• 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.

1. Continue with the awareness of breath and body.
a) Take deep breaths during the day when you remember to do that. You can set an alarm on your watch to stop for 1 minute to take a deep breath)
b) Focus on the breath, not on the thoughts. Let the thoughts pass like clouds in the sky and gently bring your mind back to your breath.
2. Continue with your journaling practice, about anything that comes to your mind.

3. Practice the SA TA NA MA, or kirtan kriya meditation, you can do it in 6 or 12 minutes every day. You can practice before sleep.
Here are some resources about kirtan kriya:
How to practice: Practice the 12-Minute Yoga Meditation Exercise - Alzheimer's Research & Prevention Foundation (alzheimersprevention.org)

Chanting:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKEAiwrgeY&t=22s
Kirtan: The Easy Meditation That Can Improve Your Brain | Psychology Today

4. Continue practicing progressive relaxation before sleep, as we did together. Tensing each part of your body and relaxing. Tensing the part when you inhale and release when you exhale. Observe the difference.

Summary:
- Any time in the day: awareness of your breath and body.
- Journaling practice (you choose the time) every day.
- Kirtan Kriya before sleep.
- Progressive relaxation (5 minutes) before sleep.

During the session:
Talk about the week.
How are your migraines?
Have you been practicing Progressive relaxation (5 minutes) before sleep?
How is your sleep?
Yoga Philosophy: connection to self
Her Goal: connection with yourself and mental health.
At its core, the Yoga Sutras teaches us how to control the fluctuations of the mind, ultimately leading to a state of inner peace, balance, and self-realization. By studying and integrating Patanjali’s teachings into our daily lives, we can cultivate a deeper connection with ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra says: “Study thy self, discover the divine” II.44 Svadhyaya
What’s swadhyaya for you? Do you observe your thoughts, breath, and habits?
When life has its difficult moments, maybe you catch yourself and observe. We can be the masters of our lives rather than be tossed away by the waves of problems.
https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/philosophy/the-niyamas-svadhyaya-or-self-study
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1h10BRaY1I&t=54s

At the beginning of the session, she said her migraines were much better and also her sleep. She came from Richmond and stayed with friends, which helped her to regain her mental health.
She was practicing meditation her style but not every day. She just sits in silence.
She reported she is on a sabbatical, trying to figure out what to do in her life, maybe work in a community garden, maybe live in another warmer place.

Although this was the 3rd meeting, I could see a big difference in her compared to our first meeting. I think that not just the sessions, but also the warmer weather, change of environment (she traveled to Richmond and stayed there for more than a week), and meeting her friends helped her a lot.
I think that just knowing that someone cares for her helped too. In the first meeting on the phone, I told her I would take some time to read her intake and prepare a session just for her that was science-based. She was very glad and thanked me a lot. I could sense that she felt honored and recognized as a human being who deserved to be taken care of.

I noticed her mind was still scattered, with a vata imbalance. We should talk about a healthy diet to balance her mind.
Centering: Observe breath, energy, and sensations.
Asanas: Vata/kapha reducing instant change program (Dr David Frawley) Yoga for your type
Warm-up –
Neck and shoulders release (parasympathetic activation) release tension where it generally is held.
Surya Namaskar
Backbend:
Virabhadrasana 1
Forward bend:
Navasana, Janu sirshasana
Inversion:
Viparita with block
Twist:
Supine twist
Progressive relaxation
Savasana With imagery to the root chakra (Wheels of Life, page 55, Anodea Judith) and tune fork
Pranayama
Bioenergetic Grounding: I am in here (Anodea Judith)
Meditation – To find my purpose – svadharma

Step 1: Track Your Purpose
First, walk through your memories, searching for clues that your soul has left along the way. Your first clue may have been given by Joseph Campbell when he said, “Follow your bliss.” Whenever you’re “on purpose,” you feel wonderfully alive, full of spark and spirit. You feel turned on, passionate about life, centered, and inspired.
Remember back to your childhood, when your connection to Source was strong. Think of times when you felt most alive, most happy, most satisfied, and most excited.

Step 2 Find the pattern
•What activities were common across some (or most) of the incidents? • How were you serving others in these situations? • How did the condition of people or the environment change as a result? • What was it about these particular experiences that made you so happy?
Your ego tends to turn you away from your purpose, which might be dangerous to your reputation or look ridiculous in the eyes of others. A big life purpose would threaten the part of you that needs to stay small.

Step 3: Identify Your Life Purpose Category
(homework)
Judith PhD, Anodea; Lion Goodman. Creating on Purpose: The Spiritual Technology of Manifesting Through the Chakras (p. 86-89). Sounds True. Kindle Edition.
Closing