Where to Sit.
You can practice Anywhere.
Sometimes it’s fun to change it up a bit.
Ever run laps around a track? It can get boring.
A new location, uncertain terrain, and the odd hill to climb makes us a more well-rounded runner. Mind running practice is no different!
Always sitting in the same spot is like running on a flat, rubberized track. It’s controlled. Predictable. A great place to work on form – but life’s is rarely a predictable level surface.
We become well-rounded practitioners by pushing ourselves and practicing in different locations – we can watch our mind when sitting at the dinner table or when we are waiting for someone who is late.
The best spot to practice is wherever you are. The airplane seat during take off. The awkward pause in a conversation. The email that sets your teeth on edge. These are our hills and headwind – the obstacles that make us stronger.
So yes – its great to have a go-to sit spot like a dedicated meditation space at home or a quiet park just down the street – somewhere you can sit and really focus. But don’t be afraid to take your practice out there and exercise in less-than-ideal locations.
Sit on the busy seawall with e-bikes flying past. Sit at your desk with thirty tabs open and no motivation. Sit with yourself when you feel blah and convinced that sitting is a waste of time. If you can practice and stay present in these moments, you’re not just training, you’re improving your overall health and wellbeing.
These are some of the locations close to me, and the reasons I like them. If you have other suggestions, please share!
Barnet Marine Park
Few things make my mind process sprint like the sound of a train horn blasting a few meters away!
This waterfront stretch has benches, logs, sand, rocks and grass – whatever your sit-bones prefer. Parking is limited which keeps the crowds down. I usually settle on a bench just inside the off-leash area where a steady stream of dogs, boats, trains and thoughts drift by. It’s a 15 minute bike ride from my house and a great balance between busy and quiet – the perfect place to notice how my mind reacts, judges, and wanders – again and again.
Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
Where sky meets city, and the mind meets the view.
To the west you can see it all – the inlet, the downtown skyline, maybe even your life laid out in metaphors. It’s quiet enough to be peaceful, but touristy enough to stir that subtle ego-performance mode (“people may be watching, I better sit well”). If the people get to be too much, just slip onto a trail and find a quieter spot. Bathe in bird sounds and forest shade – close your eyes, and watch how far your thoughts will try to fly.
Burnaby Lake
Water, reeds, and dragonflies – the mind slows to the pace of a heron here.
This location is more about stillness. No big skyline. No train horns. Just rippling water, a breeze, and a long trail that asks nothing of you but to keep walking – or to sit and not walk! There’s a rhythm to the lake’s presence, and your mind may just settle into it without realizing. That’s a win, if we choose to measure.
Other Vancouver area places to practice. If you have other suggestions, please share!
English Bay / Stanley Park
Ready for a real workout?
Sit at English Bay on a sunny summer day and let your mind run a marathon. So many people and conversations, so many distractions – it is the ultimate test of stillness in motion.
Too much? Walk the seawall into Stanley Park. Head to third beach or start near Lost Lagoon and if even that’s too busy, keep going until you reach Beaver Lake. Follow any side trail and eventually you’ll find a quiet spot to question why the crowds bothered you so much. The disappearing trees, like our thoughts, remind us that nothing in our measured life is permeant.
YVR
Nothing like impermanence with a boarding call.
Sitting at the airport – either outside watching the planes take off or inside near Arrivals – brings up so many thoughts: anticipation, longing, anxiety, joy. Watch friends and family reunite. Watch your thoughts fly off to tropical locations that are free of responsibility. It’s a great place to test your practice and observe emotion in motion. Your destination? Right here, of course.
Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Where silence has depth and the forest listens.
Step into these wooded trails and it’s like the mind gets padded. The chatter softens, replaced by that feeling of being surrounded by something older than your problems. Find a log or bench and sit. You’ll realize nature doesn’t care if you’re having a good or bad day – and somehow, that helps.
Your Desk
This is the Corporate Team or the Mind Running Club.
Whether you’re back to the office or pacing your home studio in socks and a hoodie, our “work” desk is so often our starting line. The race? Thoughts vs. deadlines. Expectations vs. creativity. Emails vs. your will to live.
This is the opposite of running in nature. It’s a treadmill made of Slack pings and to-do lists. But that’s what makes it perfect. Stay put. Continue to breathe. Watch the mind run (sprint, spin, strategize, quit, and restart). Despite how you may feel, you’re not off-course. You’re exactly where the practice continues. Run your own race.