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Walk & Talk: A Quiet Walk · The Aligned Actor

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to The Aligned Actor Podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Amy Schloerb, your friendly fellow actor and mindfulness and mindset coach.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the podcast where I offer practical mindfulness tools and mindset shifts
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: to help us all thrive in our full actor lives,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: because we deserve to thrive in our full actor lives.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Despite the havoc that the entertainment industry likes to wreak
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: on our nervous systems, we are not powerless.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: In the face of all of that,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: we have tools at our disposal,
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  SPEAKER_00: things that we can do,
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  SPEAKER_00: ways that we can shift our minds,
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  SPEAKER_00: ways that we can shift our consciousness, maybe,
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: or just our bodies,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: our nervous systems,
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: so that we can set ourselves up for success and thrive and care for ourselves in
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: an industry that really doesn't give an S or a An F or an anything about us.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: We can care for ourselves.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we must care for ourselves.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And this is another walk and talk episode of The Aligned Actor Podcast.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna hear helicopters.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna hear the jingle jangle of doggy collars.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: You might hear the rustling of a poop bag, if you're lucky.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm out on a walk with my dogs,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: but I wanted to record this episode because I have an idea for you,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: which is something I've talked about in the past, but it's worth mentioning again.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Go for a quiet walk.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that might sound...
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Odd to say or ironic to say as you're listening to all these various sounds around me.
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  SPEAKER_00: The helicopters,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: the cars,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: the birds, the, I mean,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: birds are kind of nice, but, you know, the rustling of the dogs, the whatever.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: What I mean by a quiet walk, so this seems like not a quiet walk at all, right?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: But what I mean by go for a quiet walk is go for a walk without...
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Without input and without chosen
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: external stimulation in the form of a podcast or
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: an audiobook or,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, watching something on your phone while you're walking.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think I see people doing that in my neighborhood and it's a little weird
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: because I'm like, don't trip, please don't fall.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, a quiet walk.
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  SPEAKER_00: Where you're literally just walking,
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  SPEAKER_00: noticing,
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  SPEAKER_00: looking at the things around you,
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: listening to the sounds around you,
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  SPEAKER_00: even if they're annoying,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: even if it's helicopters and planes and barking dogs and leaf blowers.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: However you feel about the sounds, you're just observing, you're just witnessing.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: There is something really powerful about that.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's very mindful, obviously.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: It very much brings you into the present moment.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if you're listening to a podcast or an audiobook, you're in your mind.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You're probably imagining, you know, what do those podcast people look like?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: What does their studio look like?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, they're talking about...
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: A video game or they're talking about something that happened and now I'm picturing
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: that event or that level of the video game depending,
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, depending on what the podcast is.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're listening to an audio book and that audio book is doing
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: a really great job of creating a world that you're seeing in your mind's eye
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  SPEAKER_00: and experiencing in that way.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all great.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio books when I'm out on walks with my dogs.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I also do sometimes what's called a quiet walk,
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: which is what I've been talking about here today.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm finding it funny that I'm walking past a construction site as I'm talking
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: about a quiet walk.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: But again, it's not about, it's not a silent walk.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a quiet walk.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Just meaning there's no, I haven't chosen what to put in my ears.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not controlling the input.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: The present moment is controlling the input.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm hearing the rolling of a dolly cart.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hearing the
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: of a nail gun at the construction site.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hearing hammering at the construction site.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm hearing the jingle jangle of my doggy's collars.
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  SPEAKER_00: All kinds of things.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also hearing birds.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm seeing...
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's another bird.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing the world around me.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not in my mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the pictures of the podcast or the audio book.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not in the inner world.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in the outer world.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in my present moment.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a way to practice mindfulness.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's an informal way to practice mindfulness.
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  SPEAKER_00: We're not sitting still, focusing on our breath.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're literally just being and existing in the present moment.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say it's one of maybe the best practices or a great practice.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Best.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why qualify it in that way?
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  SPEAKER_00: But it's a really great way to practice mindfulness because
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  SPEAKER_00: is your present moment.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that you can do anytime, anywhere.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: You can practice it when you're in line at the grocery store,
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  SPEAKER_00: Or in traffic, or at a museum, or
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: wherever you are, you can be there.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds very Yogi Berra of me.
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  SPEAKER_00: But wherever you are,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: you can practice just being in that moment and observing yourself in
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  SPEAKER_00: that present moment rather than going to your phone
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  SPEAKER_00: for input Immediately having your headphones in, listening to something for input.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just practice being and existing and taking in your present moment.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because you don't know what will come on the podcast of life, as it were.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, it's just kind of, it's fun.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a way to practice mindfulness.
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  SPEAKER_00: And...
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a fun one and it can continue to help you with those ripple effects
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: of you becoming more mindful, more self-aware, more situationally aware.
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  SPEAKER_00: And all of that is very good for you overall.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it helps you in many, many different ways.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And a little later on the podcast,
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  SPEAKER_00: we are going to get into the ways that mindfulness is really beneficial for actors
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: and how it helps us all.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: But taking a quiet walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: I think one of the biggest benefits of that is it's very regulating for
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: the nervous system.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's very calming.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's very relaxing.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's very present moment oriented.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not off in the future.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're not back in the past.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're in the present.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And in the present, things are normally okay.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you notice that you're off in the future or you're back in the past,
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can easily direct yourself to the present just by observing
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: the world around you, noticing what's happening on your quiet walk.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I have for you today.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is just a little idea I wanted to share.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that really helps me calm down and feel more relaxed and at ease
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: and regulate my nervous system in those ways.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to share that with you.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whilst I was actually out Doing it.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was actually out on a walk and doing it quietly.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I did not have a podcast in my ears.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was recording a podcast out of my mouth.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: As always,
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: you can go to my website,
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: thealignedactor.com, to find out more about me, Amy Schloerb, and my work.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I look forward to seeing you again real soon.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Bye-bye.