JoAnn Saccato

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6/4/2020

Mindfulness and Compassion as a Path to Justice and Equity

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This post is inspired by a recent talk I heard from my friend Clovice Lewis, an astounding musician and minister in training with the Unitarian Universalist community.

Compassion arises when we recognize suffering and motivates us to act out of care and concern to help relieve the suffering we see. Our capacity for compassion is locked into our human nature--everyone has this capacity and the capacity can be grown. So, not only does compassion and kindness serve us by nourishing resiliency, it can be used as a means to the end of injustice and inequity.

But, first, we need to understand more about compassion. It takes four stages to allow compassion to help heal and prevent injustices and inequality:
  1. see  suffering
  2. relate to the sufferer
  3. grow our circle of inclusion and care, and
  4. take action to end suffering and prevent future suffering

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10/4/2019

Plagued with Anxiety? These Simple Tips Can Help.

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It's one thing to have an anxious moment or two throughout the week. Or even, as happens for me from time to time, to be gripped with anxiety to the point of being unable to get out of bed. The potential terrors of what the day may bring haunt my mind, sending my body into fight, flight or freeze mode. Usually, it's freeze. Frozen under the sheets I think 'Maybe. Maybe if I just stay in bed things will be alright.'

Anxiety is a necessary and important part of our body's survival system. It helps us think about and prepare for the future. It's the part of us that squirrels away resources for the winter and prepares for the worst.

But if bouts of anxiety either paralyze us and keep us from our daily activities, or occur so often we're plagued by them, then something may be amiss in our body's survival systems. It may be an important time to reach out for help.

From a mindfulness perspective, anxious thinking can be seen as another thing that brings us out of the present--most likely safe--moment. In fact, using our mindfulness practice can help assuage spiraling anxiety. With mindfulness we can also come to understand that anxiety really isn't about us, personally, it's a survival mechanism that happens on it's own.

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10/20/2018

There Will Come a Time...

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There Will Come a Time

There will come a time...
    when brain and memory will be no more;
    thoughts and thinking melted away;
    endless days of summer and lingering luscious loving lost and lamented;
    even the preciousness of baby’s breath and heartbeat extinguished. 

Our final succumbing?
    A bag of bones and leathered skin.

The chasing of breath and
sting of inner critic
will give way to rotting flesh--
    a meal for carrions
    and worms
    and other creepy crawlies
eventually becoming fodder for leaves on that tree’s offspring.

And so it goes.
And so it goes.

Oh this moment.
This precious, irreplaceable moment.

This gift.
This breath of life.

This unique and only life.

Don’t waste it.
Don’t waste it.

© 2018


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~JoAnn Saccato, MA, is a mindfulness teacher, life coach, author and consultant. She is the author of Companioning the Sacred Journey: A Guide to Creating a Compassionate Container for Your Spiritual Practice and Mindful and Intentional Living: A Path to Peace Clarity and Freedom.

Mindfulness is an umbrella term for a large body of popular health and wellness practices based on purposefully bringing a curious, kind and non-judgmental attention to our moment by moment experience. It is a scientifically proven approach that helps reduce stress and stress-related illnesses, increase focus and attention, decrease incidences of and relapses with depression, reduce anxiety, reduce relapses in addiction, and aids in sleep and digestive disorders. It has also been shown to increase well being, life satisfaction and happiness, as well as improved social relationships.

You can reach JoAnn at JoAnn@MindfulAndIntentionalLiving.com . To follow her visit: www.MindfulAndIntentionalLiving.com

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8/11/2018

Wilderness Travel in Yosemite, 2018: Of Fires and Thunderstorms (Part I)

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Vogelsang Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.
"Uphill, I think," I responded to the tightly wound ranger as we searched for an alternate, less smoke-laden trail than the initial trip I planned. It was July 22, 2018, almost ten days after the Ferguson Fire ignited adjacent to Yosemite National Park.

I received my wilderness permit some three months before in early April. I'm sure it took at least a month for me to learn how to navigate the online maps enough to decide a reasonable route for my first seven day solo backpacking trip. I spent months of planning, gathering equipment and supplies, and training my body to carry 30+ pounds on my back for this trip--I wasn't going to let a regional fire stop me from this exciting journey on the most renowned segment of the John Muir Trail (JMT) from the valley floor of Yosemite to Tuolomne Meadows.


