Book 1, sutra 1 ‘Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah’, the restraint of the modification of the mind stuff is yoga

The goal of this 45 min session is to (1) explain the core teaching of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali with the emphasis on what yoga is and (2) offer options for personal practices, including pranayama, meditation and self-reflection to restraint mental modification

The clients are two female, age 40 and 58 years old. Both clients have an anxiety issue and hard time going to sleep. Both clients also appears to feel burned out.

My plan was to introduce the clients to Raja Yoga and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Then, I would describe the goal of yoga, i.e., the restraint of the modification of the mind (Book 1, sutra 2) and discuss why this is important (use analogies of mind like a mirror or lake, as explained by Swami Karunananda and in the book 'the Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi; this would be followed by the demonstration of a crystal in the bowl of water). Thereafter, I would discuss sutra 5 (painless versus painful thoughts) and then sutra 12 - practice and non-attachment (what they are and why we need both to attain the goal of yoga). I planed to end the session with nadi suddhi, meditation practice and examples of self-reflection that the clients could incorporate into their daily practice.

I used Raja yoga for this session. I referred to three books for this session: the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda, Inside the Yoga Sutras by Reverend Jaganath Carrera and The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi.

I began the session with describing what yoga is. One of the clients thought that yoga is only the asana practice. This is a common misunderstanding about yoga (as mentioned in the Secret Power of Yoga). Therefore, I spent a few minutes explaining that asana is only a small part of yoga and went further explaining different branches of Integral yoga (Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Jnana, Karma). I provided more information about Raja Yoga and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (I showed the book commentary by Swami Satchidananda on the camera), including the history of Yoga Sutras and the content within the book (4 chapters/books).
I used the introduction from Reverend Jaganath's book as a stepping stone to introduce Sutra 2 of book 1. In the Introduction of Rev. Jaganath's book, it was mentioned that 'the teaching of Yoga Sutras are based on three principles - suffering is not caused by outside force, but by faulty and limited perception of life and of who we are; the unwavering peace we seek is to realize our true identity (talked about what we seeking outside is not permanent, but everlasting peace can be experienced within each of us); and self-realization is attained by mastering the mind. The last principle then led to sutra 2 of book 1 - the restraint the modification of the mind - stuff is yoga. I explained different levels of the mind (sensory input, intellect and ego), but I did not mention sanskrit words to avoid confusion and it might become overwhelming to the clients. The key message here was to use the intellect to make choices instead of impulsively responding to sensory inputs and craving. I then explained about what prevents us from realizing our true self. I used analogies - mind like a mirror and mind like a lake; the concept that I learned from Raja TT class and from the Secret Power of Yoga book. I then demonstrated a crystal in a bowl of water. The demonstration really helped the clients to understand the concept. There was a question about happiness thoughts as they also create thought waves or color the mind. My response was that this is not about avoiding happiness; we can still be happy and enjoy life, but we also need to realize that the eternal peace and happiness is within us, not from what we are experiencing in the world.
I went further to Sutra 5 of book 1 and described 'painful' versus 'painless' thoughts and explained that selfish thoughts will bring pain, even when they are pleasurable at the moment. However, selfless thoughts such as unconditional love or no expectation of our actions are painless. My original plan was to go to Sutra 12, but one of the clients asked about how to deal with wicked people. I referred to Sutra 33 of book 1 to respond to this question. Then I discussed Sutra 12. Because we spent a lot of time during discussion, I decided to only offer a few minutes of meditation practice (focused on mantra 'Om Shanti') because one of the clients had not practice meditation and felt that it would be challenging for her to do it. I ended the session with examples of self reflection; e.g., noticing whether the thoughts are selfish or selfless, what disturb their peace and writing it down in a spiritual journal. I also suggested the clients to develop a daily practice, that includes a short asana, pranayama (both of them know nadi suddi) and meditation. For the client who had not practice meditation, I suggested that she started with a few rounds of nadi suddi followed by 2 mins of meditation twice a day. Another client had practice meditation, but did not do it regularly. She would try to do it daily.

I will meet with the client once a month to provide support and answer any questions. I also plan to continue discussing Raja yoga with them during our next meeting. The client who is new to meditation did report back to let me know that she has been meditating on a regular basis Although she has not felt the effect yet, she will keep trying. My response to her was to be patience and kind to herself. It will take time, as Swami Karunananda said that yoga is an evolution not revolution.

I did not intend to discuss Sutra 33 of book 1. However, the client asked a question that was related to this sutra. Therefore, we spent a few minutes on this topic. I also planned to practice nadi suddhi with the clients and offered Pratipaksha bhavana followed by meditation, but I did not have time (due additional time was spent on Sutra 33). Since one client need guidance on how to sit in meditation, I chose to practice meditation instead.
The overall goal of this session was achieved because the clients understand the core teaching of Raja yoga and have developed a realistic goal for their personal practice.

My internet did not cooperate with me. So, I had to turn my camera off most of the session which was not ideal. Also, as I was about to lead the meditation practice, Zoom stop working entirely and I could not get back to the session. I ended up using Facebook messenger to call one of the clients back and guided the meditation practice through this platform. It was not ideal because I could not see the clients, but at least we were able to practice meditation and discussed developing a realistic goal for their personal practice. The lesson learn here is that virtual platform can be challenging with unstable internet. I will need to investigate how to overcome this challenge if I will offer a virtual session to clients.

I probably will approach it the same way. Fortunately, both clients are my friends and I have their contact information on my phone. If I am going to conduct a virtual session with a brand new client whom I do not know well, I will need to make sure that I have a solid internet access to avoid such issue.