Sit Spot
Each person picks one spot outdoors and sits there alone and quietly, using all the senses: what they hear, smell, feel and see at the edge of their vision. On a multi-day retreat they return to the same spot every day and notice what has changed. Short story rounds afterwards let people share what they noticed.
Use as a daily anchor on a retreat or long programme, or as a slow opening before a day of thinking, so people arrive in the place rather than in their inbox.
Solves: Retreats at beautiful venues run back-to-back sessions indoors and people go home without having been anywhere.
- 1
Step 1: Explain the practice and the boundary within which people choose a spot (3 min).
- 2
Step 2: Everyone finds a spot that feels safe, has something natural in it and is close by (5 min).
- 3
Step 3: Sit in silence. Orient yourself, then move through the senses: touch, hearing, wide-angle vision, smell (15-20 min).
- 4
Step 4: Note anything new: a plant, a bird, a sound, a question (3 min).
- 5
Step 5: Return on a signal and tell one short story of what you noticed, in pairs or a circle (5-10 min).
- Give a clear return signal and a visible boundary, and pair up spots within sight of each other if the terrain is wild.
- Let people sit on a chair or bench; it does not have to be the ground.
- Repetition is the point: same spot, same time, every day of the retreat.
- Sound map: draw yourself in the centre of a page and mark each sound you hear where it comes from.