Walking groups, Mindful Walking | Fresno Mindfulness Walks

  • Home
  • Videos and Podcast
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Previous Walks
  • Privacy Policy
  • Prev
  • Next

Walk #39, Yr 1 Fugman Elementary and Copper River Country Club

August 25, 2015December 22, 2016 By fmw

Reflection from Walk #39, from Fugman Elementary in north Fresno through neighborhoods and to the Copper River Country Club.A gorgeous Saturday morning, 7 FMWalkers met at Fugman Elementary School. Walking past a few open fields graded for development, we then strolled along beautifully landscaped walkways, past gated housing developments. Smaller pockets of homes were gated but without sidewalks. Each home was beautifully manicured with water fountains, and colorful flowers. One homeowner was mowing his lawn with an electric lawnmower.After the walk, we discussed our observations. Walkers couldn’t help but compare this neighborhood to previous walks through neighborhoods in stark contrast to this one. Clean, manicured, large, green, new, quiet, uniform. These are not attributes often found in many Fresno neighborhoods.During the walks, FMWalkers take note of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the neighborhoods we walk. Here’s a summary of their comments:Sights: size and exercise, leisure, walkers and runners with dogs on leashes, security systems, gates, landscaped sidewalks, water fountains, view of the bluffs, 4-car garages, golf course, golf carts, young mothers pushing strollers, perfect yards, spiral bushes, neutral paint colors, new cars, construction workers with older model cars/work trucks. Porta potty. Signs saying “guests only” or “residents only” or “members only.”What FMWalkers did not see: children playing outside (one father playing ball with his son at the end of our walk), few pools, only one children’s toy set in backyard, trash, mattresses, shopping carts, loose dogs, wrecked cars, trade vehicles, home businesses, chain linked fences, churches, graffiti. FMWalkers thought they would see more signs of children because of the elementary school.Sounds: quiet, birds, hammering, one electric lawn mower, Spanish music from workers at house under construction. No traffic noise. No sirens. No roosters. No barking dogs, even the one or two that looked at us from behind fences.Smells: fresh air, flower and shrub fragrances. No food cooking. No trash odors. No dog poop.Feelings: It feels good to see flowers and fountains and clean curbs. Wide clean sidwalks make for pleasant walking/running. The beautiful houses and landsaping are fun to see. Several of the homes seem hard to access the front doors. There are few front yard living/sitting areas, perhaps less opportunity for casual engagement. Much more engagement happening on golf course. Within a few of the gated neighborhoods, there were security doors. Dogs are family pets and not so much for security like in other neighborhoods. We saw beautiful big dogs who didn’t bark as we walked past. Walkers felt safe from harm. Walkers reported feeling sort of ‘watched,’ so they tried to blend in. Walkers on ‘adventure walks’ or showing signs that they are not “exercising” but rather observing, might stand out. We had to enter through gates or walk where we might be asked to leave because we were not guests. However, we were greeted by some we passed, and chatted with construction workers and the two nice guys who ride around in the Club Car to service the water stations and restrooms on the golf course.FMWalkers discussed their thoughts about how people feel living in these neighborhoods. Walkers reported missing lots of activity that goes on in many others neighborhoods – one walker reported that when she left her house that morning for the walk, kids were already playing in the street in her neighborhood and on their scooters. Neighbors were sitting on front porches. There may be many community feelings and relationships going on in this neighborhood that are not immediately apparent to an observer.Every walk is an opportunity to see all of Fresno, to observe, without judgement, and to seek to understand. These are our brothers and sisters in Fresno, and whether we would choose it or not, our lives and our futures are all tied up together.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized

Related Posts

  • Discover or rediscover Fresno by walking mindfully

    September 5, 2019January 16, 2022
  • Fresno Mindfulness Walk — September 21, 2019, 10 a.m.

    August 16, 2019September 7, 2019
  • The Design Cycle – everything begins with empathy.

    September 23, 2018September 25, 2018

Post navigation

  Walk #38, Yr 1 Alluvial and Chestnut Unitarian Church
Walk #40, Yr 1 McKinley and Peach near Fresno Airport  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

UPCOMING WALK: Saturday, January 29, 2022, 10 a.m.

Fresno Mindfulness Walks will lead a Saturday morning walk on January 29, 2022, beginning at 10 am. at 271 N. Glenn Ave., Fresno, CA 93701 (the home of Craig Scharton).  
 
The walk will be about 3 miles, at a stroll to medium pace, occasionally on uneven ground, and take about an hour and a half. By walking mindfully and without talking, we will experience the Lowell neighborhood in new ways. At the conclusion of the walk, we’ll gather back at Craig’s yard and spend a few minutes talking about what we discovered about ourselves and the neighborhood. 
Walks are free and require no RSVP. Look for the Facebook event to share with your friends. For email notifications, sign up in the yellow bar at the top.
Lori Clanton
Lucky Leader to Fresno Mindfulness Walks

How FMW works —

Fresno Mindfulness Walks are weekly opportunities for people to walk together for a 4 mile route through a different Fresno neighborhood each week. Walkers practice active mindfulness by attending to the sights, sounds, smells, feelings.  Walkers do not talk to each other on walks, but we do greet people we meet along the way.  The walk location and exact start time are posted just a few days in advance. All walks are free, require no RSVP, and anyone is welcome to join one walk or many. To learn about upcoming walks, you can sign up for a weekly email in the yellow bar at the top of this website and/or LIKE and follow the FMW Facebook page.

 

To learn about the routine that begins each walk and read some of the resources that have inspired FMW, check out the resources page.

 

Weekly walks are about 4 miles and take about an hour and a half. Walks are at a medium pace, often on uneven ground, and sometimes take longer than expected because walkers see themselves as curious travelers lingering to observe or going around a different way.

Check out our Facebook page

Newsletter Signup

Archives

  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • October 2015
  • August 2015

Recent Posts

  • Discover or rediscover Fresno by walking mindfully
  • Fresno Mindfulness Walk — September 21, 2019, 10 a.m.
  • The Design Cycle – everything begins with empathy.
  • Better than Zuckerberg’s virtual reality – ‘real reality’
  • The FMW Story

© Fresno Mindfulness Walks "Breathe - Walk - Observe" Privacy Policy