Using specific yogic techniques to help balance a client with an overactive Vata Vikruti.

Set up a therapy plan designed to help this client pacify Vata and increase Kapha which will reduce anxiety. We will use an anxiety journal to keep track of daily anxiety levels; the goal is to demonstrably decrease anxiety within 30 days.

Female, 27, Anxiety. Client has been dealing with anxiety for a several years now and is looking for a natural adjunct to her pharmacological treatment. The ayurvedic quiz offered by Banyan Botanicals, which was recommended by Durga Leela, reveals a current Vata imbalance.

I envisioned sitting with the client and first discussing what exacerbates and/or causes them to feel anxiety and what, exactly, their anxiety feels like. We would then discuss the three Doshas, the symptoms of her particular Vata imbalance, and the results of the Banyan ayurvedic quiz. Then, we would work together to record how they are feeling in their first journal entry, so that we can review and befriend the journaling process. Next, we would talk about what practices we are going to do and how they will serve to help keep her feeling more grounded and peaceful. The plan will be to have them do the asana and pranayama every day at least once a day and keep track of how they are feeling with daily journal entries. Ideally, she will use the journal at least twice a day, but I will encourage her to keep it with her and use it throughout the day as well.

I applied Raja Yoga in the use of asana and pranayama, which made up the physical practices that I taught. These were designed specifically to balance Vata energy. I used Bhakti Yoga in a general encouragement for her to have feelings of faith to help reduce her anxiety, however, she did not really take to the Bhakti Yoga. I was hoping the Bhakti Yoga could ground her and reduce the anxiety of the overactive Vata. I implemented Jnana Yoga in teaching her the importance of witness consciousness in lessening her anxiety. We discussed the idea that the anxiety is not really a part of her, it is just turbulence in the mind. To this end, we discussed witnessing the anxiety and making an observation like "there is anxiety in my mind" instead of saying "I am anxious", which can lead to more anxiety. This was done in an effort to reduce her attachment to the effects of the Vata imbalance.

This client was quite clearly in a state of Vata imbalance. She was talking a lot, moving a lot, and reported poor sleep on the night before we met. She was very receptive to the practices and seemed excited to be trying something different. She also seemed to be open to journaling and mentioned having some experience with journaling in the past, which I took as a good sign. She was quite capable when it came time to practice the asana - it was actually hard to get her to stop moving once we got started with that part of our session. The breathing exercises were another story; she seemed to have difficulty with the extended exhalations and was reporting anxiety during the extended exhalations. I modified and offered her some ideas related to Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga to help her get through her breathing anxiety. I was optimistic by the end of the session but a bit worried too.

I suggested a simple witnessing breathing practice for her in times when the breathing exercises cause her anxiety to increase. I told her it was ok if she felt uncomfortable doing the breathing exercises sometimes and to just do whatever she is comfortable with, even if that means laying on the floor and observing the breath as much as she feels ok to do in that moment. I encouraged her not to give up on the breathing practices and gave her some other grounding asana practices that she could do both in a chair and on the mat. I advised her that a grounding and gentle style of yoga would be best for her right now; too much movement would not be helpful in the long run. I also encouraged her to write as much as she felt comfortable with, even beyond the daily anxiety journaling. She seemed to like that idea as she had written as a hobby in the past.

I did apply my intended plan, and after 30 days of journaling, she reported that her anxiety was notably lessened. In the early days of her practice, her anxiety was consistently from 7-9 on a 1-10 scale. By the last week, she was averaging a level 5 on a 1-10 scale. She reported feeling less anxiety at work and sleeping better. Therefore, I would say that the goal was achieved, though I did not fully apply my intended plan when we met. I overestimated her ability to do the 3-part yogic breathing with extended exhale exercise, as I originally had that slated for 5 minutes. The slower exhales were causing her anxiety to flare up, at which point I introduced the idea of an Ishta Devata that she could visualize giving her strength. This didn't resonate; the witnessing suggestion I gave next was more useful. We wound up doing the witnessing practice instead of the extended exhale breathing.

Yes, the largest adaptation I made came with the increased anxiety level during the extended exhale practice. I learned that I should plan regressions and different options for every client and for every practice. I was thinking that extended exhale breathing would be perfect for her anxiety, but it just didn't work for her in that moment. I should have started with the witnessing practice and very slowly built up to deep breathing, only attempting the extended exhale towards the end of the exercise.
I also had to adapt to her desire to keep moving and doing more and more asana. I was a little flustered at first as she continued to request more and more asanas, but luckily I had my yoga teacher's toolkit with me, which we reviewed together. I plan to make a comprehensive list of Vata balancing asana practices, as I get the feeling this will be a common imbalance in our society.

If I were faced with the same situation, I would approach it in a similar way, though I would have more options, regressions, and backup plans. I felt that the session generally went very well, I could tell she was excited about the asana and journaling. I got the feeling that she liked taking a quiz and seeing her results, it seemed to legitimize the session and practices we did. If I had to do it again, I would use the quiz, the asanas, and the journaling the same way that I did. I would have more options in regards to asana practice, however.
I would change my approach to the breathing exercises when working with someone who deals with anxiety. I was incorrect in my assumption that she would be able to do the left nostril breathing and deep yogic breathing with extended exhale with little issue. I would regress the pranayama practice next time and work into it more slowly. Ideally, I would have a backup plan that I could present in order to build up the client's pranayama practice over time - or, perhaps, a few different plans to help them improve their practice no matter where they start.