The role of the physical environment in formal and informal mindfulness: the sensory retreat experience

Mindfulness retreats cultivate sensory awareness of both natural and built environments, deepening practitioners' presence and practice. Through participatory observation and interviews with nine retreatants, an instructor, and two operators, the study reveals a rich interplay between inner and outer worlds. Sensory expansion, multi-sensory interaction, and perception of spatial interrelations in the retreat setting provide meaningful encounters with surroundings, highlighting the understudied synergy between mindfulness and physical environment.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A sensory engagement with the surroundings lies at the heart of awareness. Mindfulness practices cultivate such awareness, where the physical environment is a significant feature. However, the synergy between mindfulness practices and the physical environment has received little scholarly attention. This study focuses on the “retreat experience” to explore how mindfulness practitioners perceive the physical environment – both natural and built – through their formal and informal mindfulness practices. We investigated the unfolding of the sensory experience within two settings throughout the duration of the retreat. Data was collected through participatory observation and in-depth interviews with nine retreatants, the mindfulness instructor, and two retreat center operators. Results provide us with insights into the rich interplay between the inner and outer worlds, where sensory awareness plays a crucial role in cultivating presence and practice. Besides the expansion of each sense and their multi-sensory interaction, the perception of the retreat setting’s spatial interreations is also crucial for providing retreatants with meaningful encounters with the surroundings.