The Beauty of Silent Walking—and Running

I’m the type of person who does jumping jacks and squats whenever my Apple Watch tells me to stand. I’m also one to jog in place right before bed to make sure I close my three activity rings Half Marathon Training Plans for Every Runner sleep and readiness scores from my Oura ring every morning. And I upload my runs to Strava Does Running Build Muscle.

In other words, one might say I’m driven by data. I like to see my distance and pace Your Marathon Training Plan heart rate on easy days and how sticking with my sleep schedule improves my energy. I find it hard to shake it off when my watch malfunctions during intervals or dies on a long weekend hike—if I didn’t record every step or every second, did I really put in the work?

Obviously I know the answer is yes—even if my friends have to remind me of that several times after said hike—but recording my moves (in all its forms) gives me a sense of pride and confidence in my abilities.

So you can imagine my resistance when I signed up for a weekend retreat at Kripalu, a yoga center in Berkshires, Massachusetts, where most of the campus is tech-free—meaning no phones or even smartwatches. I considered sneaking my tech around anyway because how would I know my effort in each yoga class one spring, I was having serious trouble hitting paces for?

But instead, I decided to take on a new challenge: Go without a device for the entire weekend. No phone calls or text messages; no checking social media incessantly; no jogging in place to hit my activity goal; no recording my steps for the day. I put my phone and watch away at about 2 p.m. on Friday and didn’t turn either back on until Sunday around noon.

You could say I spent an entire weekend taking part in the Tiktok trend known as “silent walking,” except Kripalu has been encouraging a no-talking or teching policy for years. Not only is breakfast How These Running Pros Practice Mindfulness walks, a hike, and kayaking—along with many yoga classes—the course leaders also instructed us to turn inward and focus on the present moment and the sights, sounds, and smells around us, rather than conversations, podcasts, music, audiobooks, or whatever distraction of choice we typically tune into during activities. Most of the leaders at Kripalu also have certifications in mindfulness practices Health - Injuries.

I definitely wouldn’t have noticed a few of my favorite things about nature had I not been specifically paying attention to what was happening around me. For example, I now have an amazing mental picture of lily pads in bloom (which I had never seen before), and I realized the crisp sound a kayak makes as it glides over the pads on a lake (seriously soothing!). It’s hard to find and admire the little things in nature—or gain the benefits of being out there—when you’re staring at your phone or even trying to capture it on camera.

As for my physical progress, I had the time and concentration to taste each bite of food, feel my muscles activate as I moved up and down inclines in the woods, and notice my breath one spring, I was having serious trouble hitting paces for Shoes & Gear and worked against the wind while I paddled.

I find when I actually pay attention to my body as I exercise and how it feels to move through a run, walk, or yoga class, I appreciate it more for what it can do. And I definitely don’t always need the numbers to prove its power or the joy that comes from physical activity.

into your miles Amanda Fazio of Sport Strata in New York City says this is one of the main benefits of device-free running or silent walking. “It really allows us to focus on the process over the outcome,” she says. “A lot of times we get really focused on, did I hit my time? Or what are my splits?” Without a constant reminder from your watch, you can focus on what’s going on in your body, including what it feels like to run three miles or to hit a consistent stride and effort, rather than the numbers.

That’s not the only advantage you can gain from running sans tech, though. And while taking an entire weekend to disconnect is certainly a privilege, even elements of that—like going on silent walks and runs during a work day—can bring in the benefits, without being a major time commitment.

With the help of Fazio, here’s a list of what to look forward to if you put your phone and watch away on your next walk or run. Plus, how to incorporate more silent, mindful moments into your miles.

The Benefits of Silent Walking and Running

1. Allows You to Single-Task

It’s a common misconception we’re good at multitasking—in fact, research shows it makes us less efficient. In reality, our attention is pretty fixed, says Fazio. “A lot of us think that we can just stretch [our attention], and stretch it and stretch it some more, and the more stimuli that comes in, the more my attention is going to be able to hold,” she explains. “But that’s just not the case… Our brain is going to pull resources from one thing in order to give it to something else.”

