The ‘silent walking’ trend is gaining momentum on the internet.
It is a well-known fact that Generation Z has become a trendsetting group. From ‘slow quits’ to ‘absolutely a minimum of Mondays’, we’ve seen several of these trends over the past year. Another fad that is getting a lot of attention on social media is ‘silent walking’. It simply means taking a walk without phones or listening to music, podcasts or other technological distractions News.com.au.
Mady Maio, a podcaster, takes credit for “unintentionally starting a movement” that would “change your life.” In a TikTok video, she says it was her partner who initially encouraged her to go for a walk without any distractions. “There will be no AirPods, podcasts or music. It’s just me, me and me,” she says in the video, which has almost five lakh views.
She added that she was extremely hesitant at first. “And at first I thought, no, my anxiety could never do that — which you’re probably thinking — but something inside me said, let’s just try,” she said.
Ms. Maio described her first two minutes of walking as “chaos,” until she reached a “flow state,” where you “suddenly… hear yourself.” “Look, the universe and your intuition come to you through whispers, so if you are never alone with your thoughts and never become silent, you will miss the whispers. And those whispers are the most important thing to pay attention to,” she added to.
Ms Maio claimed that silent walking gave her the “clarity” she was looking for. She continued, “The brain fog lifted, suddenly all these ideas flood into me because I give them space to come in.” Look, if I can do it, you can do it too. I promise, just try it out. Give yourself the gift of becoming quiet and listening to those whispers. I feel like when I walk in silence my senses are heightened. I smell everything, I hear everything, I see everything, and it is so grounding for me. ” she said.
It should be noted that the trend was invented by New York influencer Arielle Lorre, who also promoted the benefits of silent walking on her podcast in April. However, it has now become popular after Ms Maio’s film went viral on the internet. Many people found the trend very interesting, but some found it difficult to understand why the younger generation finds walking without a phone so innovative.
Is this real? This is just walking… the way people did it before technology,” one person wrote.
Another user added: “Gen Z just discovered walking.”
“What I don’t understand is how you can look at someone walking without technology and say, what are they doing? That’s a new method. I’ve never seen this before,” one person wrote.
