To bystanders, it will look like any other walking tour: A few dozen people wandering through the Tidal Basin, clearly together, gazing at the Jefferson Memorial and wide-eyed at the Washington Monument.
But over the span of two hours, they won’t utter a single word to each other.
On Thursday night, MindTravel’s SilentWalk will hold its first event in the District: Participants will meet at the Albert Einstein Memorial, pull on wireless headphones provided by the group and embark on a walking meditation. As Murray Hidary leads the group around the downtown monuments, recordings of his original piano compositions, paired with spoken word and poetry, will flutter through each person’s headphones. So, not completely silent—but attendees are instructed not to speak, instead focusing on listening to the specially chosen sounds and reflecting on what’s around them.
“It’s extremely transcendent,” Hidary says of the experience, which promises emotional healing, introspection, and connection. “It’s hard to find silence, especially in cities like D.C., where everyone’s on their phones and it’s always on to the next thing. It’s incredible what happens afterwards, how efficient and productive people feel. You suddenly have such clarity on so many things. It’s really a wonderful kind of mini-vacation.”
Hidary—whose résumé includes concert pianist, cellist, visual artist, and entrepreneur—became familiar with walking meditations while living in various monasteries in Japan. He found the practice to be therapeutic, and it was part of the inspiration behind MindTravel, the organization he launched five years ago to provide immersive travel experiences across the globe. An underwater experience, for example, involves floating or swimming beneath the surface of a pool while meditating to music that plays through underwater speakers. There are also experiences held at beaches and in concert halls and baseball stadiums.
Hidary created the SilentHike—which is similar to the SilentWalk but takes place on a mountain—because he enjoys taking walks and hiking alone in order to reflect and contemplate. “But I also like to go hiking with friends,” he says. “Sometimes when you go on a hike you want to talk for 10, 20 minutes, but then you want to enjoy the landscape and you don’t want to feel that social pressure of having to talk for two hours.”
During the SilentWalk in D.C., participants will walk at a relaxed pace, pausing in front of the various monuments and memorials to just be present and take in the specialness of their surroundings. The event is appropriate for all ages, Hidary says: At these walks in other cities, families often bring their toddlers in strollers, and seniors show up, too. He curates each location’s playlist based on “the stops we’re doing and the views—it’s really timed to the route,” he says, thus creating a personalized musical journey for each group of participants.
Though the SilentWalk attendees won’t speak to each other, Hidary expects that no one will feel alone. “They feel deeply connected with themselves and one another,” he says, describing past events in other cities. “They’ve never seen these locations in that way—it’s a much deeper experience with an overwhelming sense of love and connection.” He knows this for a fact, he says, because after each event, he summons participants into a circle and asks each person to share a word or phrase about how the experience made them feel. Touching, many say. Trance-like. Transportive.
And Hidary’s reaction? “Most of the time, I feel deeply grateful that people were willing to take a risk in an experience that was so new and different to them,” he says. “And that they trusted me with their time and let the experience take them through” such a range of emotions.
The SilentWalk will start at the Albert Einstein Memorial on Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. FREE. Register here.
