The key teaching involves working with the client to pacify an aggravated pitta dosha with asana and breathwork.

The client has been showing signs of aggravated Pitta dosha. Using the tools of Ayurveda we will work to pacify the dosha by incorporating cooling and calming practices in our session as well as some general lifestyle guidance.

The client is a male in his late 40s. He has been experiencing tension and some pain around his shoulders and neck. He has also reported having feelings of stress and frustration with co-workers in his office as well as experiencing heart burn recently after meals. In addition, the weather has been unusually hot for the past few weeks, creating a heat wave of unknown duration where the client lives.

The client could only meet for one session, so the plan was to do a calming and cooling practice introducing tools that the client could then incorporate on his own later.

I used the Kosha model from Raja yoga. This helped me to determine his current state not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally as well.
I also used Hatha yoga because we integrated physical postures as well as introducing the concept of mudras.

We started with an Awareness Practice so we could get a sense of the client’s current state of the kosha layers. He was willing to practice it holding the Dhyana Mudra for openness and acceptance of what he would receive in the session that day. We did a longer neck and shoulder warm up to release tension that we was holding in that part of the body. Afterwards, we practiced calming forward folds like baddha konasana and janu sirsasana, which made room for his abdomen. We did a supine twist before the yoga nidra. I also showed him how to practice both sitali and sitkari pranayama as a way to calm the mind and literally cool himself down.

I suggested that the client monitor his water intake to make sure he was drinking enough liquids, as well as to stay somewhere cool and indoors during the hottest part of the day. For now, he should limit any physical activity to the cooler hours of the morning or early evening.

The Awareness Practice combined with the Dhyana Mudra did a nice job of centering the client as well as calming his mind at the start of the session. From that point, I tried to keep our practices at a measured pace, asking him to move mindfully into position, then breathe and soften into the pose. The slower, intentional pace combined with the forward folds and soft holds maintained the calm feeling throughout the practice. By the end of the session, the client was feeling less stressed and more peaceful than we he first came in. Calming his body and mind through movement and breathwork reduced the pitta.

Because he had been having heartburn recently, I didn’t want to offer any inversions, which is why we kept to seated postures that did not compress his belly. Making sure I had a sense of not just his physical capabilities, but understanding what was going on in his life as well, allowed me to adjust and adapt the session to prevent further physical aggravation to his body.

Yes, I would use physical and breath practices in the future. Since we only had that day’s session, I focused on what would help immediately. If we had had more sessions, I would have liked to include some meditation practices with calming, guided imagery and perhaps a talk on Pratipaksha Bhavana to help in interacting with his co-workers. This would provide tools he could use long-term and on his own to help keep the pitta in balance without having to meet with me.

Resources used:
https://chopra.com/articles/chill-out-with-these-6-cooling-yoga-poses

Frawley, D & Kozak, S Yoga for Your Type: An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice