• 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.

Homework for this week was to continue working with Vrikshasana, Garudasana and Utthita Tadasana as often as she liked, whether daily or at least two times during the week, seeing what she noticed happening in her body with physical engagement of the muscles (anamaya), where she experienced the movement of her breath and flow of energy in each pose (pranamaya), and any thoughts or emotions that come up (manomaya).

I also encouraged the client to, at various times throughout her day, during various activities, see if she could notice where she felt her breath moving in her body. If she liked she could describe it as "belly breathing," or "chest breathing," or notice where she felt the muscular engagement to shape the movement and direction of her breath.

The session began with a check in, where the client shared she felt like she has found more ease in releasing the weight she was carrying across all koshas with her mother-in-law's health challenges. Before beginning session practices I asked her questions from my imagery intake in order to prepare a guided imagery for her in our next session. The client felt the questions were "deep" and enjoyed exploring what she most connected with through each of her senses.

I guided her through the awareness practice, where she again chose a supine posture, and afterwards shared she felt the practice to be very "comforting."

Since she chose a supine posture, I encouraged her to continue with it for a breath awareness and inquiry practice to help her feel how the diaphragm moves differently - displacing and creating space - depending on what muscles are engaged around it: first with hands on her belly, encouraging the chest and ribs to be soft but quiet while feeling the belly expand; then with one hand on her chest and the other along the side of her ribcage, now encouraging expansion through the ribcage while keeping the belly quiet; finally with hands gently resting on the collarbones, encouraging movement through the upper chest while keeping the belly and ribs soft but quiet. The encouragement for her in this practice was to feel how her body has the capacity to breathe in many ways depending on her circumstances and activity.

Next I led her though three standing balance postures: Vrikshasana, Garudasana, and Utthita Tadasana. She practiced each pose first balancing on her right side, which she called her "weaker leg." Next I introduced Virabhadrasana II as a posture both for building and experiencing strength across the koshas. I introduced an imagery experience for the pose that I credit to Judith Lasater. The warrior is grounded and centered - feeling the strength of the lower body, with each leg engaging and supporting differently. With the outstretched arms and gaze towards the forward fingertips, the warrior is still connected to the past, and looking towards the future, while anchored in the present moment. I encouraged her to explore how the pose made her feel physically, energetically, emotionally, and intellectually, and we discussed how practicing this pose could benefit her during those times of increased anxiety - especially before medical appointments.

The client shared she had continued practicing the deadbug exercise, including it with some of the other exercises she does for her core and upper body.

The first snow of 2024 began falling during our session, and with temperatures quickly dropping below freezing I let my personal anxiety of driving in the weather get the best of me, and did not include deep relaxation at the end. While I would have liked to have offered it as the session felt incomplete to me as a result, I made it home just as the roads were beginning to dangerously ice. While I much prefer the ability to work in-person with a client, weather situations like today make me appreciate the possibilities offered by virtual sessions as well. So far all of my client sessions have been in-person, and I do plan to incorporate virtual sessions during practicum for the experience as much as the convenience.
Other than the above, I felt both the pace of the session and the content was appropriate to support the client's goals and her energy. I intentionally
tried not to over plan the session, and in so doing found myself feeling less rushed - or trying to get everything in - and resultingly felt more present and connected with myself and the client. I felt that each activity offered the client a supportive experience and gave her an appropriate amount of homework for the week.

Having completed the imagery intake, my homework for the week is the craft a guided imagery for the client to use as a tool to continuously support health and healing in her body. Also, I have not yet introduced tools from Raja Yoga which could also support her in both her goal of fighting cancer as well as deepening her meditation practice. I feel like the practice of sutra 2.33, pratipaksha bhavana would be a very accessible practice for the client. I plan to continue working with the asanas introduced in session 2, expanding on Virabhadrasana II with movement into Utthita Parsvakonasana and Viparita Virabhadrasana, which with the client's love of the outdoors and sunlight, I will interpret as Sun Warrior for her.