Four elements of stress management: Understanding stress, Relieve stress, Resilience (building foundation of inner steadiness) and Cope with Stress

The goals are to conduct a one-hour session to (1) provide the basic concept of what is stress and how it impacts physical and phycological health and (2) offer tools (reframing yoga philosophy, breathing practice, deep relaxation and meditation) to relieve stress and develop resiliency to effective cope with future stress.

The client is a 40 years old female who has a demanding career and is highly stressed.

My plan was to discuss with the client on what stress is and where it begins (i.e., the mind; from Swami Vidyananda's lecture on stress, stressors and the stress response) ) and then talked about the yogic approach to stress management. I would explain the concept of kosha i.e., 'at our center, we are happy and free from stress (SMTT manual) and used Russian dolls to illustrate my point. Then, I would teach extended exhalation with imagery to reduce stress response (SMTT Manual).

I used Raja yoga to support my teaching goal. I suggested the client to replace negative thoughts with positive ones (Book 2 sutra 33, Pratipaksa bhavana). Positive thinking has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress as well as can improve health and well-being (https://medium.com/swlh/3-scientific-studies-that-prove-the-power-of-positive-thinking-616477838555#:~:text=Three%20studies%20in%20peer,are%20going%20'through%20the%20wire).
I also used both Raja (The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, book 1, sutra 5, 15 and 16) and Karma yoga (SMTT manual page 150) when we discussed the client's feeling of rejection or not being appreciated by her coworkers. I also used book 2, sutra 49 (pranayama) in this session. Pranayama, especially deep breathing is physiologically incompatible with a state of stress (SMTT).

I began the session with discussion on what stress is and identifying key stressor(s) which included uncertainty in future career, hostile working environment and the feeling that her effort was not appreciated by coworkers. We then discussed reframing, including 'do the best, leave the rest' attitude, compassion toward others, not taking things personally and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. I then described on how stress impacts physical body (muscle tension) and breathing pattern (shallow, chest breathing). I then guided the client through extended exhalation practice with imagery. I ended the session with affirmation to shift her thinking toward positive thoughts (SMTT manual). I asked the client to score her stress level from 1 to 5 before and after the breathing practice. Her stress levels before and after the practice were 3 and 1.5, respectively.

I suggested the client to (i) start paying attention to her physical body and breathing pattern, especially when she is in the situations are that likely to trigger stress response; (ii) pause, stretch and breath deeply (if tight, start with extended exhalation) throughout the day and (iii) shifting attitude by not taking things personally and maintaining positive thoughts. I checked in with her a week after the session. She reported that the breathing practice and shifting attitude have helped her tremendously.

I did not have specific plans to use any particular branch of Integral yoga, with the exception of pranayama (book 2, sutra 49). My choices of IY branches used during the session were driven by the direction of my conservation with the client. Nevertheless, I felt that the goals of the session were achieved because the client understood the basic concept of stress and now has tools that she can use to reduce stress response.

As mentioned above, the use of Raja and Karma yoga to support the teaching was driven by the direction of my discussion with the client. I learned that I need to continue to deepen my understanding in all branches of Integral Yoga so that I will be well prepared for any topics that may come up in the future sessions.

Yes, I would approach it the same way, but would increase the session duration to 60 min so that I can include others breathing practices (e.g., breath awareness) and deep relaxation or meditation at the end of the session.