Introduction to sit spots and awareness practice

My first primitive skills teacher Eddie Starnater used to say that awareness is the doorway to the spirit world. "And y'all have shrunk your awareness down to about 9 square inches of screen," he added in his Texas drawl. "No wonder why you're all so danged depressed."

Eddie's observation, succinct and as colorfully phrased as ever, also draws on a long tradition. Saints, bodhisattvas, and mystics have been leveraging this discovery for thousands of years. Awareness practices have formed the bedrock of spiritual development everywhere from the deserts of the Middle East to the forests of America to the mountains of China and Tibet. The mystics all knew that when we slow down and start to pay attention to attention, our perceptions begin to shift. The world around us starts to change and so do we.

The sit spot is an awareness development technique that was made famous by naturalist Jon Young. It is a practice that I have also enjoyed extensively over the years and one that has benefitted me immensely both as a naturalist and as a practicing Zen Buddhist. The method is simple and nondenominational. All we're going to do is sit in the woods for about 45 minutes. It sounds easy. I promise you, it isn't.

This program is intended for anyone who has a nature based spiritual practice or is interested in becoming more in touch with the world around them. It is especially valuable for those who may have struggled with a formal meditation practice in the past. The sit spot is easier to learn and is much more forgiving to beginners than breath meditation or Vipassana while still conferring some of the benefits of both.

We have to set a hard limit of 10 for this event. I want to ensure everyone has enough space to sit alone and out of sight of each other. Also, please bring some sort of timing device - a watch, egg timer, or phone set to airplane mode will all work. It is also helpful to bring something to sit on. You can always use what nature furnishes, but if your mobility isn't great, you may want to consider a beach chair or folding stool.