bandha (10/14) and jaw release with gentle slide side to side (10/17). We then warmed up in tabletop, we did scapular retraction movements into child's pose with arms long to either side for a QL stretch. Backbends: wave bridge, one legged locust, supported fish (10/14) cobra against wall, one legged locust, camel with chair behind (10/17). forward bends: both days we started with what Brahmi suggested - using a strap to guide a straightened leg to each side gently and slowly, before returning to center to bend the knee into a sciatic nerve flossing movement, maintaining Ujayi the entire time. Then, we did dynamic paschimottanasana, water flow with legs wide (reaching from one leg to the other slowly, and opening into janu sirsasana for QL stretch when arriving on each side), dynamic bound angle forward fold self resisted butterfly lifts (10/14), standing wide legged pendulum, gentle utkatasana to uttanasana, reclined pigeon (10/17), inversions: downward facing dog on chair, legs up the wall with hip rotation (both days), twists: supported reclined twist both days.
For yoga nidra, I read a script from the Bihar School of yoga book yoga nidra, script number 3 (10/14) and the second day we did a guided visualization of her going about her day, but with an attitude of letting go of all sensations and giving up all the fruits of her actions.
Pranayama:dirgha pranayama while experimenting with root lock, kapalabhati (both days), Nadi Shodhana (3:12:6)
Meditation: So Hum chant (10/14), loving-kindness chant (may all beings everywhere be happy and free) starting with self, extending outwards and finally setting that intention into actions.
On the first day, we continued our discussion of Jnana Yoga, I brought the fourfold qualifications and 6 virtues into plain language: discrimination, dispassion, sixfold virtues [mind mastery, sense restraint, renunciation, forbearance, faith, concentration] longing for freedom in the singular context of achieving her own goals in life.
The second session was a general discussion of karma yoga: Every action can be a yogic practice. Detach from the fruits of actions. Do our best and leave the rest. Allow actions to purify the mind by remaining mindful and detached, cultivating positive qualities (humility, service, joy, love) while letting go of negative qualities (competitiveness, judgement, anger, selfishness, desire for control).

This client has been making real progress now, she is loving the yoga and has made it a part of her daily routine. She reports less stress at her work and more positivity in her mind. She is feeling less worried about the divorce now - she says that she still gets upset and worried about what he is doing, money, the eventual court battles, etc. but she is letting it go more easily and notices what is going on in her body more now. She is reporting that her sciatica and TMJ are improving.

These sessions were pretty good, I did feel like our rapport is strong and both of us are on the same energetic page when we are working together. She really likes the jnana yoga, and mentioned again during our first session that she really appreciates that there's nothing religious about it. I did find myself get a little carried away during the philosophical teaching piece for the jnana yoga, it was more of a lecture than a discussion for the first few minutes, and I found myself getting into the history of integral yoga with Swami Satchidanada and Sivananda, which was definitely not part of my plan.

I can tell that I still need to work at being more focused and grounded during the sessions. I tend to stretch the sessions beyond 90 minutes often. Even if clients are ok with staying a little longer, I need better time management.

I do notice that I still do doubt myself quite often - thoughts like am I having her stretch the QL too much? Am I really qualified to be teaching powerful practices like kapalabhati and mula bandha to her? Imposter syndrome is still very real for me. I try my best to just notice and let it go, but it resurfaces again and again.

Next session we will get into hatha yoga - alignment, steadiness/ease, breath-mind connection, energy flow, purification, energy control, balance and then the session after that will be dedicated to raja yoga and the 8 limbs of yoga.