Your Window Seat Is Always Available - An invitation to shift perspective, wherever you are.

Hello May!

As a new month starts, with sunnier longer days, bank holidays and opportunities for short gateaways, I wonder...

If you could choose: which seat would you take?

For me, it's always the window seat. Not just for the view (though that’s reason enough), but for the feeling that comes with it. There’s something quietly transformational about lifting off, watching buildings shrink, and the patchwork of fields and cities blur into clouds and horizon.

The first few minutes after take-off are like flipping a telescope around. Suddenly, everything looks smaller — not just the world below, but also the tangled thoughts we carry. The dramas, deadlines, and decisions that feel so heavy on the ground soften, lose their edges, and fall into perspective.

From above, even the most complex cities are just patterns. Just colours. Just part of the whole.

The Perspective Shift We All Need

This bird’s-eye view mirrors what in Buddhist psychology is known as the Noble Observer. I first came across this idea in a small but powerful book: How to Become a Buddha in 5 Weeks by psychologist Giulio Cesare Giacobbe. (Yes, the title raises eyebrows — but the contents are thoughtful, practical, and deeply grounded in both psychology and tradition.)

The Noble Observer is the part of us that can step back and watch what’s happening — not just in the world, but inside our own minds. It’s the voice that says, “Ah, I’m having that thought again,” instead of being swept up by it.

In a plane, this comes naturally. But in daily life? We have to choose that seat.

You Are Not Your Thoughts

One of the most freeing realizations in any mindfulness practice is this: you are not your thoughts. You are the one hearing them.

Let that sink in.

There’s a small pause — a breath — between you and your internal chatter. And in that space, there is choice. Do I react? Or do I just observe? Do I spiral? Or do I watch it pass like a cloud?

Choosing to sit in the position of the observer gives us access to a kind of grounded clarity, even when everything around us is moving fast.

Movement Is an Invitation to Ground

Travel, oddly enough, is a great teacher of mindfulness. When we're in motion — whether on a plane, train, or just navigating a new city — we’re nudged out of routine. We're asked to pay attention: to new signs, new sounds, unfamiliar rhythms.

And that is exactly what mindfulness invites us to do.

Movement also brings us back to our bodies. The subtle sway of a train, the hum of jet engines, the pull of a suitcase — these are all sensations that anchor us in the present. If we listen, our body becomes a steady companion, reminding us: you are here now.

When we let ourselves move mindfully — walking slower, breathing deeper, noticing more — we stop rushing throughour lives and start arriving into them.

Your Window Seat Is Always There

The beauty of this metaphor is that you don’t need an actual window seat to feel this shift. You don’t even need to be on a plane. At any moment, you can pause, breathe, and remember: you are not your thoughts. You can choose to observe instead of react. You can find that bird’s-eye view — from the park bench, the train platform, or even your kitchen.

And it won’t cost you a thing.

A Summer Invitation

As we prepare for summer — a time of travel, adventure, and often the disruption of our daily routines — there couldn’t be a better moment to explore the Virtual Studio. Whether you're away from home or just looking for a moment of stillness amid the season's busy rhythm, the studio is designed to meet you wherever you are. Just like your window seat — it's always available.

Virtual Studio | Chiara Favaretti

START THE FREE TRIAL