By applying "the locks and keys" (Sutra 1.33) in her interactions with her grown children, my client will remain more centered and peaceful.

To study sutra 1.33 using the translations of Swami Satchidananda, Rev Jaganath Carrera, and Nischala Joy Devi, asking my client to evaluate 4 interactions with each of her two children, identifying how each successfully implemented the key, or how she could have responded more effectively with the chosen key. (Text of each translation attached.)

Female. 56. No chronic health conditions. Widowed 6 years ago. Has struggled with maintaining her boundaries and keeping her peace as she interacts with her two children: son, 29 and daughter, 24.

The client is a positive and optimistic person who loves to learn skills that allow her to continue growing in all of her roles in life. She is familiar with the asana and pranayama limbs of hatha yoga, but has never studied the sutras. My vision was to share a brief introduction to raja yoga and the yoga sutras of Patanjali, and how the principles can be applied both on and off the mat in everyday life by evaluating interactions with her children.

The branch of focus was Raja yoga through a study of sutra 1.33.

The client was enthusiastic, engaged, and open to exploring sutra 1.33. She strongly connected with Swami Satchidananda’s metaphor of this sutra as “the locks and keys.”

My client is an established massage therapist with loyal clientele. To increase awareness of how she can practically apply the locks and keys in all relationships, I gave her the homework assignment to observe one day of interactions with clients and co-workers. I asked her to see if she could identify the locks being carried by each interaction, without judgment, then at the end of her day, perform an exercise suggested by Nischala Joy Devi in The Secret Power of Yoga. (I will attach text of the exercise as a supporting document.) I also reminded her that we are just beginning an ongoing conversation and study of this sutra, and, as I am discovering in my personal study, growing our understanding of the sutras is a lifelong exploration.

Yes and yes. My client describes herself as a visual and experiential learner. Since she has taken some yoga classes with me at the gym, I shared with her the introduction to Raja yoga document I had created for my final presentation in Stress Management TT (document attached.) She found the metaphors used helpful in her understanding of Raja yoga and how the sutras can be applied in daily life. She was excited to discuss each of the locks and keys, and clearly articulated her understanding of each, as well as personal examples.

I had asked the client to pick the location for our meeting, and she chose her home. When I arrived, her adult daughter was present and remained within earshot of our conversation. While I encouraged my client to think of examples in her life where she encountered each of the four locks, I felt it was not appropriate to ask her to focus on the locks in the interactions with her children, even though target implementation of the sutra will be in her relationships with her son and daughter. She did a great job of finding interactions in relationships that highlighted each of the four locks, and we talked about how she could have employed the four keys. In our discussion I volunteered examples of how I employed the locks and keys in interactions with my daughter, and in that way interjected examples for a parent-child relationship.

I would first adjust the location to a place where the client felt comfortable and safe, while also allowing privacy for our conversation. Also, seeing how my client was responding to metaphors in our discussion, I spontaneously offered an additional way to view the locks and keys, being the four directions of a compass. I suggested that there are a range of attitudes and actions others can express, but these four attitudes can offer us focal points for our practice of “retain(ing) our inner peace in all circumstances.” (The Secret Power of Yoga, p.78) Overall I feel our conversation was supportive of the client's goals, and she is very interested in continuing our discussion of this and other sutras.

• Raja-TCA-notes.pdf
• Exercise-from-The-Secret-Power-of-Yoga.pdf
• Introduction-to-Raja-Yoga-final-talk-1.pdf