If you’re distracted by music, for example, you might not get to know what a certain pace really feels like or what your breathing is like when you’re pushing up a hill—both of which can help you through training and race day when you need to control your effort to make it to the finish.

2. Gets You More in Tune With Your Body and Mind

Stress, including the physical stress of running, triggers our sympathetic nervous system or that fight or flight response, Fazio explains. And in order to come down from that and to perform at our best in a calmer state of body and mind, we need to activate the parasympathetic nervous system or the rest and digest state.

How to Breathe While Running breath as you run can help you do that, as can little tactics like squeezing a fist. This keeps you grounded and brings you back into the present moment, so you’re worrying less about how fast you’re running or how many steps you’re taking and more about what the effort feels like as you go and what you need in the moment to keep moving.

3. Helps You Avoid Overexertion

“When we dissociate because of music or podcasts, we’re dissociating from our bodies,” Fazio says. “If we’re dissociating, we could actually be overexerting.” This can not only push you to train too hard, but it could also keep you from noticing the start of an injury.

One way to make sure you’re not overdoing it when you should be working at a low-intensity effort? Practicing nasal breathing, Fazio suggests. It’s harder to deal with labored breathing when you’re only inhaling and exhaling through your nose. So use that as a marker of effort.

4. Preps You for Difficult Runs

Running without music or podcasts can serve up a serious challenge for some people—and that’s a good thing, Fazio says.

“You don’t have to be comfortable with [running device-free]. It can kind of suck and you can not like it,” she says. “But you can work through that discomfort.” Learning to do this comes in handy on race day, when you’re bound to get uncomfortable. It can help you develop the mental skills needed to make it through a difficult run, so you’re more prepared for it during an event.

Plus, research suggests that mindfulness practices—which comes into play when you start paying more attention to the present moment—can reduce competition anxiety and enhance endurance performance, as well as lower perceived effort, showing just how much these mindful moments on a run can support your training and racing.

5. Brings More Pleasure Into Running

When Ways to Stay Mentally Strong on Tough Runs one spring, I was having serious trouble hitting paces for workouts and just couldn’t get into a groove. I started dreading many of my runs. So my coach at the time suggested I ditch the watch and just get out there and enjoy the miles.

I did a few runs without a phone and zero pace checks. Sure enough, the joy for the miles came back and I began to look forward to lacing up for speed workouts again (and hitting my goal paces, too).

How to Make the Most of Your Device-Free Runs and Silent Walks

Practice, Practice, Practice

To make the most of a silent walk or run, “be really intentional about checking in with your body,” Fazio says. Our minds can wander throughout the run, but learning to bring it back to the body and what you’re currently doing can help you run mindfully and more confidently.

Paying attention to your senses can help with this, too. Focusing on the sights, sounds, and smells around you helps bring your mind back to the moment, appreciate your surroundings, and free you from worry about how you’re performing.

Play Mind Games

If you find you have trouble with your thoughts wandering into negative territory, you can also think about picking people off in a race or paying attention to each part of your stride, from when your foot strikes the ground to the push-off to the leg swing and knee drive.

Getting curious about your running also helps. “We have this saying in sports psychology: You can’t be curious and anxious at the same time,” Fazio says. So get curious about what’s going on in the body and your surroundings. How does it feel if you surge a little? What happens with your upper body How Missing a Marathon Workout Can Benefit You?

Finally, running some gratitude miles is also a smart way to mentally approach a silent run, Fazio says. Each time you hit a new mile, dedicate it to someone you know and love. Think about them through that entire mile.

Time It Right

When you don’t have a big race on the calendar, when you’re sore from another workout, or when you want to mix things up and try something new—these are all great scenarios for ditching devices and just focusing on your body and mind through physical activity, Fazio says. That way you’re not feeling the pressure to hit certain distances or paces, and you can also pay more attention to your exertion level and keep it easy for a workout like a recovery run.