Mindfulness and Archery

Mindful Archery Workshops

Take an inward journey as you employ the ancient art of archery. Used by many as a form of meditation and inward exploration, archery can help increase your focus, self awareness, self esteem, emotional awareness, and emotional control. Each one of our workshops is designed to help you find the Spiritual Warrior within. Mindful Archery is one way to relax the mind and body, and to learn to let go of attachment with the release of every arrow.

Intro to Mindful Archery:

Experience: Beginner / Intermediate

Workshop Duration: 1hour

Explore archery as an extension of Yoga. While you learn the process of shooting a bow and arrow explore how archery can help alleviate stress, anxiety, and help to increase awareness and control. This introductory course is designed to familiarize you with the basic shooting technique and how archery can become a mindful experience.

Workshop outline:

Introduction

Safety Guidelines

Warmup

First Shot (guided)

Shooting Practice

Feedback and sharing

Shooting Practice (Mindfulness intro)

Closing

YogArchery Intensive Workshop (3 Day Experience)

Experience: Beginner / Intermediate

Workshop Duration: 3 Days

The truthful fusion between Yoga and Archery in one workshop. Experience how Yoga's eight fold path and Archery combine to give you an inward experience that will help you with focus, self awareness, and letting go.

In this 3 day workshop you will experience yoga philosophy, asana practice, pranayama and archery to help relax the body and settle the mind. Apply the philosophy that you learn to daily living and see how you transform your life.

Workshop outline:

Day 1

Morning: YogArchery Intro / Safety Review and Guidelines, Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation, Breakfast, Intro to Philosophy,

Lunch (12pm)

(Relax and reflect)

Afternoon: Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation,

Class Discussion, Beach Time

Day 2

Morning: Asana Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation, Breakfast, Intro to Philosophy,

Lunch (12pm)

(Relax and reflect)

Afternoon: Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation,

Evening Fire Side Chat

Day 3

Morning: Asana Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation, Breakfast,Intro to Philosophy,

Lunch (12pm)

(Relax and reflect)

Afternoon: Warmup, Archery Practice, Meditation,

Roots to Shoots

The Spiritual Warrior:

Experience: YogArchery is a Pre-requisite

Workshop Duration: 6 Days

The path of the Spiritual Warrior is to consistently prepare to face the universal enemy: self-ignorance. In this 6 day workshop you will employ archery, yoga and meditation to bring awareness to who you truly are. Awareness brings to the conscious mind the subtle message that something is not quite right with the way we are living. Follow this awareness into a conscious exploration of the self by deconstructing the labels, intentions, thoughts, images, words, emotions and feelings which are believed to be you.

Through archery, yoga, and meditation begin a journey that will help you interrupt patterns that bind you to a continuous cycle which impedes personal growth in the search for happiness.

The spiritual warrior has been created for those truly seeking to liberate themselves from the material bonds that we have been taught to depend on.

This 6 day workshop will focus on awareness, focus and reflection. Evaluate how your archery ritual can be carried off the archery range and yoga mat and into your daily life. Share in the study of yoga philosophy and apply what you learn to discover who you truly are.

Spiritual Warrior sample schedule:

7:00 - 7:45 a.m. Asana meditation practice

8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Mindful Archery Exploration: Theory, concepts, and practice

11:00 - 11:30 a.m.Q and A

11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. Lunch/ Free exploration

2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Mindful Archery Exploration: Theory, concepts, and practice

4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Reflection and Exploration time

6:00 p.m. Dinner

Yogastha Kuru Karmani

Be steady in yoga, Arjun, do whatever you must do; give up attachment, be indifferent to failure and success. This stability is yoga. (Bhagavad Gita 2.48)

BENEFITS OF ARCHERY

Improves:

Focus
Self Awareness
Patience
Hand Eye Coordination
Strength
Balance
Self Esteem
Confidence

Pura Veda Archery Starter Kit Recommendation

For those of you who have done archery before and are interested in taking your experience to the next level by purchasing archery equipment, we recommend Lancaster Archery in Pennsylvania for your archery supplies. We have been purchasing archery equipment from them for many years. We chose to support Lancaster Archery, a 37 year old business, because they started as a small “mom pop” shop and have grown over the years. We have visited their on-site location and also worked with their representatives online. We rate them an A+ because of the combination of their technical experience and courteous customer support. They try very hard to be on par with pricing and they have a large selection of archery equipment. Here is the link to their website: www.lancasterarchery.com

*we are not associated with Lancaster Archery nor do we gain any monetary compensation for our recommendation.

Archery Equipment Starter Kit:

Here at Pura Veda we recommend traditional bows (recurve and long bow) to support the Instinctive Archery training that we provide. Our preferred material for the bow is wood verses synthetic material. Since our archery training is rooted in ancient wisdom, the natural material of wood brings the Earth element to our shot process. Furthermore, we are located in Costa Rica and provide both on site training in San Juanillo (Pacific Coast) and also travel for workshops. For this reason, we use the take down recurve bow, which can literally be unscrewed and taken down into three pieces: the riser and 2 limbs. If you do not wish to travel with your bow, you may opt for a traditional recurve or even a long bow.

