The key teaching is deep relaxation, which involves progressive muscle relaxation and body scanning.

The goal is to teach deep relaxation to a client over the course of two sessions, with the ultimate goal of helping with insomnia. The client will be taught the practice in the first session. In the second session, questions regarding the practice and its effect will be reviewed.

The client is a 39 year old female who is a single mother of three children, two of whom are school-aged. She is divorced, and has a contentious shared custody situation with her ex-husband. The client feels overwhelmed, is frequently anxious during the daytime, and has had insomnia since the divorce. She does not have time to do a full yoga practice, she says, but she would like to use yoga to help with sleep.

I envisioned teaching the client the deep relaxation practice via the internet, during one of her mental health sessions. She had, in a previous session, expressed interest in using non-medication techniques to help alleviate stress. There would be a follow up session which would last for 30minutes in which questions about the practice would be addressed and any obstacles could be explored.

The deep relaxation practice uses a modified form of Hatha yoga in which muscles are tensed and then relaxed. There is also a meditative aspect to the practice in which the mind (and thus false identities) are emptied; this could be considered to be a form of Jnana Yoga. The tensing and relaxing of the body, allows for greater access to the underlying koshas, relaxing the mind and deepening the release.

The client was on time for her appointment. It was difficult for her to feel relaxed at first, and it seemed that if she were trying the practice on her own, she may have stopped, but she seemed to derive confidence from my being present and she was able to continue. After some time, her body seemed to be less tense. She reported afterwards that she was able to reach a state of relaxation, which is not her usual experience when attempting relaxation practices.

During the second session she reported that she was able to do this practice at night before bed on a nightly basis (missing one or two nights) for about one month. She has reported feeling more relaxed and that it is easier to both fall asleep and stay asleep.

I suggest that the client continue with this practice, and after about three months of regular practice, to try to do this practice once, during that day--perhaps at a time when she gives herself a break during the day. This may help her feel less overwhelmed during the day.

Yes, I applied my intended plan and the goal was easily achieved, as the client was very motivated. She was able to implement the practice on an almost nightly basis and she was able to feel more relaxed and sleep more easily.

I did not have to adapt my teaching, but the deep relaxation practice that was taught was a modified version from that done in a typical Beginner's Hatha Level yoga class. This modification was done to facilitate ease of teaching while the patient was in a chair and being seen over the internet, and the modification also allowed for me to follow a time limit.

It may be possible to try to teach this deep relaxation practice from a lying position. It may perhaps be more helpful since the client would be doing the deep relaxation practice on her own at night, while lying down.