• 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: asana and pranayama - especially anything that opens the chest or supports the neck and low back. Add in 1–2 minutes of a practice she normally avoids but knows is good for her. Silent Meditation, even if literally one minute. Keep working with the neck/TMJ exercises daily. Youtube Yoga nidra in the evenings.

New: begin incorporating Japa once a day—use your “I am peace” mantra with the finger-mala method or simply repeat it mentally while doing everyday tasks (driving, cleaning, walking, etc.). Humming is still absolutely fine as an alternative.

As an awareness practice, choose one moment each day to notice a “klesha moment”, which might be a moment of grasping, resisting, fear, or getting pulled by stress and see if she can pause, find the breath, and soften anything anywhere in the body. Observe.

Simple pratyahara before sleep: imagine herself in a cocoon that naturally diminishes all external sensory input.

For session 9 (11/20), we opened by settling in with some gentle throat-soft ujjayi-style breathing, nothing forceful, just giving her a sense of subtle sound and a little grounding. Hands went to belly and chest again for feedback, and we took a brief pause between inhale and exhale to slow things down without holding the breath. We talked about how her stress had been showing up lately (holidays coming up, jaw tension, problems with son's father, PSS score of 20), and then got into the Hatha portion. Warm-ups included cat/cow, some tabletop sunbird variations linked to breath as she has liked these, and then the neck work she likes—light self-resistance in all directions and some wall-supported cervical retraction to help with posture and TMJ guarding, some self-massage too.
For this session we kept building on the practices that have consistently helped her with neck, upper back, and SI stability. Backbends included supported bridge with a block, low cobra with an emphasis on length rather than lift, and a single leg gentle and slow locust variation. Forward folds included supine knees-to-chest, wide-legged seated fold, and then Prasarita Padottanasana as a “standing inversion,” but with her head supported on a block and an option to add a small twist by reaching to the opposite ankle (she loved this, great suggestion!). Inversions stayed gentle: standing down-dog at the wall and then Viparita Karani for just a few minutes. Twists were chair twist and supine figure-4 twist with a strap for comfort.

Pranayama for this day was extended exhale breathing, bhramari humming, and Nadi Shodhana. For guided imagery, I did a “forest clearing and human lantern” visualization, having her imagine stepping into a quiet expansive forest clearing and illuminating the entire forest with the Loving Light of her heart center (accidently said Divine Light at first, she ironically didn't love that, lol). She did say this was powerful for her.

Meditation for session 9 centered on introducing Japa in a simple, secular way. Since she doesn’t have a mala, we used the finger-joint counting method Brahmi mentioned. She picked the mantra “I am peace,” and we went through one full 27-count cycle together. We talked about Japa as a way to replace the mind’s constant background chatter with something steadier and kinder and useful. She was visibly excited at the idea of making her downtime more productive. I shared the idea of Ajapa Japa—how the mantra can eventually hum in the mind on its own—and she liked the idea of using the mantra during everyday activities like driving or chores. We closed with a minute or two of silent mantra repetition.

Session 10 (11/25) started with dirgha breath again, this time with one hand on the low ribs and one on the belly to help her feel the lateral expansion. Her jaw was more tense this week, so we added gentle TMJ releases (tongue circles, soft jaw drops, self-massage, PSS score of 21). Warm-ups included cat/cow, elbow-to-knee bird-dog, and seated neck mobility. For backbends we used cobra with a strap around the upper arms to keep the shoulders stable, plus supported fish. Forward folds included creative freestyle supine leg lifts with the strap for sciatic glide per Brahmi's previous advice and a relaxed Parsvottanasana variation as another standing-inversion-type pose, but done without intensity. Inversions were the usual chair-supported down-dog and then a brief Viparita Karani. Twists were chair twist again and a supine twist using a block between the thighs for SI stability.

Breathwork included box breathing, kapalabhati (her request), and bhramari. For relaxation, I guided her through a simple yoga nidra using a “weighted blanket of warm light” theme—slow body scan with the suggestion of gentle heaviness and warmth settling into each region. She said this helped her settle her nervous system after a rough week.

For meditation, we used a simplified “mountain stillness” visualization focused more on feeling the spine as a steady vertical line while thoughts and emotions come and go. The philosophy piece for this session was a secular introduction to the five kleshas. We talked about avidya as basic misperception, asmita as over-identifying with thoughts, raga as grasping for comfort, dvesha as avoiding discomfort, and abhinivesha as survival-based fear or urgency. She really connected with raga and abhinivesha, especially around technology use and big transitional life stuff. We linked this back to pratyahara and how she actually practices it more than she realizes—motherhood, caregiving moments, times when she has to tune out “noise” to take care of what’s in front of her. While we touched on the importance of sense control in a greater pratyahara context, we talked about actual "hardcore" pratyahara and how powerful it can be for healing, self-mastery, emotional regulation, and resilience. This helped her see that the capacity for practice is already there; she just needs to tap into it intentionally.

We closed both days with a short silent meditation after revisiting our mantra "I am peace" (though I also suggested So Hum again both times) the mantra from session 9 still lightly present in the background.

This client has been making wonderful progress despite our inconsistent meetings lately, hopefully December is better for us. She is consistently making physical strides as she is now losing weight, feeling more energy, and feeling less pain. Mentally, she reports being in a better place and says her friends have commented on how she has been doing mentally, with one saying they feel she has "turned a corner" in terms of coping with the divorce. Energetically, her breathing has been steadily improving, though she still struggles with vaping. She does want to quit, but "not right now". She seems to be gaining in wisdom and is on the right path as far as I know. It seems that moving forward we will be focusing more on getting into the nitty gritty of Raja and Jnana yoga.

These sessions were very meaningful for me; I felt a really profound sense of the ripple effect that my work with this client is having while we were meditating during our session on 11/25. My work with her is impacting her relationship with her family, including her son, which is impacting his relationships with his peers and then the community writ large thru school etc. - the feeling was an almost overwhelming sense of the potential power that lay within us all, felt for a few moments in my Being on a deep level. I did slip and mention the "Divine Light" which immediately introduced some tension to the session, but she very quickly was able to make a vulgar offhanded joke and we were able to move on, which certainly has pros and cons. There was a feeling that the humor was quite clearly being used as a psychological coping mechanism to deal with her religious trauma, but what can a yoga therapist really do about that beyond just bring awareness to it? (genuine question)

For next session, I expect we will plan to continue to do what is working in terms of asana and pranayama and meditations, while we will get more into raja and jnana yoga since those seem to be the two that she gravitates towards the most. I'll be doing research into some practices and teachings that exist at the juxtaposition of these two paths of yoga and am open to any suggestions. I'm considering touching on the concept of Advaita Vedanta and perhaps using that to be the idea that I build the next two sessions around.