ABOUT ME
I Train Brains
WISDOM ON TAP®
I am a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and lifelong artist. As Co-Founder of Vallefuoco Contractors, I’ve helped thousands of clients create beautiful and intentional living spaces for over 27 years. In 2015, I began helping clients optimize their headspace too. Put simply, I work with inner and outer space. After years of working with the construction work force, police and first responders, and diverse companies in crisis intervention, I created Wisdom On Tap® mental fitness training. I teach how to optimize the mind for thriving and entering flow states. I incorporate mindfulness, psychology, neurobiology and art principles in my work.
FLOW STATES
Flow state is a state of mind involving specific experiences. It includes intense focus with effortless action, lack of self-consciousness, a distorted sense of time flying by, and a fluidity between body and mind. It is a mental state in which innate wisdom flows on tap. We can experience flow state individually and collectively. The outcome of flow state can bring a sense of purpose, satisfaction, and the ability to create what we focus on intuitively. This creative mindset is amplified when we achieve it collectively as a group or community. I offer curated team training in creative mindset and mindful leadership, including for humans who may not see themselves as creatives or leaders. We are all here on earth to co-create our lives. As we lead our lives, we model for those around us. Creating and leading are part of thriving, with no title required.
MY PATH
After double-majoring in Spanish and Psychology, I graduated college with a huge void; a yearning to be creative. I took a leap of faith and set off alone on a postgraduate journey to study figurative oil painting in Italy. I accidentally met an Italian artisan, learned Italian, ruined my Spanish, and somehow got accepted to the Art Institute of Chicago. Art finally looked like my path ahead. Then I got some unexpected news. I thwarted the Chicago dream to start a family, dragged the Italian to the USA, co-founded a tile and marble installation company, and eventually stumbled upon mindfulness meditation. While I’m not writing run-on sentences, I’m helping clients design spaces and once again oil painting in my art studio. I’m also traveling the country, and sometimes overseas, speaking on how to reset the mind and fulfill the heart. I speak on mindful leadership to wonderfully inspiring and terrifyingly intimidating executive teams who somehow always turn out to be human! Mindfulness can bring a room of huge titles down to the level of common humanity. This is the level on which organizational change and creativity can happen.
CREATIVE MINDSET
I found my way back to art, teaching creative mindset. Creating is a human birthright available to all of us! I’ve had the privilege of sharing mindfulness in the A.R.T. Artisan Revolution in Tile training program since 2024. Creativity and science are weaved into all my workshops. My intention is to make mindfulness credible, relatable, and hopefully fun.
SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY
I’ve always been fascinated by the science of contemplative practices and how science and spirituality converge. My postgraduate studies include diverse ideologies and scientific disciplines. I completed my two year curriculum through UC Berkeley’s Awareness Training Institute and Greater Good Science Center with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, becoming an MMTCP certified mindfulness instructor. I hold a 6-part certification in Interpersonal Neurobiology through UCLA’s Mindsight Institute with Dr. Dan Siegel. I completed coursework in mindful leadership through SIYLI, originally born at Google and based on neuroscience. What has impacted my life most, is my core skills self-compassion training through the Center for Mindful Self Compassion with Dr. Chris Germer and Dr. Kristin Neff. I use concepts from research-based self-compassion protocols in all my work, including in Crisis Intervention Training for police and first responders.
I speak to the workforce in law enforcement, construction, child and family services, the child judicial court system, as well as executive committees, psychotherapists, corporate legal teams, non-profits, public and private schools and universities, trade associations, private companies of all sizes, the disability community, and retreat centers. Basically, I work with humans.
Wisdom On Tap® events are known to evoke a few tears, whether cathartic ones or those from belly-aching laughter. My method for bringing a lightheartedness to common human struggles is based on lessons from my own imperfect moments, of which there are many. I believe a conscious intention and self-compassion are the keys to thriving.
“To create anything, we must be intentional. Intention steers us from the heart & saves us from the ego.”
Gianna Vallefuoco
Services & Events
Mindfulness Workshops & Speaking Engagements
Customized for your group or audience – Whether you’re looking for tools to to regulate emotions, improve relationships, find motivation, or empower your team to lead effectively, mindfulness concepts are key. Learn how to navigate life skillfully and intentionally.
Expect to create a deeper connection with yourself and others, and learn to thrive in diverse aspects of your life. We each have the capacity to overcome challenges, fulfill our deep desires, and find purpose and joy, even amidst unexpected challenges and difficult setbacks.
Intuitive Art & Creativity Sessions
No art experience required. I believe we are all artists, and are all wired for creative expression. Join me to practice mindfulness, investigate and unleash your innate creativity, and help you discover your intuitive calling or purpose. You will create your own artwork to keep forever. All art supplies and media will be provided. Bring only an open mind and heart.
Retreats of a Lifetime
Join me for the RETREAT OF A LIFETIME in different locations across the globe. Learn concrete ways to optimize your life through breath, voice, posture, intuition, and creativity.
More info on future retreats to follow soon…
“I write all day long, mostly in my head, often in my journal. Sometimes I’m courageous enough to type my thoughts, which is probably what you’re reading. I write about mindfulness, neuroscience, construction, and how to be really good at being human. I’ve been one for over fifty years.
I’m an accidental public speaker, sharing mental fitness practices with diverse humans across the globe. Speaking and writing and overthinking are my passion.
More info about what goes on in my head (and probably yours), and the art and science of mindfulness can be found here.”
RECENT STORIES
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WHAT’S NEW
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WHY CAN’T I MEDITATE?
Said Every Person Ever Well, at least every person who tried to meditate. As a meditation teacher, I hear this question a lot. Usually in my own head, but sometimes also from my students. Here’s my answer; “You can meditate! You just can’t stop thinking.” The most…
ARE WE USING COVID MASKS AS EMOTIONAL ARMOR?
How to Protect Ourselves From Fear and Anger in the Air The new normal is full of new rituals to find relief. Removing a stiff pair of shoes after a long day at the office has been replaced with peeling off a mask after a weekly grocery run. Although most of us enjoy…
WHERE’S THE RIGHT PLACE TO MEDITATE?
WHERE’S THE RIGHT PLACE TO MEDITATE? The obvious answer is a quiet space, but we know that isn’t always accessible. The truth is that your meditation is occuring in your mind, not your external environment. That’s also probably the least helpful answer I could…