If there’s one thing Gen Z knows tips on how to do, it’s setting trends.
We’ve had “all the pieces showers”, “bed rotting”, even “bare minimum Mondays” – which have been adopted to various degrees of social media fanfare.
And now the most recent Gen Z “movement” taking the youngest generation by storm is, paradoxically, not that latest in any respect.
They call it “silent walking”, that’s: going for a walk without their phones, or without listening to music, podcasts, or any type of technological distraction.
Podcaster Mady Maio takes credit for “unintentionally starting a movement” that, she guarantees, will “change your life”.
In a video on Tiktok, she explains her boyfriend was the one who first challenged her to take a walk with none distractions.
“No AirPods, no podcasts, no music. Just me, myself, and I,” she said within the video, which has now gained almost 500,000 views.
“And at first I used to be like f**k no, my anxiety could never – which might be what you’re pondering – but something inside me was like let me just try it.”
Maio said the primary two minutes of her walk were “mayhem”, until she hit a “flow state”, when “suddenly you may … hear yourself.”
“Look, the universe and your intuition involves you thru whispers, so when you’re never alone along with your thoughts and also you never get quiet you’re gonna miss the whispers,” she said.
“And people whispers are crucial to be listening to.”
Maio said silent walking gave her the “clarity” she had at all times been searching for.
“The brain fog lifted, suddenly all these ideas are flowing into me because I’m giving them space to enter.
“Look, if I can do it, you may do it. I promise, just try it out. … Give yourself the gift of getting quiet and listening to those whispers.”
Maio could have made silent walking go viral, however the term was coined way back to January, by Recent York City influencer Arielle Lorre – who also spruiked the advantages of the motion on her podcast in April.
“I feel like once I walk in silence, my senses are on high alert. I smell all the pieces, I hear all the pieces, I’m seeing all the pieces, and it’s so grounding for me,” she said.
“I do know the recent girl walk had its moment. I’m attempting to make the silent walk girl, or guy, or whatever, a thing.”
Now 1000’s of other Gen Z’s are ditching their hot girl walk – the unique walking trend that emerged from lockdown cabin fever – in favor of silence and posting about it to TikTok.
And while those that have tried the ‘silent walk’ also rave concerning the advantages, many individuals can’t imagine the younger generation think walking without being plugged in is so revolutionary.
“Is that this real? That is just walking … like how people did it before technology,” one person wrote.
“Gen Z just discovered walking,” one other wrote.
Another person proposed one other idea: “We’ve discovered this latest idea called ‘pondering’.”
Numerous TikTok users mocked the “silent walkers”, saying there have been plenty of things that they will do whenever you “log out your phone”.
“What I don’t understand is how you may have a look at someone walking with no technology and go holy s**t, what are they doing? That’s a latest method. I haven’t seen this before,” a bamboozled TikToker replied.
The very fact it’s causing such a stir online points to a much larger trend in society: the way in which we’re so depending on our phones.
Multiple studies have shown spending time in nature is helpful for our health.
Almost as many studies are emerging concerning the harms of spending an excessive amount of time on our phones.
Phones are such a distraction, the NSW government banned the devices in public high schools to stop students from “falling behind” of their studies.
Not to say, distracted pedestrians – or “smombies” because the NRMA calls them – are at increased risk of injuries and harm when in public.
So walking without being plugged in can also be just safer.
And, yet, the irony of all of it is that by documenting their silent walks on social media as a part of spreading the trend, these silent walkers should not, actually, walking silently in any respect.
Nevertheless, it’s arguably a great thing that Gen Z are leaning away from their devices – even whether it is only for half-hour a day.
