• 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.

Journaling about the question: “What am I not seeing because I am seeing what I am seeing?”
Practice pursed lip breathing until flare subsides, then shift to extended exhalation breathing.
Practice chair flexing foot pose with breathing, holding for 30 seconds with each leg. Practice for two rounds. Practice this two round series once a day for the next week.

Centering: focused on releasing attachments to pain, emotions and thoughts
Check In
Raja Yoga Teaching: Locks & Keys, discussion about how they applied this to themselves from our last session. We discussed the Keshas with an overview of what they are and talking about self-ignorance and how this shows up.
Seated Joint Freeing Series w/emphasis on proprioception and chair flexing foot pose
Yoga Nidra
Guided Meditation was a story called “Who Am I?” from “Enlightening Tales as told by Sw. Satchidananda” followed by a minute of silent mantra repetition.
Pranayama was pursed lip breathing.

The client reported in prior sessions that they felt a relaxation response from our practices. In our second session the client reported that the left side numbness and pressure had completely subsided and has not returned. They reported that this occurred immediately after applying the Keys from our Locks and Keys discussion to a family member.
Last session they came with a mapped out plan that included color coding and a legend on a white board of all of the activities that they had planned for the week. They told me they’d enrolled in a HITT program with a strenuous diet component. In that session we discussed locks and keys and what shows up for the client emotionally and physically if they are unable to complete their “plan.” They expressed that they would feel like they were failing, so we talked about the application of the keys to release those emotions. This week the client had not followed their plan except for our yoga homework and had also eaten food the night before our session that created an autoimmune reaction, resulting in a swollen face and swollen, painful joints. The indicated that they were stressed, but realized the night beforeour session that they need to take one day at a time and to “stay where [my] feet are.” We discussed this concept of being present during our Kleshas discussion.

I am glad that the client is experiencing relief from our sessions. This was the first that she had experienced a flare during our time working together. I am finding that she may be using the discussion about Locks and Keys to go to the other extreme from having an extremely rigid plan to choosing the “easier” path that includes taking actions that self harm. I intend to shift our Raja discussion in the next session to Yamas and Niyamas and return to the Kleshas in a later session. I had planned to do a whole seated and standing asana series for the knees, but shifted this plan once I saw that the client was experiencing a flare and had pain.

We will practice seated/standing yoga for knee injury/strengthening series to alleviate pain and build up stabilization of the joints.
We will review notes from the journaling about the Kleshas and I will introduce the Yamas and Niyamas to help the clients with tools that they can implement with themselves to find balance.
We will practice humming bee breath to help with anxiety reduction.
We will practice Yoga Nidra to increase the parasympathetic response.
We will practice walking meditation to help the client incorporate meditation into the daily routine.