Notes from the Field: Sit Spot
AR founder, Tim Walsh, takes in the beauty of a local waterfall for a sit spot in New England
There are certain practices that we can engage in at any time to tap into the teachings of nature and the benefits of consistent time outside. These activities, for the most part, can be used anywhere, and can be accessed by one person, on their own time without any tools or tech.
Nature-based practices allow us all to tap into ancestral wisdom and skillfulness beyond our current daily lives. Away from tech saturation, zooms, and highways, we can slow down, notice, observe, and activate awareness. Simple nature practices can be accessed anywhere to nourish and nurture.
What is a Sit Spot?
One practice we love is known as the sit spot. The sit spot is a form of mindfulness that simply taps into the current moment with awareness and engages our senses. Research demonstrates positive benefits to our mental health, including increased positivity as well as a marked decrease in rumination when we apply mindful awareness outdoors.
The Sit Spot and Mental Health
AR National Field Director, Nathan Bennick, enjoying a sit spot in the Rockies
Studies reveal that we reap multiple benefits when we engage in a sit spot, especially children and adolescents with developing brains—but anyone can experience the results.
Some of the ways meditation outside can affect us are obvious. We’re in nature, breathing fresh air, taking a brief spell to slow down and land. This allows the thinking, analytical mind to quiet, while we gear our attention to our senses—sight, sound, smell, touch. In addition, we are still, so the parasympathetic nervous system has an opportunity to initiate, quelling the sympathetic, which can often dominate. The sympathetic nervous system preps us for survival, elevating cortisol levels, heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. This stressed state can tax our mental state, hence taking part in relaxation techniques, or awareness practices, such as meditation outside, can benefit our health. Initiating the parasympathetic response can trigger neural transmissions and move us from fight or flight to a greater sense of ease.
Quieting the Thinking Mind
There are different ways to make this your own, so feel free to reach out to us with questions or just modify as needed. There is something deeply powerful about creating these types of experiences for ourselves. We are carving into space and time for self-care, personal presence, and these subtle actions build esteem and regard. This is an investment in mental health.
Cultivate calm with a few minutes outside. This can be a few minutes or more. You decide.
How to do a Sit Spot
Find a spot where you can sit comfortably in nature.
AR training participants engage in a sunrise sit spot practice
Turn off distractions and allow yourself to land in the here and now. Engage your senses to slow rapid thinking or rumination. What do you see, hear, smell, feel, sense? Welcome the moment.
Observe how you’re feeling, accepting whatever state you may be experiencing with compassion. If you find you’re uncomfortable, adjust. Be gentle with yourself.
Initiate a breath pattern that supports the process, don’t try to force anything fancy. It could be a simple three in, three out. Whatever works.
Close your eyes, if comfortable. Notice the sounds. Perhaps you hear birds, waves, or wind. Observe and allow.
As the practice unfolds, gently guide your thoughts away from to-do lists or busy-ness and come back to the moment with mindful awareness. Allow your senses to activate, notice how everything around you is alive and acting in purpose.
After a five-minute (or however long) window, slowly bring your senses back to the day and release from the practice when ready
How do you feel? What do you notice? Would you do it again sometime? As you establish this time and space, you may find you start to treasure the practice. Each moment devoted to self-care in nature, deepens inner calm and a sense of interconnectedness. May it serve you.
-the AR crew