JoAnn Saccato

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4/18/2020

Staying Grounded and Spacious During Prolonged Times of Difficulty

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View of Middletown valley, California.
Our tendency during times of threat—perceived or actual—is to shift into anxiety or survival mode. We’re hardwired for this. Our negativity bias goes on high alert and is on the look out for threats, what’s wrong, what’s out of place, what isn’t working. As part of this, today we may find ourselves fixating on social media or news reports or other stimulating media that can support activation of stress and anxiety in our hearts, minds and bodies.

So, how do we remain connected to our best resources—a vibrant, healthy body; a clear mind with access to deep wisdom; and an open and loving heart—to meet and navigate through difficult times, particularly extended ones, such as the Covid-19 situation?



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3/23/2020

Helpful Tools for Self-Regulation

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Besides a mindfulness practice, that helps balance and re-regulate heart, mind and body, here's a few more ways to support yourself during sequestration from the Covid-19 situation:

  • Be mindful of information: We can easily get overstimulated with the amount of information available today. Limiting exposure to once or twice a day for brief periods can keep you in the know while not overloading your nervous system.
  • Ground into your body: Information can take us into our head and disconnect us from the wisdom and experience in the body. Start and end your day with embodying practices (like yoga, meditation, qi gong, etc.) that help you stay connected in your body throughout the day. Take mini embodiment breaks to check in and reconnect.
  • What are you cultivating? Taking time for a brief check in through out the day can help you notice what is being cultivated by your actions and attention. Add to that a brief inquiry of what you'd like to be cultivating to help you reset your intention for the rest of the day.
  • Structure: Most of us are used to a scheduled life, but even if not, adding a little structure to your day can create a sense of safety and security during these times of not knowing.
  • Solitude: We may not be used to being together with our family or friends 24/7. Taking time out for just yourself can help you gather thoughts, reflect on your own experience and decide what you need to take care of yourself. Quiet time outside, journaling or resting can be a nourishing break.
  • Connection: Chosen solitude is different than isolation. If you are alone, or you know someone who is, reach out for meaningful connection. Co-regulation is important for our nervous system and is best when it includes sight and sound. Whether you can or can't see each other, use your voice and words to create soothing conversation. "I'm here," "I'm present with you right now," "It's good to be with you right now." If you can connect with face and eyes being seen all the better.
  • Soothing supportive touch: Hugs, shoulder rubs, and gentle caressing can create a sense of ease and connection. Alone? Gentle touch, holding or caressing with a conscious attention and intention of kindness can bring a cherishing warmth. Bringing hands to the heart, cradling the face or holding yourself in a hug while offering soothing self-talk can bring relief to tensions and concern.  
  • Guided meditation or mindful talks: When the mind is busy or scattered, it can be difficult to practice. There are thousands of options for guided talks or meditations online. Find a voice and topic that resonates and give yourself this gift. Here's one to get you started...Guided Meditation to Help Calm Anxiety.


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JoAnn Saccato, MA, is a certified teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute, 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 used for a large body of popular health and wellness practices based on purposefully bringing a curious, kind and non-judgmental attention to 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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9/1/2018

What Mindfulness Offers for Living with Present Day Stress

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Tiger stalking prey. Photo by Nikhil Nagle
Stress is our body's natural biological response when triggered by a threat of imminent danger or a demand. This response has evolved over the millennia (and continues to!) to a perfected system-wide series of chemical releases and reactions for optimizing our survival.

Our typical reaction includes:
  • Increased focus and attention
  • Increased heart rate to optimize oxygenation
  • Shift of energy and strength to particular areas of the body
  • Suppression of the immune and digestive systems. (Who needs to fight off a cold or finish digesting that meal when we ourselves may become a meal?)
  • Converted energies for strength and stamina
  • Released cortisol

After a threatening event, our systems return to normal and we carry on digesting food, fighting off potential illness, and planning our next steps.

All of these reactions, honed over tens of thousands of years, support an appropriate response for physical danger--fight, flight or freeze. It is only in our most recent generations that our experience with stress has shifted from a real need to protect our physical bodies to a perceived need to protect our sense of self.

But our biology automatically responds the same--whether there is an actual threat or a perceived threat--and today, it can lead to chronic health problems.


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1/13/2018

Reflections from Asia (Part II)

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Grounds of Sankampaeng Hot Springs, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Instructions for boiling eggs in thermal pool water. Sankampaeng Hot Springs, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
(Asia, like most everywhere, is a mixed bag--there is much to love juxtaposed with challenging to meet circumstances and conditions. This is the second part in the series of reflections from travel to Myanmar and Thailand in December, 2016 through January 2017.)


Hot springs and massage are a way of life. I've yet to experience anything that takes stress out of my body quicker than soaking in the hotest pool at a mineral bath. It is the closest thing to magic I've encountered in my 50+ years. I still believe that the hot shower is humanity's greatest invention.



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5/12/2017

Why Be Happy? (Except for the obvious reason!)

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We've explored how we can influence and grow our own happiness, but what are the effects of happiness? Why is it so important, besides the obvious that it feels so good?
Did you ever think it was selfish to be happy?
Think again!

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2/25/2017

Stress Fosters Connection and Health

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Image from www.elephantjournal.com
In the last blog post, we learned that being mindful about how we think about stress affects how stress impacts us. This is a powerful piece of knowledge that has life-changing implications for good in our lives. How we think about stress in fact changes our biology--and how we think about anything is in our hands.

But there is something more intriguing that Kelly McGonigal discovered during her research and presented in this TED Talk ...
"Your stress response has a built in mechanism for stress resilience. That mechanism is human connection." ~ Kelly McGonigal

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2/13/2017

Can Mindfulness Help Stress be Used for Good?

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As we learned in the previous blog, our bodies have a built in reaction to perceived threats. Tension builds and we have an enormous storehouse of energy that can be used to fend off immediate danger.

But in today's world of stress, we rarely have the need for the physical strength we accumulate, and unless we physically expend that energy, our bodies remain bathed in chemicals and reactions that can actually cause harm to us in the long run.

How then can we make stress be a force for good in our lives?



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7/29/2015

One Simple, Powerful Way to Shift Your Relationship with Food

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I don't usually subscribe to the "5 Things You Can Do To ____<insert some great outcome here>____" format of writing, or the use of an astonishing headline that boasts powerful transformation devised to pull in a reader. Oh, I know these are the trend for writers and marketers in our fast-paced, information-overloaded culture, but it seems somewhat deceiving and belittling to think that my audience's needs and happiness can be reduced to a bullet pointed list that they can read over breakfast. (I have to say, though, when I do get pulled in by this style, I do glean some great benefits from the information shared.)

That said, I have discovered one simple (but not always easy!) thing to help me in the current wrestling match I'm involved in with binging and weight gain.

Significant progress was made when I began looking at the deeper issues of what was happening in my life--what was causing me to go numb at night when I was home alone and when I was out and about with friends or traveling, but I unearthed another contributor that has made a huge difference...

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© COPYRIGHT 2020 JOANN SACCATO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Events
    • Ongoing
    • Free Workshops
    • Mindful Resilience Course
    • A six week introductory course in mindfulness
    • Half Day Retreats
    • Full Day Retreats
    • Self-paced opportunities
    • Scholarships
  • Working with JoAnn
  • Blog
  • About
  • Books
  • Donate
  • Tambo Elephant Fund
  • About Mindfulness
  • Contact