Practice Lab — Entry Exercise

Noticing What Notices You, best done outdoors - Time: 2–3 minutes

• Step 1 - Pause. Look around the space you’re in right now. Don’t analyze it. Just register it.
• Step 2 -  Now shift your attention. Instead of observing your environment… ask yourself: “What here is aware of me?” Don’t answer it logically. Just let the question sit.
• Step 3 - Notice what changes. Does your body adjust? Does the space feel different? Does your attention sharpen or pull back? Did you get any images?

PART 1 — The Arrival & The Invitation 

Todd Standing is a Canadian Sasquatch researcher with decades of field experience under his belt. He doesn’t study Sasquatch from a computer screen. He goes out into the wilderness and has physical encounters with this elusive species. 

Not only that, but instead of writing books and trying to “prove” that Sasquatch exists, he now focuses on being a bridge between Sasquatch and people. He has a popular YouTube channel where he shares videos and evidence, and most importantly, he takes people into the wilderness so they can have their own experiences. 

We first came to know Todd in 2018-19. While watching his documentary Discovering Bigfoot, Larry’s mother, Makah Elder Deanna of the Makah Tribe in the northwest of the USA, was walking past the television. She looked up and shouted, “look! That’s a Sasquatch! That’s exactly what they look like. That’s what I saw in the woods by the road just a few weeks ago.”

That moment changed the tone in the room immediately.

Although I had seen a Sasquatch in our backyard, I had not seen his face. Only his body from the chest down as he ran through the woods, his shoulders and head hidden by tree branches. I had also heard a couple of them speaking to each other in a fast, unfamiliar, almost rhythmic language. At another time, I recorded multiple long, extremely loud wails.

So when Deanna spoke, we listened.

Larry and I went from casually watching the documentary to paying very close attention. We contacted Todd and invited him to the Rez for a conversation. 

At the time, we assumed Todd had recreated his experiences for the film. That the images were not actual Sasquatch. But after Elder Deanna identified one immediately, and then shared her own experiences seeing them in and around the Makah Indian Reservation her entire life, that question of whether the images were recreated or real, stopped mattering. Deanna’s approval and recognition was enough for us.

So for those who try to prove that Todd fabricated the images, I’ll say this: even if he did, they are extremely accurate representations. And I would also say, “you are asking the wrong question”. The right question is, “where can I meet one myself?”

For us, the firsthand recognition by Makah Elders carried more weight than any external debate about the authenticity of the images in Todd’s documentary.

What is true and cannot be faked is that Todd has spent decades encountering, observing, and communicating with Sasquatch. That becomes evident very quickly when you are around him. And also because the local Sasquatch tribes genuinely like Todd.

As Native Americans, Larry and I have never questioned the existence of Sasquatch. Asking us if Sasquatch exists is like asking if frogs exist. It is a nonsensical question. 

When I spoke with Elder Deanna at the time, she told me that the separation between the Makah people and the Sasquatch tribes in the area was relatively recent. She said that before that separation, Sasquatch and Makah would meet regularly to exchange medicine and stories.

Unfortunately, Elder Deanna passed some years ago, and we can no longer ask her to expand on that relationship.

Have I seen Sasquatch? Yes. With my physical eyes. I have also heard them with my physical ears. And not just running through the woods a few yards from me. They physically came into the Shamanshack where I met them to figure out medicine for one of their babies.

And they communicate in multiple ways, including through the method I teach in my class Experiential Telepathy, which is a primary form of communication across the Universe. So, yes I have also heard them and seen them with my inner ears and eyes.

Since that first visit with Todd, we have hosted him and his expeditioners most years in the spring, when Sasquatch activity in the valley increases. Or perhaps it’s not that they become more active… but that we do. That we pay closer attention when Todd facilitates our time in the deep forest.

Todd brings a fascinating group of people each year. Through these visits, we form new connections, and our own tribe steps into a different way of interacting with the forest. We go out not just to observe, but to engage, to listen, and to communicate as a group. Something we don’t typically do. 

On our podcast, Driving To The Rez, we share the broader story of this year’s visit (2026).

But inside the Wisdom Keeper member section of the podcast, we go much deeper. For Todd’s visit, we are releasing the member section of the podcast for free.

It is in the Wisdom Keeper section where Todd shares insights about his work that he doesn’t normally speak about publicly. And where our panelists unpack what they experienced during the week of forest trips and explorations, in their own words, without filters or conclusions placed on top of it.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to step into this kind of interaction, not as an observer but as a participant, that’s where those conversations live.

And this particular visit… the forest did not stay quiet for long. Next week we continue our exploration of all the interactions, knowledge and wisdoms experienced during Todd’s 2026 drive to the rez.