You may have heard of “sit spots”— a special place where you can sit, tune into your senses, and connect with what’s around you. It could be next to a tree, on a stump in the woods, in the park, or even right outside your door. When I learned about sit spots officially in my high school tracking club, I felt a jolt of recognition, because I remembered that I definitely had a sit spot when I was a child.
I went there pretty often, my spot next to a white pine tree that looked down on an old beaver swamp. Once I sat there for so long that a little dark brown creature ran over my feet without even noticing me (I figured out years later it was a mink). I used to run there when I was overwhelmed with anger or sadness, and I would pass those feelings into the strong tree trunk, until I felt grounded again. I didn’t really think twice about how important this spot was to me—I just went there because it was fun and sometimes comforting.
Maybe you or your child already has a place like this? If so, head there today, If not, go outside on a walk together and look for sit spots. Use your body radar (I describe body radar in my post from day 2 of 14 days of connection) to find a comfortable spot that you’d like to sit for anywhere from 1 min to 20 min (or more). Ideally, sit separately, so you aren’t able to distract each other. But if your child is really young, you may want to have them sit with you. I’ve done sit spots with children as young as 3, for very short periods of time, with me sitting nearby. There’s no need to be rigid about being quiet/still. It’s a practice, and we start small when we’re small or we’ve never done it before.
After you find your spots, agree on how long you want to sit, and settle in to use your binoculars. My suggestion is you both use your binoculars first, and then spend some time in wide angle, or peripheral vision (defined as side vision; what is seen on the side by the eye when looking straight ahead.) Both are helpful in keeping your senses alert and open.
HOW TO MAKE BINOCULARS
Easiest craft ever….
To make your binoculars, use two toilet paper rolls and some tape, and tape them together to make a pair of binoculars. You could attach some yarn to hang them around your neck.
As you sit, you can tune in to each of your sense, one at a time. First, what do you see? Then notice the smells, the taste of the air, the textures under your fingers, and what you can hear around you. Finally, try to pay attention to all of them at once. Not easy, I know! Just give it a try and don’t be hard on yourself if it’s difficult to maintain.
HOW TO FIND YOUR WIDE ANGLE VISION
I was taught wide angle vision as a youngster, and my teacher called it “owl eyes”. That’s what I often call it now when I teach. One way to help you shift into owl eyes is to stand with both arms stretched straight out in front of your face. Focus on them, and start wiggling your fingers. Keep your fingers wiggling as you slowly spread your arms wide away from your face, until they are outstretched at your sides like you are opening your arms for a big hug. Try and keep both sets of wiggling fingers in your view the entire time, even as your hands get further away from each other. This exercise will shift you into wide angle vision, or owl eyes.
Try not to have any expectations about your sit spot, just notice how you feel and what you sense. Try to be an objective observer of yourself being part of the landscape. You observe from inside and outside of yourself. Once your time is up, come back together with your child. Ask them how it was for them. Sometimes kids think it’s boring to do a sit spot, and that’s understandable! Other times I’ve heard kids say, “it was so relaxing to sit still for a minute.” Be curious and non-judgmental about your and your child’s experience. Ask them if there was any difference between looking with the binoculars and looking with owl eyes. If they are reluctant to answer your questions directly, you could say something like, “tell me the story of your sit spot” or “is there anything interesting you want to share about your sit spot?” If they don’t feel like sharing, that’s fine too!
Sit spots can be challenging for some people at any age—that’s ok. It can be hard to sit still and listen in the woods, especially when our bodies want to move. Some ways to modify the activity:
*You or your child can do a “walking” sit spot. It’s a quiet wander, but doesn’t require sitting still. Take your binoculars with you and use them to focus in on things that interest you on your silent wander. Make sure to practice your wide angle vision during your wander.
*Your child can be quietly playing in their spot, maybe building a little fairy house, but not sitting still and observing.
WAYS TO EXTEND THE ACTIVITY
*If your child has a nature journal, you could have them write about their sit spot and what they noticed.
*Your child could use their memory to draw a map of the area where they sat. Return the next day with the map and see how accurate it is! They can potentially keep adding to the map after every time they visit.
*You could all do an indoor “sit spot” later in the day. Give it a try, who knows, it might work?!
*If your child enjoys this activity, check out @whitepinenatureprograms 30 day sit spot challenge on instagram.