Add-before-eliminate : a process for compassionate presence

by Nehha Bhatnagar (organized with the help of AI but taken from mentor sessions)

Add before Eliminate: a strategy for SUSTAINED results in clients

How important is it for cultivating compassionate presence in therapeutic and coaching contexts, emphasizing self-care, vitality building, and neurophysiological underpinnings to support client transformation!

My mentor taught me an “add-before-eliminate” approach, consistency through small practices, and the PPP (Protect, Project, Elevate) framework to sustain practitioner resilience and effective client support. Theres also the P-A-R-T model. So read on and take notes if you like.

This is often the missing link in many modern day healing approaches where elimination is seen to be necessary first without adding nourishment first- hence results are short lived or not root level deep.

Compassionate Presence and Therapeutic Stance

Core principles:

• Meet clients “soul to soul,” hold nonjudgmental acceptance, and maintain one’s own stable frequency/radiant body while fostering safety and trust.

  
  

• See clients as experts of their own lives; aim to cultivate self-efficacy, self-guidance, and self-regulation rather than rescuing.

  
  

• Acceptance precedes change; compassionate presence invokes clients’ intrinsic healing processes.

  
  

• Boundaries and vitality:

  Maintain distinct energetic boundaries to avoid compassion fatigue; prioritize practitioner self-care to repair “holes” in the radiant body/arc line.

  
  

• Acknowledge limits: practitioners are not in charge of clients’ destinies; offer best support and respect uptake capacity.

  
  

Vitality-First: Add Before Eliminate

Strategy:

• Strengthen prana/ojas/tejas via nourishment and practices before asking for reductions (e.g., in smoking or stress behaviors).

• Introduce breathing, asana, mantra, mudra, drishti, dharana, dhyana, bhavana to raise vitality; motivational interviewing can complement but follows vitality-building.

  
  

  Rationale:

Clients presenting with depletion need replenishment; adding supportive habits makes elimination easier as the body-mind naturally rebalances.

Micro-Practice Consistency

• Guiding maxims:

  Start from where you are; something is better than nothing; a little goes a long way.

  
  

• Implementation:

  Encourage brief daily “snacks” of practice (e.g., seven minutes); build consistency through ups and downs to accumulate benefits.

  
  

PPP Framework for Practitioner Resilience

• Protect:

Anchor in present-moment stillness and silence; attune to inner light; regulate your nervous system first.

• Project:

From groundedness, project compassionate, coherent presence to co-regulate with clients.

• Elevate:

Use the regulated field to support client stability, insight, and capacity for change.

Neurophysiology and Yogic Integration

1. Mantra/meditation engage the cerebral cortex (higher-order thinking) and can reduce amygdala reactivity; pranayama modulates limbic functions.

2. Reptilian-brain-driven rigidity eases with safe practice; limbic system reinforces rewarding calm states, promoting habit change.

3. Practices and effects:

   OM as seed sound (A-U-M-Turiya) spans conscious, subconscious, unconscious, and transcendent states; enhances sensitivity to subtle vibration.

   
   

   Kapalabhati activates frontal lobes; Chandrabheda supports nighttime calming; pratyahara fosters inward attention.

   
   

   Shat Kriyas (e.g., Kapalabhati, Neti, Dhauti, Shankha Prakshalana) cleanse and prime the system; Shavasana symbolizes release of old patterns.

   
   

4. Koshas and elements:

Prana supports mental-emotional stability (air); ojas (water) and tejas (fire) underpin resilience and radiance; lifestyle (including sleep) is foundational.

Intentional Practice: Yoga Nidra and Sankalpa

Yoga Nidra is often very useful to add to the protocol.

It involves a progressive relaxation, internalization (from external sounds to subtle thought), sensory awareness, body scan, and visualization (Antar Mauna)

The intention/sankalpa to change can be planted here in the soil of the sub-conscious:

Heart-congruent, present-tense intention felt somatically; repeat three times or hold as image if words are unclear.

Relational Skills: P-A-R-T Model

• Presence:

Ground in self while remaining open to the other.

• Attunement:

Tune to incoming signals, bracketing bias; listen deeply to what clients want to convey.

• Resonance:

Cultivate a coherent, felt connection that conveys safety and being seen.

• Trust/Truth:

Trust emerges from resonance; acknowledge personal narratives and orient to what is, enabling honest awareness.

The therapeutic relationship is healing but so is the acknowledgement of the client's inherent divinity

Training, Traits, and Trauma

Framing:

Traits (samskaras), trauma (stored memories), and training (neuroplastic skill-building) interact.

Outcome:

Mental training fosters neural integration, tranquility (eudaimonia), and flexible top-down regulation over isolation-prone patterns.

Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Identity

Practice orientation:

Meditation as seeing, not becoming; prioritize observation over what is observed; return to body sensations; befriend present-moment experience.

Transformation:

With curiosity and presence, emotions lose grip; identity stories loosen; awareness reveals a deeper, compassionate intelligence beyond egoic narratives.

Integration:

Comfort with discomfort grows; acceptance reduces avoidance; natural goodness and loving heart become accessible.

Practical Recommendations for Client Work

• Session conduct:

Ensure practitioner needs (water, restroom, centering) are met before engagement to maintain compassion capacity.

If clients arrive without “homework” completed, still proceed—showing up indicates readiness; use in-session practices to build momentum.

• Behavior change:

Pair motivational interviewing with vitality-first additions; let rewarding felt experiences drive habit shifts.

• Sleep and lifestyle:

Treat sleep as meditative recovery; reinforce daily rituals that stabilize prana and emotional tone.

Inspirational Closings

Key reminders:

• Our deepest fear may be our inner power; simple living quiets the mind’s constant commands.

• Allow life’s intelligence to flow; openness and curiosity sustain awareness and happiness.

• Invocation

  Align work with divine order; remain willing to be surprised by supportive outcomes.

Action Items

1. Implement the “add-before-eliminate” protocol in upcoming client plans, prioritizing breathwork and gentle practices before reduction goals.

2. Adopt seven-minute daily micro-practice templates for clients to improve adherence and consistency.

3. Integrate PPP (Protect, Project, Elevate) into practitioner pre-session routines for nervous system regulation.

4. Incorporate Sankalpa setting into initial sessions, ensuring intentions are heart-congruent and present-tense.

5. Expand use of pratyahara, Kapalabhati, and Chandrabheda as context-appropriate tools; document client responses.

6. Provide client education on prana/ojas/tejas and basic neurophysiology to enhance motivation and self-efficacy.