Just go outside and sit. That’s it. That’s all you need to do. Walk away from your house. Find a green space and sit down. Then stay there and linger longer than you want to. Stay past the point where it feels comfortable to do nothing. Let the feeling that you should be doing something pass. And then you will begin to feel it, the deep coherence with the space and nature beings around you.
Peace Through Outdoor Mindfulness
This is a sit spot practice. The more you do it, the more you will come to enjoy the feeling of doing nothing and the resonance you feel with the environment around you.
In time, you will notice that the beings around you are also noticing you. Feel how this changes your perspective. In time, you may begin to realize that you and the grass and trees and the bushes and the mountains are communing together with each other sharing that space. And then perhaps two ravens cross flight overhead and you feel for a moment the spectacular awe of something greater than yourself that connects you to everything.
Dogs bark. A siren screams. You get up and return home somehow changed. You feel just a little bit different. Something has shifted. The world looks different to you now and you look forward to your return.
This may sound like a simple exercise but consider how much effort it takes for modern people to put aside time in their lives to sit down and do nothing. Consider how we fidget and grumble. Consider how our minds wonder, and we think of all the other things we have to do. And yet, slowing down to do nothing may be the most worthwhile activity of your day. As the wise sage Winnie the Pooh said, “Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
What is a Sit Spot?
A sit spot is a place in a natural setting (forest, park, backyard, etc.) that you go to and sit with no other intention but to be present and observe your surroundings. It is meditative and allows you to connect deeply with your environment. As a practice, frequently visit this spot, at different times of day and throughout the seasons, to observe the subtle changes that take place in this relatively small and immediate space.
I have a sit spot in my front yard where I go to often, but I also have a sometimes sit spot. Sometimes when I have time to spare, I walk to the guardian pine and lay down my blanket and rest.
I chose my spot for the shade of a pinon with her wide canopy of branches. This tree is at the start of a path where the hill begins to rise, and the juniper and pinon begin to populate the sagebrush fields. Higher up the forest becomes denser, but here trees are sporadic and so this tree seems to me a guardian tree, a guardian of the forest beyond, the protected public lands where it is illegal to cut down trees, though humans do it anyway from time to time. I visit her occasionally and she grants me not just shade but clarity of mind. Sometimes new ideas, but usually a clearing out of the clutter to give space to growing ideas.
Sometimes if I’m having a bad day, this tree will lift some of the burden of carrying heavy emotions. On a good day, this tree will gift me small balls of resin on the floor beneath that I can burn later for the grounding scent of pine. I give the tree water from my jug, then myself.
Reconnecting with the Other-Than-Human World
The distant Sangre de Cristos are framed in the pine boughs. I sit away from the trunk to avoid where the black ants gather. I notice after a while when there is a shift in the bird sounds. I don’t presume to know what the birds are saying, but I notice when the alarm ceases and a new chirp proceeds.
Pauline Oliveros writes in her book, Deep Listening, “When you enter an environment where there are birds, insects or animals, they are listening to you completely. You are received. Your presence may be the difference between life and death for the creatures of the environment.” If you are always passing through, climbing your way to the scenic lookout, you may not realize that birds sound differently when we enter their territory; their songs heighten with alarm.
The general agreement is that it takes about 20 minutes for the creatures in your vicinity, like the birds, to determine that you are not a predator and lose interest in you. It is at this point, when the other-than-human world returns to business as usual, that some of the most exciting watching might occur. So, a minimum of 30 minutes is usually recommended for a sit spot practice.
The more often you visit your sit spot, the more you build your practice. Similar to meditation, sit spots bring a sense of peace. They also enhance your relationship to the other-than-human world and your ability to more easily connect in an embodied way with your surroundings wherever you go. You can visit your sit spot daily or weekly.
If you would like, you can spend time reflecting at the end of your sit spot practice, journaling about your observations or nature sketching.
The Gift of Simplicity and Gratitude
Finding quiet moments in nature doing nothing but observing the world around you is the greatest lesson in contentment. In this way, we can appreciate the little things, have gratitude for simplicity and feel the bliss of being fully present with our world.
From my sit spot, I watch a dozen planes pass overhead. Their engines roar as they pass above me, and they leave tight contrails in the haze, filled with kinetic energy. But once the plane is long gone, the trails unravel and fade. They loosen and disperse into the clouded sky.
The sit spot teaches me how to do nothing. How to blend in, how to loosen and disperse into my ecosystem, even how to tolerate the buzzing flies and the raucous winds. I feel a sense of returning to myself, to my true nature. I am covered in dirt. My braid has come undone. I have an ant bite on my neck. It has only been 30 minutes.
Bonus for paid subscribers only: In appreciation of your loyalty to Our Uncertain Future, I am offering a downloadable audio meditation called Sensory Presence Meditation, perfect for listening to while in your sit spot. In this guided meditation, you will move through a grounding, sense-based practice that helps you arrive fully in the present moment. Through breath, body awareness, and subtle shifts of attention, you can tune into your inner guidance and your relationship with the world around you. Enjoy!
