"Imagery, Rachel Naomi Remen says, is the language that the unconscious speaks in its efforts to communicate with us. Imagery is an extraordinarily powerful tool for communicating with the vast universe within ourselves that we are not aware of in ordinary states of consciousness.” (Ref. Healing Relationships Study Guide)

Yoganidra and imagery can support my client to deal with a problematic relationship in a more peaceful way.
Two meetings:
1.imagery intake 20min
2.practice 30min -it will be recorded for further use. After the 2nd session, my client will evaluate if she could notice any shift in her state of mind. (Ref. Nischala Devi, The healing Path of Yoga)

My client is a 59 year old woman, Brazilian, married, no children, with a good health, yoga teacher and meditate for about 30 years. Her sister in law is a great cause of stress in her life. She is always complaining and asking for more support from my client, and that is why my client would like to have more peace of mind when dealing with this family situation.

The client will receive an intake form to fill and send it through email. We will have two meetings of 30 min each and a 3X week Yoganidra recorded session by herself for one month.
First meeting: talk about her pre-filled intake and imagery intake. In the imagery intake she is asked about preferences in the following aspects:
Relevant objects, persons and their qualities, nature, specific places, weather and animals, color, smell, tastes, sounds, and also what she doesn't want to hear in a Yoganidra session.
Second meeting: Practice of Yoganidra with imagery customized for her (20 min). Prior to the Yoganidra practice, she is invited to be aware of her breath, with dirgha swasan (3 part breath), to activate the parasympathetic nervous system; after that she experienced a progressive relaxation, relaxing each part of her body (10 min). Then, Yoganidra begins. Feedback at the end.

Hatha yoga: Yoga nidra is a part of Hatha Yoga branch. The guided imagery can be done in asanas, pranayamas, meditation or Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is more effective in her case because she already do the foresaid practices by herself, and she needed something else to help with her stress.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, in his book Yoga Nidra, affirms: "the use of guided imagery in yoga nidra is a very powerful method of resolving suppressed conflicts, desires, memories, and samskaras."The images (customized for the client) of peace and joy help her in facing daily challenges with a calmer state of mind.
Jnana Yoga: The awareness of the different levels of being (koshas) during Yoga Nidra session is part of this branch. This awareness gives to the client a greater access to her true nature that is Peace, Love and Joy.

The client was very enthusiastic about the technique. After the Yoga Nidra session she reported that was feeling a sense of peace and lightness. She said the imagery was really fit for her. Part of the imagery included a meeting with her Guru. She said that she felt a sense of comfort and security. She put her head on his lap and stayed there for a few minutes. She reported that it was like he was taking care of her situation and everything would be alright. This relieved her tensions and she felt positive about all the stress with her family. She also said that she practices another yoga nidra recordings when she feels tense, and this one will be even more effective because it is fit for her.

I suggested the client should practice the Yoga Nidra 20 min recording I provided to her before sleep.
She has the option to Journal about her experience, even if it's just one word, in order to check her progress in her state of mind, sensations, inner awareness.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati says that samskaras or mental impressions are often the root cause of tension, mental disturbances and disease. And
"The process of visualization in yoga nidra enables us to purge these samskaras from the mind, thus purifying the layers of our consciousness, which is necessary before real progress in yoga is possible." The journaling can help in observing this progress, which can be a motivation for her practice.

Yes, I applied the intended plan.
It's difficult to say if the goal was achieved in just one session. The goal was to use Yoganidra and imagery to support my client to deal with a problematic relationship in a more peaceful way.
But I can say that my client could see that she was feeling more peaceful and relaxed after the yoga nidra with customized imagery session, and fortunately this practice will help her to change how she sees her challenges and relieve her stress. As Swami Satyananda Saraswati says, "when we practise yoga nidra, we are trying to transcend the behaviour of the external mind."
In her book The Healing Path of Yoga, Nischala Devi quotes Shakespeare :
“There is
nothing good
or bad. Only
thinking
makes it so."

I didn't have to adapt anything in my plan, it was very straightforward.
I learned that to customize an imagery session, it is very important that you know the person well. I know the client very well for about 25 years, what make it very easy for me to write a yoga nidra script with images that is suit for her.
If I didn't know the client that well, I probably needed more time and more questions for the imagery intake.

If I was faced with the same situation again in the future, I would use the same approach.

To explain that, I'll quote Swami Satyananda (Yoga Nidra)
"(...) the underlying cause behind man’s abnormal behaviour lies in the accumulated tensions on the mental plane. Yoga nidra is the science of relaxation which enables each of us to dive deep down into the realms of the subconscious mind, thereby releasing and relaxing mental tensions, and establishing harmony in all facets of our being.

There are several ways to deal with stress in yoga, but when the client is able and like to visualize images, imagery can be a very powerful way to overcome mental challenges and change behavior.

Some people have difficulty in visualization, which was not my client's case. When this difficulty happens "it is advised not to visualize, but merely to think about and try to recollect experiences associated with the image. Most people find this easy to do, and it is the initial step. Then as one continues to practise, and the consciousness becomes more withdrawn, images will start to appear." (S. Satyananda)