• 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.

Incorporate humming bee breath, with 1-2 minutes of mantra repetition meditation at the beginning of each day.
Legs in the chair at the end of the day before bedtime.
Mantra meditation: Consistently meditate at the start of the day. Walking meditation is an option to try a couple of times a week.
Practice awareness of attachment to the need to control. Apply deep breathing when the feeling of anxiety or the thought of needing to control shows up. Jot down some thoughts about some places in your life where the need to control causes personal suffering for you and how you might release some of those mental attachments. Begin to practice releasing some of what binds you.

Centering
Check In

Discussion: We talked about the Locks and Keys and how that application worked with self. We discussed the Yoga Sutras 1.15 and 1.16 Nonattachment.

Gentle Hatha with Adaptations:
Joint freeing series with emphasis on shoulder shrugs, sighing while letting the shoulders drop
Mountain pose with emphasis on proprioception
Standing star pose to modified turtle
Knees to chest while lying down with slow rock to massage the back of the body, stretch the low back and hip muscles, to encourage relaxation, and to stimulate the root chakra.
Legs in a chair to reduce hip and low back pressure and to help balance the solar plexus, root, third eye, and crown chakras.

Humming bee breath to relieve stress and calm the mind.

Yoga Nidra with tensing and releasing and guided awareness followed by lovingkindness meditation.

T let me know after our last session that she was going on a trip and would miss this session, but emailed and said that she’s still been applying all of the practices and is feeling good. L reported that she has some low back pain. She has been struggling with feelings about letting go of control, but kept working on non-attachments. She has been doing all of the physical poses. She is still struggling to sit for meditation. K reported that she has been depressed, that the months of April and May remind her of a period when she had been hospitalized. She said her knee is feeling better from the physical poses and she is doing meditation daily. I used MI with both to surface conversation about their emotions and about what they think the consequence would be of letting go of the attachments/control that is harming them. Both said they don’t know what it would be like to feel free and we talked a little about clinging to life as an obstacle from the Yoga Sutras. They relaxed quickly in centering and through the other practices.

I was glad to see that K showed up again and that she was able to be so honest. I’m also glad that L is so honest. It is interesting how the group dynamic changes when a person that’s applying all of the practices and is calmer isn’t present. I noticed that just like in the prior week, L fed off of the energy of the other client. This is something I plan to find a way to surface through MI during next week’s session.

Centering
Check In

Discussion: We will discuss the clients’ observations from Yoga Sutras 1.15 and 1:16 and application in personal life. We will discuss Yoga Sutra 1.12, restraining mental modifications through practice and non attachment and inquiry into what’s arising in the mind from Sutra 2.1.

Gentle Hatha with Adaptations:
Joint freeing series with emphasis on shoulder shrugs, sighing while letting the shoulders drop
Mountain pose with emphasis on proprioception
Standing star pose to modified turtle
Knees to chest while lying down with slow rock to massage the back of the body, stretch the low back and hip muscles, to encourage relaxation, and to stimulate the root chakra.
Constructive rest pose to help relax the low back and calm the nervous system.

Extended exhalation breathing, starting with slow sighs.

Yoga Nidra with tensing and releasing and guided awareness followed by lovingkindness meditation.