Healing is a process of becoming whole on many different levels through increasing awareness of the conditions of self-actualization and personal evolution. Michael Lerner, Choices in Healing, Ch 2, p23.

The process of healing begins with awareness.

Through awareness, reflection, and self-study, the client discovers a yet unrevealed aspect of herself, leading to a unique condition for healing and greater wholeness.

Female, 49 years old, married, stepmom, part-time home chef. Left career as a nutritionist and wellness coach from burn-out. RYT-200. History of alcohol & drug addiction in early 20’s. Negative body image instilled from parents’ messaging since earliest memories. Generational childhood sexual abuse on maternal side. Neither client nor her mother have experienced such personal trauma. Her stepson is going to college. She & her husband are relocating to NY state, leaving family and friends in PA.

As the client and I are friends, I envisioned being at ease with each other, established in trust, allowing us to share openly. With a professional background in the wellness field and having studied yoga in a 200 hour training program, I was confident that the client would comprehend the underlying concepts behind the practices, cross referencing her varied bases of knowledge.

Hatha. Grounding, gentle movement, & pranayama.

Raja. The kleshas, pratyahara, ahimsa, and aparigraha, svadyaya, Ishwara pranidhana. These teachings were incorporated to acknowledge the limiting nature of the kleshas and the ability to move beyond these limitations.

Bhakti. From Yoga: The Greater Tradition by David Frawley ~ The ultimate expression of bhakti yoga is surrender to the Divine as one’s inner self. The practices of awareness/witnessing and personalized guided imagery freed the client from patterns of conditioning to access her true nature.

Jnana. Written self-reflection, and gleaning insight through restful awareness.

Check-in gave time for the client to be seen and heard. She expressed her frustration with persistent negative body image after so many years working towards positive change.

Awareness practice. The client felt centered, safe, able to relax. She was impressed that she was able to let thoughts, emotions and habitual stories come & go.

Safety. This a relatively new concept for the client. She has recently realized its importance as a felt sense in all aspects of her life.

Sharing. It was powerful for the client to share her reflections in conversation with me. More realizations surfaced as she spoke the words of her written thoughts.

Guided Imagery. Affirmation. It was empowering for the client to know that all the ideas for her guided imagery are hers. She smiled throughout the session, content in this place of her own creation.

Continue to rewrite the stories she is stuck in, moving through the stuckness.

Make use of the personalized guided imagery recording that I made for her. It is possible to listen to the body awareness portion separately.

Remember what it feels like to be tender and loving toward herself. Touch upon that unconditional love often, if even for a moment. As you do, you connect more fully to your true nature, your higher self, beyond all suffering.

Some rescheduling was necessary due to the client becoming ill. The goal was achieved.

Rewriting a life story was the most impactful practice for the client. This “assignment” (client’s nomenclature) threaded together an array of memories around her body image and self-image from her infancy as retold to her by her mother and from memories of lived experiences. She could see how the innocence of her youth coupled with receiving stigmatizing and objectifying messages from her father since birth, sometimes in settings inappropriate for her age, without any counternarrative from her mother created fertile ground for self-loathing and escapism. The process shifted the client’s pattern of self-criticism, blaming, and harshness to loving tenderness for her youthful self; particularly for her eight year old and 20 year old self. She is ready to move through being stuck in her story.

Some days check-in took longer than planned and estimated allotted times differed slightly. We switched from in-person to a Zoom meeting once to prevent spread of disease during the client’s lingering illness.

Lessons learned:
• Ask myself: Am I fully present?, Am I creating a safe space for my client?, Am I listening free of judgement?
• Allow client full expression, remaining inquisitive without being intrusive.
• It is possible to be a compassionate listener without taking on the client’s suffering or armoring away from the client’s suffering.
• Take time to inquire if my interpretation of the client’s words & body language is accurate.
• Be affirming to the client and to myself.

I would replicate the TCA approach. The client could have benefitted from practicing awareness/witnessing and guided imagery with the use of recordings between in-person visits.

The client explicitly expressed to me that she felt safe in my company during our sessions and that that has not always been the case for her, working in other types of therapy. She stated that feeling safe and supported enabled her to be more open, vulnerable, and able to share her reflections fully without fear. She expressed gratitude in this regard.

Other improvements to the plan, approach and implementation have been addressed above.

During the check-in portion of our first session, the topic of self-compassion arose. The client defiantly said, “I am so done with that.” I was bewildered, wondering how she could heal being braced against compassion for herself. I was tempted to share my thoughts, but decided not to, then questioned if I had made the right choice. Ultimately, the three practices led the client through all the koshas, even to the bliss body. Through this process she felt true tender loving kindness for her unknowing younger self. Healing towards wholeness became real for her.