One of my regular students is coming for a private session, as I have not been teaching classes this fall during my own recovery from surgery. She is clearly pitta predominant – vivacious, fiery, piercing eyes and high energy/enthusiasm. Her build is medium/strong and she tends to be impatient with herself and with the more meditative aspects of her yoga practice. (For example, she has a reaction to practicing Surya Namaskar with the movement flowing with her breath.) Last year she injured her shoulder – apparently a rotator cuff injury.
She was not happy to listen to her body during class and frequently went beyond her safe range of motion and into pain, despite encouragement to not do so. She has also been experimenting with Reiki healing and had some strong emotional reactions last spring after Reiki sessions. We did some meditation and discussion together after her experience, and she felt some relief from the anxiety/fear, which came up. Now she has developed a gastroenteritis (had 2 attacks, they have subsided), but continues to have heartburn. Also, rotator cuff is still injured. Both issues seem to be pitta inflammations.
She will come next week, and I suggested she do some “homework” to prepare. 1) Wave breath with focus on following the complete wave, allowing (not forcing/controlling) exhalation to lengthen. This to be done first lying, then sitting, and if she feels up to it, 2) Joint Freeing Series with focus not on full ROM but rather on maintaining wave breath as given above. When she comes, I will see how she is doing and review breath – making sure she is not Efforting OR straining but rather releasing and letting go. I will also do ROM analysis for shoulder joint – lying down on back seems easier for me than when sitting up.
I will give her review of JFS and pranayama – would also like to offer a soothing mind focus or more active releasing movement for her as the slow pace of the things could irritate her I have in mind. Gary Kraftsow’s book suggests exhalations from kneeling with raised arms to child pose – bringing arms behind the back rather than overhead on the ground – while humming out or using a mantra on the exhalation is helpful for issues with digestion and/or anger/anxiety. I thought I would offer Apanasana done as a flow on breath (single legs w/reaching arms overhead as legs extend, single leg to belly with gentle compression on exhale and “Om” or “letting go…” Perhaps the movement, which Kraftsow recommends also. Both have gentle compression of belly to stimulate digestion, but main focus on exhale and release of tension. Both are also comforting movements of being curled up and fetal. My feeling is that what she needs now is to allow herself to quiet and experience her deeper self and meditation.
Do you have any comments on the above or additional recommendations? Sorry I am so wordy – thanks for your response. Namaste