Episode #110: Monday Mornings with Neha Saxena

It’s Monday. That means it’s time to slow down and enjoy some breathing exercises with our very own Neha Saxena, the Breath Yogi. And, as a CXM Experience bonus, Neha throws in some guided meditation. It’s a perfect way to start your week.

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Grad
Monday’s my favorite day. All right. Welcome to the CXM Experience. We’re back with the breath Yogi, Neha, and today… we’ve had some amazing discussions over the last few days. And today we’re going to make you do some work. It’s been a busy time. If you’re Jewish, you’re ending Passover. If you’re Christian, the Easter weekend is just ended. In fact today is Easter Monday, many of you may have today off. And for all the rest of us, spring is coming. Vaccines are being distributed. Life is changing, but still a lot of stress out there. A lot of challenges, and a lot of uncertainty.

And so Neha is now going to get us into some breathing exercises. And some guided meditation. I’m going to be following along. You might hear me breathing a little bit as we do this. But I’m really looking forward to this because I really need this. If you don’t need this out there, you can go on to another podcast, but I’m doing this for me. So, you know, this is just all about me, and I’m going to have a really good time. So anyway, sit down, have a good time. Neha, take it away.

Neha Saxena
Thanks. Hi. Happy Easter everyone. Let’s get started. Today I was thinking that maybe we could do something to calm the mind. And I want to share with you something called a straw breath. It’s very, very effective in really calming the mind down and has a very calming effect on our nervous system. And how you do it is you breathe in through the nose, and then you purse your lips and breathe out through the straw. And it’s a strong exhalation. You pull your navel in, breathe out for a little longer, but you breathe out through the straw. And as you’re breathing out, you’ll bring your attention to your feet. As you breathe in, the attention is on the breath. And as you breathe out the attention, you’re bringing it down to your feet. So follow my guidance. Let’s get started.

Let’s sit easily and comfortably. Spine is straight, body is relaxed. Place your palms on your thighs open to the ceiling. And let’s just take a normal deep breath in. And exhale, relax. Let’s just do a quick check in, what’s happening in the body. How are you feeling right this moment? What’s happening in your mind? Without any judgment, just simply becoming aware of what’s happening right this moment. Deep breath in, hold the breath. And slowly breathe out through the nose. Relax your whole body. Sit up nice and tall. Shoulders stacked over your hips. Do not lean forward. Bring your neck in line with your spine.

And for the straw breath, through the nose on my count, breathe in 2…3…4… out through the straw… 2…3…4…5…6. Bring your attention to your feet and continue breath in 2…3…4. Purse your lips breathe out 2…3…4…5…6 attention to your feet and continue. Breathe in, keep the body relaxed. Then as you breathe out through the straw, pull your navel in, breathe out for a little longer. Bring your attention to your feet. We’ll do just a few more rounds, continue. Breathe in 2…3…4. Out through the straw 2…3…4…5…6. In 2…3…4… out 2…3…4…5…6. In, full focuses on the breath, the body is relaxed and as you breathe out through the straw gently pull the navel in, attention to your feet. Just a few more rounds continue with in 2…3…4… out 2…3…4…5….6. In 2…3…4… Out 2…3…4…5…6. The last five rounds, breathe in 2…3…4…, out 2…3…4…5…6. In 2…3…4. Out through the straw 2…3…4…5…6. Attention to your feet. Breath in. Keep the body relaxed, do not tense the body as your breathing in. Out 2…3…4…5…6. In 2…3…4. Out 2…3…4…5…6, last one. Breath in 2…3…4, out through the straw 2…3…4…5…6. And relax.

Let the breath return to normal, keep your eyes closed. For just a few seconds, bring your attention inward. And just be curious. How did it impact your body? What was the impact on your mind? Maybe there’s a little bit more calmness in the mind, coolness in the body. When you’re ready, you can slowly open the eyes. I hope you enjoyed that. How was that? How do you feel now?

Grad
Oh, it was awesome. The feet part was neat. I had not done that before. It is interesting how when you just focus on one part, suddenly you become aware of it. And it’s interesting to me through the day, I don’t know what everybody else, but I find myself sometimes floating away from my body. The brains kind of go in this direction, and the bodies go in that direction. They become separated. And that creates… and then suddenly the body will do something to make you pay attention to it. And I like that sense of controlled presence as opposed to forced presence. Is what I love about that.

Neha Saxena
Yeah. And this breath is really something you can even try with your kids. They love doing it.

Grad
The straw breath. Yeah.

Neha Saxena
Yeah, yeah. And actually, they did studies with kids on this breath, it helps them focus a lot more. And if they’re feeling very agitated, and they’re all scattered, it’ll definitely help them be more focused. And also, if you have high blood pressure, this particular breathing exercise is really good in bringing that blood pressure down.,

Grad
Is it the length of the exhale, maybe?

Neha Saxena
And it’s also that you’re bringing your attention down to the feet. It reduces the heart rate, and therefore it brings the BP down.

Grad
Isn’t that interesting? It’s also not dissimilar from Pilates breath. So when you’re in Pilates… now, it’s a slightly different purpose. But in Pilates, you breathe in for certain moves, and then you breathe out. Often you’re breathing out to do a move. So if you’re, doing a roll up, when you roll down you breathe in, then when you roll up, which is a very significant amount of abdominal use, your breathing out. And the breathing out actually helps you do the move. It’s also very interesting about breath control is it can be pretty powerful in terms of making you effective at doing certain things.

