Integrating gentle yoga, guided meditation, energy healing, and restorative yoga in a single class to bring downregulation of the stress response into the nervous system.

Goal is to improve a client's stress resilience and sleep quality. Client has been struggling with insomnia due to stress from work; we aim to bring insomnia down by 20% in the next seven days with a nightly gentle/restorative yoga class before bed. Sleep improvement will be measured by daily entries in a sleep journal of Insomnia Severity Index.

Female, 29, Anxiety, Insomnia, shoulder and wrist pain. Client owns a crochet business that keeps her very stressed and activated, even late into the night. She has trouble winding down and can't access more vigorous forms of yoga. She is looking for a healthy way to relax at night before bed that can serve as an alternative to watching TV at night.

I planned to start the session by reviewing the client's intake form and checking in with her. Afterwards, we would review the insomnia index and journaling process so that she can track how yoga therapy is affecting her sleep. Her and I have talked about the benefits of yoga several times in the past, and she has been interested in doing yoga therapy for a while now, so I envisioned that she and I would get right into discussing all the props and everything she would need after briefly reviewing the protocol itself. I would talk to her about setting up some peaceful music, lighting candles or doing aromatherapy like Cheri, and then we would get into the movements. I planned to follow the therapeutic yoga principles of utilizing gentle yoga, restorative poses, energy healing, and guided meditation all in one session. After the session, we would have some time for discussion and feedback

We used Raja Yoga in our asana, guided meditations, and yoga nidra. The asanas are related to the key teaching of downregulating the nervous system because they allow us to become aware of and relax tension in the body. The yoga nidra practice that I led was introspective and therefore related to the practice of pratyahara.
Hatha yoga was also utilized through asanas, especially when used to balance the activating (ha) and passive (tha) aspects of the bodymind.
Jnana Yoga was invoked through guided meditations while in the restorative poses that involved bringing the awareness outside of the body while being open minded to the idea that "I" can be expanded beyond the body.
Bhakti Yoga practices were also offered during the restorative poses, in that I led the client through a meditation focused on devotion and surrender to the Universal Energy (her conception of God).

I very much enjoyed my time with this client and the yoga therapy protocol that we worked on together. I found this a very natural and powerful practice, and the client agreed. Although I did not do any hands-on touch, I was surprised at how connected I felt when I was attempting the energy healing portion of the practice. I do feel that the practice could have been improved if we were in a better environment, as we were in her living room where things were strewn about and the vibes were "busy". In a dimly lit, clean space with candles I think it would have been easier for her to relax. I noticed that she seemed to reflexively open her eyes and sit up a little bit a few times; she said it was because she kept thinking about work and other things that needed to be done. The yoga nidra was particularly useful for this client, she said that was the most relaxed she has felt in a long time.

I would recommend that this client develop a bedtime yoga therapy routine with an emphasis on disconnecting from her work. From what she told me and what I observed, there were indications of her working almost everywhere. We were surrounded by reminders of work. She can use the restorative and gentle yoga along with guided meditations and yoga nidra to get some space between her mind and her work when it comes time to relax. I also recommended that she spend some time focusing on sending love and gratitude to her wrist and shoulder and gave her some gentle wrist and shoulder stretches in addition to the therapeutic yoga protocol. Because she had such a positive response to the yoga nidra practice, I would recommend that she make that a nightly practice even on nights that she doesn't quite have the energy or ability to do any movement. I'd provide pre-recorded yoga nidra practices.

I actually did apply the intended plan, for once in my yoga therapy life! The protocol and session went almost exactly according to plan, with only a brief interlude for the addition of the wrist and shoulder movements when she said that both body parts were bothering her while in resting dragonfly. I think this client was "sold" on yoga therapy before I got there, so we didn't have to spend a lot of time answering questions or addressing any doubts or hang-ups. The client and I established a good rapport; the protocol proceeded smoothly - even when the client was getting distracted or feeling pain, there were opportunities for growth. I would say the goal was achieved, as the client really took to the yoga nidra practice and started to use it when she would wake up in the middle of the night. Her insomnia index went from a score of 21 (75%) to 8 ( 29%), a 46% improvement.

I did not have to adapt too much in my plan, which was very surprising. I did have to address her compulsive reflex to go back to work, and she told me afterwards that if I were not physically there leading a live session, she would have paused the video to go handle some work tasks. I also had to adapt in the moment when she brought up her wrist and shoulder pain, I could tell that she really needed to address potential solutions for the pain before she could get her focus back to the practice.
One of the biggest takeaways from working with this client was the importance of the environment. I could really feel the environment pulling her to get back to her work. The energy was quite chaotic, and we didn't have anywhere else to go as she asked me to go over there for convenience and so she could sleep afterwards. A calm environment is ideal for this type of yoga therapy.

If I were faced with the same situation, I would mostly approach it in the same way, though I would give more attention to the client's physical pain immediately after it comes up on the intake. This client and I discussed her wrist and shoulder pain briefly before we got into the practice; at the time it didn't seem like the client wanted to get into details. She was more focused on her sleep issues. However, the physical pain came up during the practice, which caused a disruption in the flow and focus as we had to then address what she could do to help her pain in the moment to allow her to re-focus.
Cheri's therapeutic yoga protocol of combining gentle yoga, restorative postures, guided meditation, and energy healing went very well. I am grateful I was able to take this module, because it has transformed how I view yoga therapy and restorative yoga. I really enjoyed practicing the energy healing, and the client said it helped her to remain focused on the practice, since I was focusing on her energies as well.
I also learned that I need to address the yoga therapy environment on the front end, asking clients to clean up the yoga therapy space if I will be on a house call.