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5/1/2018

The Picture Window

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{Originally posted 2/23/2013}

My new home boasts a small picture window. It peers out at a scene that could be mistaken for a  painting. The big stalk of a pine tree is offset to the left with a crumbling rock wall cascading in front of it. The ivy wends it way up the slight slope and pine needles and leaves litter the winter floor. It's a dream come true for me.

My living room couch is positioned to look out this window and I can tell it appreciates it. I can tell, because it welcomes me with open arms to join it in reverence during morning meditation.

On this particular morning, the snow began falling just about day break. Slight flurries drifted on occasion and
as the incense stick slowly burned down, I would open my eyes to discover the changing scenery. Each time, something new presented itself--little chickadees darting in and out, scratching for a morning meal; large Stellar Jays bullying their way to the food; a sideways snow flurry; a bit of sunlight; and on.

Without a concern, care or comment, the window frame held and revealed it all.

Resting in the Buddha nature, the rest unfolds...


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3/17/2018

Seeds of Humility from Thailand (Part II)

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Traffic in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Taking up from Part I, if the good we do in this life can be given, or dedicated, to others, what happens when you live in a culture where everyone is working toward least harm and the greater good of all? What happens when everyone comes together in their community for the the very best of not only themselves, but everyone around them?

I witness this in Thailand not in overly overt ways, but see it built into the very fabric of life. It's seamlessly invisible until you tease apart patterns and behaviors.


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5/7/2017

How to Grow Your Own Happiness

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Photo credit: Hubpages.com
Research tells us that while about 50% of our happiness is genetically determined and 10% is tied to our circumstances, about 40% of our happiness is influenced by our thoughts, actions and behaviors.  We talked about loving kindness practice being one way we can grow our happiness in the last post. but there are many other proven ways that we can engage in that grow our contentment and delight in life.



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3/4/2017

Spacious Presence: Purposefully Expanding Our Perspective

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We've been focusing on stress, its impact in the body, and how changing our perspective about stress can change its impact on our health and well being.

But how do we do that? How do we change our view point on our experience?

Mindfulness offers a path...

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12/7/2016

Seven Ways to Overcome Being a Meditator of Convenience

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It happens to a lot of us--over time, our practice wanes and we find ourselves only sitting when the conditions are just so. As the new year approaches, taking a look at our mindfulness practice may reveal gaps and disappointments, particularly if we discover that we have become a Meditator of Convenience.

I recently noticed that this malady has crept into my practice, so I dug deep to remember tools and approaches to help me find my compassionate way back to a steady and loving practice.
What is a Meditator of Convenience?

A meditator who practices only when conditions are optimum


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8/3/2016

What would make this moment sacred?

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I asked myself this recently while traveling in the Sierras. Perched high on majestic slabs of granite overlooking Kirkwood Lake, I couldn't understand why I was still agitated, exhausted and not able to really see the beauty before me. To really drink it in. It just seemed flat, but I didn't know why. Why?

Having Greta, my dog, has brought a lot of joy and connection to my life, but it's also brought a lot of extra tasks and focused attention needed to train and care for her. My life was a lot different when I had Shyla, and, since I got her when she was just a pup, the training happened over many years. The learning curve with Greta has been huge, particularly because she is a rescue and I don't know her history, she has occasional other dog aggression and separation anxiety issues. It has been intense and I don't seem to recognize how much so until we're apart from each other, where I can breathe a bit without having to attend to her.

As I settled into the space and into the inquiry, "What WOULD make this moment sacred?" I began to feel my body actually present on the granite--the hard, rough and rugged texture, the coolness permeating my bottom, the soft, cool breeze sweeping past my skin. The stillness and distant sounds of wind threading through pine needles evoked a familiar sense. I had lived in Tahoe for five years in my early twenties and it was where I discovered my favorite smell (warm pine pitch) and sound (wind wending through conifers).

As the stillness settled in, Greta still sniffing around and familiarizing herself with the territory, my senses heightened and my body began to feel rested--a deep breath released tension in the chest and within minutes it felt like I had taken a nap.

And then it hit me...

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  • Home
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    • Ongoing
    • Free Workshops
    • Mindful Resilience Course
    • A six week introductory course in mindfulness
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  • Donate
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