What or how a Client believes about their healing is more important than what I think is right/good for them. I need to understand what my client thinks of how they can heal, and as a result, what they can gain is the feeling that they are being respected for their belief and thereby empowered. Thus, starting a relationship that is based on trust.

Introduce a Hatha Yoga class to be done once a week for the first week to increase muscle strength, then twice a week thereafter. Teach a meditation practice to do daily 10/15 minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Introduce a few key Yoga Sutras of Patanjali to give Client tools that will help her guide and work with her mind.

Female age 54, in fairly good health. Client was diagnosed with Osteoporosis about 5 years ago. Additionally, she suffers from stress, anxiousness, and from recent psychological abuse. Client holds a 100 hour certificate in Iyengar Yoga. Client does not teach but she takes Iyengar Yoga class three times a week. Due to the osteoporosis, Client wants to strengthen her muscular system to support her skeletal system. Client works as a head nurse at a vaccination clinic in Argentina. Meeting on Zoom.

We met for three weeks. Intake was completed prior to first meeting.
The following practices and activities where given:
• Pre and Post Survey.
• One additional Hatha Yoga class was added to the client’s existing Iyengar classes at intake.
• Meditation was introduced during the second week. The discussion included understanding the process of meditation, specifically why the mind resists meditation and how techniques help us to control the mind. Client was provided with a five minute meditation session. Meditation was also discussed as related to stress management and the downregulation of stress through the meditation practice.
• Meditation of 2 to 5 minutes twice as day was provided as a daily practice.
• Introduction to the Yoga Sutras: Vairagyam, Pratipaksha Bhavana, The Four Locks and Keys.

Raja Yoga was used for the management of Client’s stress. The tools given to the Client were meditation, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which included Vairagyam, Pratipaksha Bhavana, and The Four Locks and Keys; as well as a discussion of the four elements of stress management which included understanding stress, relieving stress, building a foundation of inner steadiness, and coping with stress as it arises.

The Client is currently under a lot of stress because her daughter is scheduled to have brain surgery in late January 2023. Client practiced Viragyam throughout the three weeks we worked together to help her detach and leave things in the hands of the God. The Client also practiced Pratipaksha Bhavana to help her regulate her thoughts and emotions.

W1: Client reports that she has started to practiced one Hatha Yoga class at home and enjoys it. This is in addition to two Iyengar classes that she practices weekly. Client reports that a gym has opened up near her home, and she is interested in taking a Pilates class.
W2: Client has been practicing 15-30 minutes of Hatha Yoga in addition to two Iyengar classes. Client feels she cannot do more Iyengar Yoga now because it is summer in Argentina and it is too hot and the studio has no AC.
W3: Client has realized, as a result of working with Viragyam and Pratipaksha Bhavana, that she is too sensitive, and wants to correct this in herself. Client informed practitioner that she is going to start Pilates classes during the week of January 16th, this is in addition to her Yoga classes. Client practices the Four Locks and Keys and finds that she can use these tools daily in her life.

Continue to practice Iyengar and Hatha Yoga and to go ahead and start the Pilates class. The Client was supplied with an article titled, Effects of Strength Training on Health, to support her knowledge and effort to practice.

She has been using a timer for meditation to meditate for two minutes morning and night and she finds that “it's kind of not natural” to do it this way. I suggested that she write down the time she starts and allow the meditation to go for as long as she can naturally, then when she comes out of it – to record when she finishes. Client was provided with a Spiritual Diary to write in the amount of time she meditates.

I suggested that through the consistent practice of meditation and the Yoga Sutra tools she has received, that she continues to learn about herself and to work at changing those things that she would like to change.

Not exactly as the plan was originally intended. Initially, it was planned to suggest more Hatha Yoga for the Client, but Hatha Yoga works well for the Client about once a week only. So, what changed works for the Client in that the Client is practicing a little more yoga on a weekly basis, and ultimately the goal of increasing her ability to hold an asana longer is what the Client aspires to and she is moving towards achieving this. I find that the Client is determined to practice asana and Pilates as she feels this is what will help with her Oseoporosis.

I found that the pre and post surveys did not show change. The amount of Yoga the Client practiced remained the same, the amount of time measured that the Client could hold an asana remained the same. The only significant changes are that the client for the first time began a regular meditation practice two times a day.

The plan was to do one Hatha Yoga class in the first week and increase to two full classes in the second week, but Client reported that she has not been able to continue to do one full class a week. Instead, she is practicing 15-30 minutes once per week at home in the comfort of her AC on the days that she does not practice Iyengar.

Additionally, Client reduced the number of Iyengar classes just after the Intake session from 3 to 2 because it is currently the height of summer in Argentina, and she finds it exhausting to do 3 classes weekly in a studio without AC.

I have learned that I’m both guiding the Client and consciously following her lead. When I follow her lead for what she believes is good for her healing, I do it with discernment so that guidance continues subtly throughout. For example, guidance can be in the form of support for what Client expresses is good for her.

I would do the same thing because the Client is informing me of what she can do and wants to do, and she explains why this works for her. This tells me that she is committed to a practice that is for her best interest.

Additionally, Client had only practiced meditation two times prior to receiving Yoga Therapy, and that was when she visited India a few years ago. She mentioned that at that time, she meditated without any knowledge about meditation. Thereafter, she wanted to learn about meditation but that never happened. Thus, Client really appreciated learning about the theory and practice of meditation during the weeks we worked together. And she reports that she has been using the meditation tools that she learned, and appreciates the understanding gained about how the mind works in meditation, and discussed what she has found works and what does not work for her. For example, she finds that concentrating on the breath, the inhalation and exhalation is more of an obstacle to meditation, instead she visualizes a blue sky because this is more soothing and peaceful for her.