• 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.

I often had to adjust my approach in response to the client’s anxiety and to focus on calming her down in the beginning of sessions, so that there would be space for the yoga practices. I also had wanted to surface some supports for grief early, but the client didn’t show signs of readiness until session four. I will offer some grief practices in a future session.

Progress has been made with reducing physical pain and tools are in place to reduce stress and improve overall health, but the client has to build a consistent practice to see full benefit.

There have been no changes to the goals at this time.

Marked improvement in reduction of pain in the body, particularly the resolution of the shoulder/chest pain. The client was unaware of her hyper mobility initially

The client experienced more anxiety with emotional awareness, but was able to shift well with the yoga practices of deep breathing and meditation into calming the energetic changes.

The client experienced more anxiety in the first few sessions with emotional awareness, but once she starting applying the lessons from the Yoga Sutras she experienced less anxiety.

The client has shared several moments of self awareness that have been profound during sessions. This includes sharing that she desires control, that she ruminates a lot and needs to stay present.

The client reacted negatively to Biblical scripture references, despite requesting it initially. I decided not to bring these back up again until she’s more emotionally regulated and instead focused on yoga philosophy/wisdom teaching.

The client has shared repeatedly how much she appreciates our sessions and how they’ve been supportive of her. She requested to extend our sessions beyond the scheduled six and I agreed to do so.

Consider mental delusions: We wrapped up our conversation about the Locks and Keys today and I'm so glad that you're applying them. We talked today about the Kleshas (causes of suffering) very briefly and we'll talk more about it next week. Think about this question: What are you seeing because you are not seeing what you are seeing? Consider journaling about it and we'll discuss it next time. 

I don’t have any changes that I would make for this approach. I possibly could have clarified more about the typical flow of sessions, but I don’t believe that would have changed the outcomes.

In a session today (June 2) the client had a huge emotional release of grief for the loss of her grandfather. I was able to stay with her for a longer session, so we extended to two hours to be sure that she was okay. This allowed me to employ some of the grief doula practices that I use with my grief clients and the client said she felt a huge sense of release that she’s never felt before. Do you have suggestions about what to do if this happens with a client when I don’t have the ability to stay with them for an extended time?

Yes