Yogic Archery

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I got this beautiful quote from Peaceful Daily in my email this morning:

“The thought that you think, you think, which attracts to it; so you think it some more, which attracts to it; so you think it some more. In other words, when you have an expectation, you’ve got a dominant thought going on, and Law of Attraction is going to deliver that to you again, and again and again. And you say “The reason that I believe this, is because it is true.” And we say, the reason that you believe it, is because you’ve practiced the thought. All that a belief is, is a thought that you keep practicing.” – Abraham

That’s so me right now. I keep thinking about grad school and the fact that I STILL haven’t heard from four of my schools. Over the past two days I’ve just been sitting on my computer refreshing my email like a moron trying to make it come quicker (it didn’t work).

For 40 days this week, our goal is to find our center, and I knew today I really needed to take a break from the studio, even though I usually go to practice on Tuesday nights.

I’m so glad I did, because I went to the archery range for the first time in several months, and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I guess for some people it’s meditative practice, for me it’s killing a baby bunny.

Welp.

Peter Cottontail – it’s what’s for dinner.

In all seriousness, if you’re at all into meditation and you’re never tried archery, I highly recommend it, especially if you can learn to shoot without using a sight. If you compare the techniques for centering in Aikido (a form of martial art) to archery, you’ll find that they are very similar. This explanation is from stenudd.com and details the exercises a student uses to increase their ki (natural life energy):

  1. A straightened posture opens for belly breathing.
  2. Belly breathing leads to awareness of the center.
  3. The center is the source for a strong spirit of extension.
  4. The spirit of extension equals a good ki flow.

Straight posture to aim, breathing to focus, moving from the core to draw back, and shooting the arrow outwards. Bingo. Meditation.

Breathe in- load.

Breathe out- prime.

Breathe in- draw.

Breathe out- aim.

Breathe in- hold.

Breathe out- loose.

Like yoga, every movement is linked to the breath, and to aim, you need to center yourself and pay attention to every aspect of your body. One little misstep between your breath and your loose can send the arrow two inches off from your target. It’s a beautiful practice, and no, you don’t have to aim for an animal if that weirds you out.

hnwcassandra archery

Originally posted on hnw cassandra.