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Episode 3566:
Justin Malik shares a bonus episode from Step Into Calm: a fourteen-minute guided walk built around one simple rule, that the phone stays in the pocket the whole way. It names the phantom buzz and the trained pull to reach for a screen, then gives attention somewhere else to go. A small, repeatable healthy habit that costs nothing but the time it takes to walk.
Optimal Health Daily is a daily health and wellness podcast where we narrate the best articles on nutrition, fitness, weight loss, and healthy habits, read to you by a professional narrator so you can improve your health a little more every day.
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[00:01:01] This is Optimal Health Daily, and I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Welcome to our Sunday bonus episode, where I share an episode from one of the other podcasts in our network, and today I'm featuring a special one from our show called Step Into Calm, Walking Meditations. If you enjoy it, you can find Step Into Calm wherever you're listening to this, and you can show your support by following or subscribing in your favorite podcast app. So, with that, hopefully you're ready for a little walk as we optimize your life.
[00:01:37] Hey there. Before we really get going, a small invitation. Right now you're probably holding your phone, or it's somewhere close, with the screen glowing. For this whole walk, you don't need to look at it even once. It's just going to sit quietly in your pocket, playing these words.
[00:02:01] So if it feels okay, slip it away now. Into a pocket, or a bag. Screen turned away. There. Nothing to check. Nothing to swipe. Just you and your walk.
[00:02:26] Now, here's what's probably going to happen. Somewhere in the next few minutes, you'll feel a pull, a little itch to reach for it. Maybe a phantom buzz in your pocket. Maybe just your hands starting to move on its own.
[00:03:34] None of that is a failure. That pull has been trained into us thousands of times over. So we're not going to fight it, we're just going to notice it and let it pass.
[00:03:50] For now, bring your attention to the simple fact that you're walking. The rhythm of your steps. One foot, and then the other. Steady and unhurried. Feel the air on your skin as you move through it.
[00:06:49] When that urge to check the phone shows up, and it will. Just see if you can feel it without acting on it. Notice the impulse rise, and then watch it fade all on its own.
[00:07:09] It's kind of funny, and when you think about it, we spend so much of our lives looking down at a small, glowing rectangle.
[00:08:18] While the whole wide world goes on all around us. So let yourself hear it now. The sounds close to you, and the sounds far away.
[00:09:29] Maybe birds. Maybe traffic. Or wind. Or a voice somewhere. The soundtrack you usually tune out.
[00:10:38] Think about how often the phone interrupts a moment like this one. A buzz, a little banner, and suddenly you're somewhere else entirely. But not right now. Right now, there's nothing to pull you away.
[00:11:23] This walk is yours. Completely. Maybe the first uninterrupted thing you've had all day. Notice that you haven't missed a single thing.
[00:11:55] The messages will still be there when you're done. They always are.
[00:12:29] This. The open air. The quiet. The moving. This only happens once.
[00:13:28] As we start to wrap up, see if you can carry a little of this feeling with you. The next time your hand reaches for the phone out of pure habit, maybe you'll catch it. And maybe, every now and then, you'll choose to leave it alone. And just be where you are.
[00:13:57] For these last few steps, stay right here.
[00:14:35] With your walk. And the world around you. No screen. Nothing to check. Just this.
[00:15:21] Okay, that brings us to the end. Whenever you're ready, you can reach for your day again. But maybe give yourself one more quiet minute first. Take good care.