Introducing Kat John! Coach, Keynote Speaker and Legend!

Lockdown has been HARD! We are on the home stretch and with 2 weeks to go, we wanted to share this legend of a woman who has supported us through this time. Kat John has been a partner to Zucci for the last 2 years. She has worked with our team to motivate, inspire, guide and taught us about mental health, wellness, meditation and not giving a f#$k!

Kat has made it her mission in life to help “people bring their soles back to life and save their fks for things that matter.” In the last 3 months, Zucci has worked with Kat to help support our team. Kat did a great session with the team and gave tools and techniques on how to deal with the stress of Covid and the events of this year. She has hosted virtual group meditations and has written for our newsletter. We wanted to share this valuable information with you to help support you through this period.
Tips to ease anxiety:
During these times I have been coaching my own mind and others to save their fks for the things that matter. What I mean by that is possibly, a decent portion of your energy, focus and attention (aka, fks) are being spent whinging, complaining, blaming or sitting in stress. You can feel victimised by the current circumstances, frustrated about homeschooling, sad about losing work or business, etc. And you know what, fair enough. Take a minute to let yourself feel all of that. Write it out, get it out and consciously express what’s going on inside of you rather than drowning in it, or running away from it. Doing so allows you to take control of how you are feeling even though you may not be able to control the external conditions of life. Once you have had your moment, ask yourself, “where do I really  want to put my energy, focus and attention (aka, your fks)?” Take a moment, let the answers come and write out what feels true for you. Answers like, meditating, dancing, eating well, cooking delicious meals, serving your community, etc may come up. These are your gold nugget answers to invest in and I encourage you to do this anytime you notice yourself acting up or becoming anxious.

Techniques for calming and focus.
Being present helps me tap out of the drama I’m either creating or getting sucked into, which although can be very easy and addictive to stay in, I don’t like suffering. So when I notice my behaviour and that it’s not serving me, this is what I do in some of my meditations to refocus and come back to myself.

1. Find somewhere quiet or peaceful (outside in the fresh air) and take a seat.
2. I set my timer for 5 minutes and close my eyes.
3. I take 3 deep, conscious breaths and sigh out if I feel the need to sigh out loud.
4. Then I let my breath settle into its natural pace and rhythm, a rhythm that feels good, soothing, calming.
5. I consciously listen to the sounds, smell the smells, taste any tastes and pick up on the temperature of the space.
I do this practice of tuning into my senses for 5 minutes because this process trains you to be in the present moment. There’s nothing but what’s happening right then and there and this settles me into a place of peace.
Techniques to help clear the mind:
When my head is foggy and I try to make it clear right away, often it doesn’t work so well. So I give myself a minute to chuck a wobbly. It’s normal to become overwhelmed, or stressed, or anxious when life isn’t going your way. However, when you stay in that state for too long you’re essentially choosing to stay there, which can lead you to feeling victimised or helpless. This doesn’t serve you or anyone around you, so here’s what I do:
1. Acknowledge what is going on in your mind that is causing you to feel powerless, anxious, not good enough, etc. Let yourself really see and notice what it is.
2. Ask yourself, “if I was a powerful person, what would I do?” Allow time for an answer to come through.
3. The answer you receive is your next best step to shift your focus, mindset and reality by taking action. As a result, this helps clear the mind.
Is there anything else you’d recommend for stress reduction during stressful times?
I encourage my coaching clients to create a simple structure and build on it as their commitment to the simple structure begins to stick. I recommend a structure that serves them mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Without structure, the primal part of our brain is left to decide in the moment what it “feels” like doing and that’s a recipe for doing sweet FA!
So I suggest breaking the day into three parts – morning, afternoon and evening and to commit to one, or at the most two (in the beginning), rituals that are going to serve you. As simple and basic as it may seem, committing to self-serving practices lead to retraining your subconscious mind to behave in new ways. It takes 21 days to create a new habit, 3 days to undo the new habit if you stop, and 63 days to lock in the habit and create new pathways in your brain which leads to long term success. I see this time as an opportunity for you to reassess your current structure and if it is or isn’t serving you. If it’s not, there are endless tools available and many for free to get you going. There are no excuses to sit in stress and stress halves your ability to respond intelligently, so get cracking!
Morning
Move body
Meditate
Afternoon
Learn something new – podcast, online training, YouTube videos
Turn the music up and dance – blow off steam and cabin fever
Evening
Phones off by 9/9:30pm
Meditate and/or journal
Podcast suggestion:
EP – When You’re Focused On Shit, Expect Shit
EP – Ask Empowering Questions
EP – Honour What Matters To You (lessons learned during covid)
COVID Talks + Med – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLULrWnupOE6o2FfPxtim1VFAkQ4P4pwKs
We were so excited to be able to share this knowledge with you. To learn more about Kat or to engage her services to support you check out her website here