We couldn't have picked a better morning for our Sit Spot on the South Downs, a great place to observe nature: animals, birds, plants, trees, and the sun, wind, and clouds. A place where you can simply be still and open your senses.
Good sit spot stories from all who came. And a quick walk afterwards to take in the breathtaking view of the Sussex coast. Even though we derive many physical and psychological benefits from being outside in nature, our modern lifestyles have created a disconnect from the natural environment where we spend significantly more time indoors.
In fact some researchers estimate that we now spend up to 90% of our lives indoors. For the vast majority of human history, the outside was always part of the inside, and at no moment during our day were we ever really separated from nature. It's been a tough few weeks in the UK… but if you’re looking for a way to feel better about it all, a sit spot can help.
I first came across the idea of a sit spot on a Meetup walk run by Mark Sears - just before he landed a job as head of The Wild Network. Mark led us up Hollingbury Hill to a spot near the fort and quietly told me he'd been going there every day to sit for half an hour, for a year, come rain or shine. He'd got to know the birds and the plants, and it'd helped him to find some calm, and decompress after hectic days. It's an idea that I read more about in Jon Young's excellent book What the Robin Knows. If you haven't heard of it, a sit spot is somewhere you go regularly on your own to sit quietly and look, listen, smell and feel the surrounding landscape. It could be in your back garden, or a park, or somewhere a bit wilder. |
Author & CuratorNigel Berman is the founder of School of the Wild. Archives
March 2024
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