The sit spot is the simplest and most powerful way to connect with nature, and yourself.
It is a type of mindfulness exercise that encourages you to focus on all of your senses, rather than just your sight. Your sit spot will help you to make a strong connection with the natural world around you, rather than being governed by the chatter inside your head.
Sit spot benefits:
- Gives you space to notice your thoughts and emotions.
- Helps relax and calm your mind, reducing stress.
- Shows you the life, beauty and joy of nature that is right on your doorstep.
- Helps you get to know the local wildlife, through observing animal and bird behaviour.
- Helps you feel a sense of belonging, as you become aware that you are part of something much bigger than yourself.
As humans, we’re hardwired to need a connection with nature. Our brains evolved in a Palaeolithic environment, when people got most of their sensory stimulation through observation, tracking and hunting animals. They lived in small communities, where everyone knew each other well. Most days would have ended with storytelling and shared food around a campfire. We are no different – but we live in a world where our brains are being bombarded by a whole load of new and different types of information. The pace of modern technological development means that society has undergone more changes in the past 50 years than in the whole of previous human history. Our brains can’t keep up! So much of the information we now receive is potentially stressful – news, advertising, upsetting images. We’re constantly being forced into ‘fight or flight’ mode; where our brain senses danger and floods our body with stress hormones. This can have really detrimental effects on long term health.
How to practice your sit spot
Ideally you need outdoor space but if you can’t get to your local park, move a chair next to a window and leave it open. If you can see a tree, birds or plants outside, it will really help.
Your chosen location should be fairly quiet, without too many other people around. Your garden, a quiet corner in a local park, or even a cemetery would be ideal. A lot of people choose to sit with their back against a tree trunk but this isn’t strictly necessary. It just needs to be somewhere that you can sit comfortably for around 20 minutes.
Set your intention to let go of the chatter inside your head and be present in the moment. Turn off your phone. Have a journal or something similar close by, in case you feel the urge to record your thoughts, feelings and experiences. If you’re worried about losing track of time, set an alarm for 30 minutes.
- Walk slowly towards your sit spot, focusing on what you can see, feel, smell and hear around you.
- Sit down, get comfortable, and take time to settle into the space. Close your eyes and notice the sensation of your breathing. Notice your thoughts; notice how you feel. Allow everything to wash over you – whatever it is. Don’t judge yourself, just observe what’s going on inside you.
- Take your shoes off and place your hands on the ground beside you. Feel the earth (or your chair) beneath you, supporting you. Relax into it and take some deep breaths.
- Take a couple of even deeper, slower breaths in through the nose. Notice the smells and scenes on the air.
- Open your eyes and pick a point to focus on. Without moving your eyeballs, notice what you can ‘see’ in your peripheral vision, out of the corners of your eyes. This will help you feel immersed in the landscape. Notice colours, shapes and movement.
- Close your eyes and notice sounds. Notice the silence between the sounds and the sounds within sounds. Practice focusing on those that are far away and those that are just behind, in front or to the left and right of you. Don’t try too hard to identify the sounds, just listen and observe your feelings and thoughts while you do this.
- Open your eyes again and notice the wildlife. What can you see? Observe behaviour and think about what the birds and animals might be doing. Do you recognise individuals that you’ve seen before?
- Look at the trees and plants. Do you recognise what variety they are? Have they changed since the last time you saw them? In what way?
- As you return to your sit spot, notice the differences. How do the plants and animals change each time? How does your mood change each time? How do your thoughts change? Be curious about the changes and how they affect you.
- Finally, remind yourself regularly that you are part of this world that you’re watching. You’re not just an observer; you are made of exactly the same stuff as all the animals and plants around you. We humans are taught to see ourselves as somehow separate or different to all the other living things on this planet, but we’re not. If we can really learn to accept this, the world will be a much better place for all living things.
If you practice your sit spot regularly, you’ll soon start to feel the benefits. Remember to relax, let go of any ‘goals’ and don’t get cross with yourself if your mind wanders and you get lost in thought – that’s perfectly natural. Simply be patient, relax and come back to the exercise.
