Working w/ first 3 Koshas, develop practices for healthy digestion & movement (Annamaya Kosha), Pranayama for stress relief (Pranamaya Kosha) & Meditation to connect w/ Inner Witness (Manomaya Kosha). Work w/ the Gunas to ID her current state throughout the day, using breath & mindfulness to shift awareness & return to present moment.

AM Asana practice of 5 specific postures (e.g., Twists, Cat-Cow, Balasana) 3-5x/week for movement & relaxation for better digestion. Pranayama once daily for 5 min 3-5x/week to calm mind and support digestion - 3-part and Skull-Shining breaths. Guided meditation 2-4x/week one hand on heart, one on belly at bedtime to relax before sleep.

60-year-old overweight woman living a sedentary lifestyle with chronic diarrhea, insomnia and extreme stress at home, husband with Parkinson's, and unreasonable workload and impossible manager at work.

She's very aware of the impact this stress is having on her body, mood, thinking and overall well-being. Feels trapped and struggles to care for herself.

My plan was to begin with brief centering and Pranayama to create a space for us to work together and shift out of her day thus far. I’d then ask her for an update on anything she cared to share about since we last spoke. Based upon her update, I’d tie in related aspects of the proposed plan to expand upon the relevance of her update.

I’d then introduce her initial practices by offering a brief overview of the first 3 Koshas - Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha and Manumaya Kosha and how they work together - a natural progression from outer to inner connection and awareness of the Inner Witness.

This plan was based upon Yoga 1.12: In order to achieve a state of yoga, one must develop both practice and detachment.
I began with Asana to re-introduce movement into client's life and preparing the body in support of the key teaching cultivating her Inner Witness, then continuing with the second branch of Pranayama - deepening this movement and expanding her life force out of stuckness to mindfully progress through Pratyahara to connect with her Inner Witness and to experience 'a state of yoga'.

Client was subdued and teary at times. Quite moving for me to see her let go and take time for herself. She kept apologizing for being so emotional. I assured her that she was safe and welcome to express and share anything she wanted to. We stopped several times so she could feel all that was arising within her. I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

I gave her a brief overview of my proposed care plan. Suggested that she begin with her Asana practice for starters - movement. If anything didn’t feel right or beneficial to her, to simply make note of that so we could discuss at our next session.

I followed the basic outline of my intended plan. Based upon her update during the beginning of her session, I learned that she had been diagnosed with GERD. I decided to eliminate the Skull-shining breath for now. Realized that I needed to do more research to determine appropriate breathing practices for this condition.

I realized that I had planned on offering too much in our time together. When I saw that she needed time for tears and sharing, I opted to hold space for her and held off on a number of things for a future session.

All in all, I think she understood my intention for her - to get movement back into her life - starting with physical movement but a turning within as well so that she could reconnect with herself and find some peace and grounding within given all that's she's facing.

As noted above, I realized that I had to adjust the breathing practices based upon additional information she had given me. This was another telling reminder to listen, listen, listen and be flexible with my proposed plan.

I think I would mostly proceed in the same way - knowing there’s always opportunity for tweaks and added insights.
I’d still show up prepared with an ample list of ideas for proposed care plan while also being ready to listen and adjust to client’s current state as needed. By being receptive and flexible, I’d meet them where they were at. That would be success for me.

I’m glad that I adjusted the pace of our time together to give her space to just be and feel what she obviously needed to experience.

I’m not sure that I’d change anything, just ensure that I am well-prepared, able to adjust to whatever shows up in our time together and trust that that’s enough.