Enjoy the Living World Around You With Sit Spots
When you cultivate abundance for people, plants and wildlife, you get to enjoy a space that's alive with abundance. A place that nourishes you and your family, and also feeds the living world around you. But it’s important to take time to pause and connect with the living world between the harvests and various tasks outside. Adding outdoor sit spots to your property will give you areas to sit, observe, and truly be a part of the abundant place you have created. Keep reading to learn more about outdoor sit spots.
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Growing with Nature is all about cultivating abundance for people, plants and wildlife. But people are a part of nature. You can help heal the human-nature disconnect by taking time to connect with the living world around you on your property.
Building a natural life is great for your emotional wellbeing, and it also helps you make observations that will better inform your future projects.
You need places that you can sit, watch, and connect with nature. That’s where outdoor sit spots come in.
Just as you create sitting areas in your house, you need to create sitting areas outdoors if you want to spend your time there.
A “sit spot” is place where you can come back to again and again to sit and observe nature unfolding around you. After a period of sitting quietly, the animals in your midst will no longer pay much attention and will simply go about their business.
An outdoor sit spot can be an incredible way to open up your heart and mind to the natural world.
It can be as simple as a big log placed along a nature trail, providing a spot to sit as you walk around your property.
Or it could be a more formal bench. Or just a large rock.
All these options work as outdoor sit spots. The rest of this post dives into the reasons why you should create outdoor sit spots on your property.
Make sure to also grab your free and easy-to-print “Nature Trails Tips” from the "Nature Trails - 3 Reasons Why You Should Build Them" blog post. Nature trails are a great companion to outdoor sit spots and the tips sheet includes some on creating outdoor sit spots.
Creating Spots for Reading, Writing and Other Quiet Activities
This simple bench makes a great outdoor sit spot under a large cherry tree next to my kids' outdoor play area. I often sit here to do some writing and reading. It has a nice view of the property, and I can watch birds and other critters moving about from this spot.
An outdoor sit spot is a beautiful way to observe nature, but we’re a part of nature. In addition to watching the living world around me, I like to bring my own quiet activities to my sit spots—activities like reading, writing, and meditating.
I’m actually writing this blog post while sitting on the bench next to the cherry tree, captured in the picture above. This has become one of my favorite spots to sit.
When you create outdoor sit spots, you create space to get away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives.
Connecting with the living world around us means taking time to slow down from the day-to-day rat race. Doing this in nature can be an ideal way to let yourself relax and start focusing on the now.
You will be much more likely to do this if you have outdoor sit spots placed around your property, making it easy for you to sit quietly in nature.
Wild Tip:
Much as been said about the benefits of being out in nature. If you are interested in learning more about the health benefits of this then check out The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Digital Age by Richard Louv.
Outdoor Sit Spots Let You Observe Nature
I made this outdoor sit spot by just taking a small log and placing it under a dwarf mulberry tree. From behind a couple bushes, you can watch birds visiting the feeder while sitting on this log. It’s a great place for bird watching
If you want to make the living world around you come alive with abundance, you need to take the time to sit down and observe nature.
When you sit and observe nature, you will notice different patterns.
You might notice that the birds prefer your hedgerows and other dense areas to open space without cover close by.
This might lead you to plant a wildlife corridor, like an edible hedgerow close to your garden so birds can take cover there, where they'll be more likely to eat the pests going after your vegetables.
You might also notice the breeze blowing by while you are observing the birds and realize that if the hedge was planted in the right spot it could block the winds from blowing across your garden and drying out the soil.
These sorts of observations will improve your ability to cultivate abundance and help you make the living world around you come alive.
Outdoor sit spots provide the spaces for you to sit and observe nature on a regular basis. You need space to be able to stop, sit, and just observe the natural world around you.
Once you do, you will start to notice patterns. You’ll see how the different natural elements interact and how you can then work with them all to enhance these interactions instead of constantly fighting against them.
Places for Family Time
When I make outdoor sit spots, I always make sure to include some that are big enough for friends and family to sit together. This can be done fairly easily, with a series of logs or wood rounds placed in a semi-circle.
A place that's alive with abundance is a place for family and friends to come together and connect with nature.
Outdoor sit spots can provide spaces for groups of people to sit together and share in the abundance you've cultivated for people, plants and wildlife.
When building outdoor sit spots for groups, make sure to add multiple places to sit in a way that brings the group together. Logs placed in semi-circles are a great way to do this.
This way everyone will be facing the same direction and turned partially towards each other.
This is different than the traditional use of a sit spot, but I like it because it invites others to come together even as they come into their own awareness of the living world around us.
But it’s still important to give individuals space to be alone in nature. So make sure to have some outdoor sit spots that are set up for a single person.
If you scatter them throughout your property, then everyone can find the spot that fits their current mood.
Getting Started with Outdoor Sit Spots
I’ve created quite a few outdoor sit spots on my property, and I plan to add a lot more over time. Every time I create a new growing area or add new nature trails or paths, I always make sure to add some areas for people to sit and be present with our living world.
To get started with outdoor sit spots, first take a moment to think of the areas on your property that you are drawn to. Places where you always stop when you’re out walking, to simply enjoy the space around you.
These places would be great locations for your first outdoor sit spots. Plus, these places may already have a nature trail leading to them.
What should you use to build it?
In my opinion the best material for creating outdoor sit spots are natural materials that blend in with the landscape and don’t feel out of place.
I really like to use large wood rounds or logs. These won’t last forever, but they give the feeling of walking through a natural area and just sitting down on a fallen log.
But you could also build a couple covered outdoor sit spots for year-round enjoyment and observation. With all the rain we get here in the winter, I know I will be adding a few covered areas. But I will keep these small and simple.
Outdoor sit spots are places for your family and friends to stop and be present with the living world around you. The sit spots should be setup so they disappear into the background when not in use.
By having outdoor sit spots, you are providing spaces that will help draw people out into the natural abundance you have created.
What are your favorite spots on your property to sit and simply enjoy connecting with our living world?
Please leave a comment sharing your answer.
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