Neha Saxena
Yeah, and actually, there’s so much happening. So when we’re breathing out through the mouth, the the exhale is bigger, right? You’re being able to expel more air and also it’s very cooling for the body. The body gets cooled down simultaneously. It’s a pretty fascinating mechanism. And someday we will talk about how and why you feel like that floating away as the day passes. But I want to maybe do a short meditation.

Grad
Love it. Let us do it.

Neha Saxena
Before we get into the practice, there’s lots and lots of definitions of what meditation is. The way I’ve been trained, and the way I approach it is doing nothing. You’re not trying to concentrate, you’re not trying to focus. That is mindfulness. But in meditation, we’re going to go beyond the mind. We do nothing. We’re not trying to resist the thoughts, we’re not trying to concentrate. All of that should be an outcome of a good meditation practice. It may not be what happens during the meditation, okay? So thoughts may come up, but we’re not going to resist them. We’re also not going to engage in them.

We’ll start with a little bit of body awareness, and then I’ll just let you drop all your effort, and then we’ll talk about it after. Okay. And for all of those listening, if you feel like you’re struggling and not being able to follow, trust me, it’s still working. Don’t worry if you’re not being able to follow all the instructions. But it’s, important to assess how you feel after. These practices have value. They may not be comfortable and pleasurable while the experience, but we do them for the value they bring after the practice is over.

Let’s start. So let’s sit easily and comfortably with your spine straight and back rested, palms resting on your thighs open to the ceiling. Take another deep breath in. And slow breath out, relax. Let’s do that one more time. Take a full breath into the belly into the chest till your collarbones left up. Hold the breath and slow exhalation through the nose, relax. Keep breathing normally, every incoming breath is energizing our body. And every single outgoing breath is bringing relaxation and relief. Take a normal breath in. And as you breathe out, notice the body getting relaxed. With every single exhalation. Another normal breath in. Then as you breathe out, relax your shoulders and neck. Relax your forehead. Relax your eyebrows. Relax your eyes. Relax your lips. Keep a gentle stretch on your lips. Relax your jaws. Release the tongue from the palate.

Normal breath in. And as you breathe out, relax your whole body. Your whole body. Become aware of your environment. The sounds in the environment. Maybe some people shuffling in the background or the sound from your laptop or the sound of your own breath. The temperature of the air that is surrounding your body. The light permeating through your eyelids. Right at this moment, you are in complete harmony with your environment. Breathe in and breathe out. Relax. Become aware of your thoughts. Maybe there are lots and lots of thoughts today. Or maybe there are not so many thoughts. Maybe some are positive thoughts. Some are not so positive. Just simply become aware of your thoughts. Do not resist any thoughts. We’re not trying to get rid of anything. We’re simply becoming aware. Then one is you breathe out, you are in complete harmony with

Become aware of your feelings. Maybe you’re feeling happy and calm, maybe not so happy, maybe a little overwhelmed, maybe exhausted. Whatever it is, just simply become aware of your feelings. Without any judgment, or resistance. Right, this moment, you are in harmony, with your feeling. Breathe in. And as you breathe out, relax. And just for a few moments drop all your effort. Take another deep breath in. Then as you breathe out, relax. Become aware of your thoughts and feelings if any. Take another breath in. And let it go. Then slowly and gradually becoming aware of your body and surrounding, you can open the eyes. I hope you enjoyed that. How do you feel now? How was that?

Grad
That was great, man. That’s really something else. You know, this mind body connection thing is really interesting. Why do you think we don’t do it naturally?

Neha Saxena
It’s because the sensors are wired to take information from the outside. And so the sensors are always engaging in the outside phenomena. It’s by design so that we can save ourselves.

Grad
Survive, right? Got it.

Neha Saxena
But meditation is that practice of taking the senses inwards. And there’s a new neuroscientific term for it’s called interoception.

Grad
Interesting, okay.

Neha Saxena
Becoming aware of the interior phenomena of what’s happening in my body, what’s happening in my mind. How am I feeling the sensations? So, it’s developing a sense of interoception.

Well, it’s interesting in that it is very important for our survival. We talked about lowering blood pressure. And there’s a lot of things that are good for us about this. Right? And it is interesting that we’re not naturally adapted to do it. It’s very interesting. Maybe we’re just evolutionarily not caught up yet.

I actually beg to differ with that. Actually, we are, but the way we live our life, we forget it. There’s so much sensory input today. Right? There’s so much sensory input that it fades to the background, but that sense is there. You’re feeling discomfort. If you’re eating something, you stop eating. You touch something hot, you immediately move away from it. So the sense is there, it’s just that the stimuli from the external environment is a lot today. So, it just fades into the background.

Grad
Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. And maybe the external stimuli is so intense now. You know, we continue to ramp up external stimuli all the time. Walking through the forest may be easier to introspect a little bit. But sitting in front of Fortnite, not as easy to do.

Neha Saxena
Yeah, that’s right. With all our laptops, iPads…

Grad
All the binging, and the pinging. And everyone’s trying to get everyone to respond immediately. That’s exactly right. Well, Neha, that was a wonderful way to start the week. Thank you very much. We’ll see you next week. Have a great day. And thank you for what you’ve done for all of us today. We’re all going to have an awesome week as a result.

Neha Saxena
My pleasure and Happy Easter everyone. Take care, keep breathing, and we’ll see you next week.

Grad
All right, for the CXM Experience. I’m Grad Conn, CXO at Sprinklr and today I’ve been with Neha, the Breath Yogi. And as she says, keep breathing. And I’ll see you… next time.