Currently reading Bitting et al. (2026): “Evaluating the Impact of a Sit Spot Mindfulness Practice on Students’ Connectedness to Nature, Mental Wellbeing, and Mindfulness”

Sitting on the ferry back to Sweden a week ago (was it only a week ago?!), I listened to the episode “Sit Spot Mindfulness” on 60 second SoTL, and then had to immediately (or at least as soon as I had internet close Møn) read the original publication by Bitting et al. (2026).

I’ve written about the idea of “sit spots” before, for example when reading the Everyday Changemaker book, and I really like the idea to counteract the effects of miserable pedagogies and the polycrises in general, and work to support student mental health and wellbeing.

Bitting et al. (2026) describe the simple Sit Spot activity: “Students select a convenient outdoor location and visit it eight times over the period of a month, in different weather conditions and at different times of day. During each visit, students spend about 10—20 min observing their sensory experiences of that place and their emotional and physiological reactions to that experience. Then, they journal briefly about what they noticed, following a series of written prompts with questions about each sense, the space in general, and the student’s experience of sitting.” Before students started doing that, the instructor took all students outside and explained the practice and goals, and guided them for 10 minutes with instructions to focus on breath, mind, body, etc, and the whole thing was debriefed.

Bitting et al. (2026) did this in two courses. In their classes, sit spots had associated due dates, but those were not enforced and students were encouraged to rather do it late than never. After the 8 sit spots, students wrote a prompted reflection. Bitting et al. (2026) collected full datasets from a total of 71 participants, and found positive outcomes in overall mental wellbeing, mindfulness, and nature connectedness for students that did 8 or more sit spots. In their reflections, students touched on aspects related to the courses, like societal relevance of their experience, or negative emotions. They also mention that they had never before considered taking breaks in nature but that they can see how it is a good practice.

Reflecting on how to take this activity forward, Bitting et al. (2026) recommend to start with individual reflections on prior experiences with nature and mindfulness practices to elicit potential thresholds, which can then be discussed in class so teachers can help students find ways to navigate them.

I think this sounds like a great activity for the mental health outcomes, but also for broader sustainability reflections! Maybe I should include that in my teaching?

Bitting, K. S., McSweeney, J., Kaufman, E., & Campagna, K. (2026). Evaluating the Impact of a Sit Spot Mindfulness Practice on Students’ Connectedness to Nature, Mental Wellbeing, and Mindfulness. Innovative Higher Education, 1-27.

And almost back home in Sweden again…

This bridge is so cool!

I cannot help mentioning at every opportunity that I have walked on it as well as on the artificial island!

It’s just super cool! And you see it from almost everywhere in the region!