Determine Draw Length:

The first step is to determine draw length so we can determine bow size and arrow length. Find yourself a measuring tape and a partner to help you measure. Stand against a wall with your arms in a “T” similar to the “T” that we introduced when teaching you how to shoot. Instead of bending the elbow of your dominant arm and bringing your pointer finger to the corner of your mouth, have your “partner” measure the distance from one middle finger to the other with a measuring tape. Take this number and divide by 2.5. This is your draw length.

1. Take-Down Recurve Bows: Galaxy Bullseye Take Down 62 Inch. We mainly use 62 inch bows. We also have 54 and 58 inch bows for children. If you are buying a bow for multiple people to use, we can help you determine a bow length that would make most sense if you didn’t want to invest in a bow for each person at this stage. Remember to also choose limbs that have the appropriate draw weight. Since Pura Veda's intention with archery is a mindful experience and moving beyond the physical body, we use 16 pound limbs so we can focus on our experience. We recommend committing to a practice before making heavier investments in equipment. Here is a breakdown of Draw Length to Bow Length

Draw length Bow length

20-22 inches 58 inches

22-24 inches 62 inches

24-26 inches 64-66 inches

26-28 inches 68-70 inches

2. Arrows: Easton Genesis 30 Inch. We use Easton 1820 arrows because they are durable and have been recommended by the Archery in the Schools and Junior Olympic Archery Development programs. Since we are an archery school, we have an upwards of 75 people shooting weekly so our arrows get much usage. Depending upon your usage, you may choose to use these arrows, carbon arrows or wooden arrows (not as durable over time but if you are not shooting much this may work well for you). We would not advise to make a hefty investment in arrows if you are a beginner because you may lose some along the way. Please note that arrow length is dependent on draw length. There are many ways to calculate this and we can help determine this for you. If you are taller than 6 feet we would recommend a longer arrow than the Easton Genesis 30 inch ones. Again, arrow length is based on draw length so this may not be an accurate guide to determine arrow length. However, if you have shot with us we could advise you on arrow length because we are familiar with your draw length.

3. String: Cartel B50 Recurve String. We use a Dacron synthetic string that matches the length of the bow. We use a 12 Ply or our 54 and 58 inch bows and a 14 ply for our 62 inch bow. Lancaster Archery has technician chat support so please make sure to start a chat and confirm the string for the poundage of the bow you decide to order.

4. Arm Guards: We have an assortment so you can choose whichever you like. Our recommendation is to stay away from arm guards that are small especially in the beginning stages. If you can not internally rotate your bow arm, you may want to consider a longer arm guard that goes over your inner elbow space.

5. Bow Stringer: We highly recommend investing in a bow stringer of your choice. We are aware of techniques to string/unstring a bow without the use of a stringer, however, if these techniques are not done perfectly you may inadvertently twist the limbs of your bow. For this reason, a bow stringer is recommend. Remember, a bow that is strung has tension. Similar to our bodies need for rest, the bow also needs to be unstrung so it may rest and release tension.

6. Saunders Nok: This is to place the nocking point on the string. If you are a student with Pura Veda, we can measure and set your nocking point, set brace height, etc. as part of our "Setting Up a Safe Home Practice" workshop.

7. Infitec Strong Arm Arrow Rest: Self Adhesive Arrow Rest. You have the option to shoot off the wooden arrow shelf on your bow or using a self adhesive arrow rest if you are concerned with damaging the wood on your bow.

8. Finger Tabs: If you have shot with us and noticed that your finger tips get uncomfortable, order some finger tabs.

9. Target Faces: If you wish to use a target face, you may choose one of your choice. We use the NiceTarget 60 cm Single Spot Target Face. If you choose to use a target face, we also recommend periods of shooting without the target face so you may allow to let go of your shots without judgement. We encourage our participants to find items in nature to use as a target as well.

10. Target: We use hay bales or “pacas” (hay bales in Costa Rica) because they are eco friendly and easy to find in Costa Rica.

11. Wax: We recommend wax for your string. We will teach you how to use this as part of our "Setting Up a Safe Home Practice" workshop where we include how to care for your bow.

We hope you find this information useful when ordering your archery equipment. The combination of our license to provide Level 1 Archery Coaching Certification for USA Archery coupled with our duty as a Spiritual Warrior, provides our inspiration to help you set up a safe home practice. Archery is one of the safest sports when certain safety protocols are applied. And remember that everything we purchase is a resource from Mother Earth and requires proper care and maintenance so that we are not creating excess waste for her. For this reason we have created the Setting Up a Safe Home Practice Workshop.

Setting Up A Safe Home Practice Workshop

How to Care for Your Bow?
How to Set Up a Safe Archery Range? We share criteria to prevent injury to yourself and others in the manner in which your home archery range is designed.
Review Safety Technique In Shooting Process

Remember, even though we practice Mindful Archery, a bow and arrow are a weapon. Please do not leave children unattended with archery equipment.

We also provide private consultations for those that wish for us to visit their property and assist in laying out a safe archery range. Please contact us for more details.

In gratitude for everyone's continued support. Pura Veda "Pure Knowledge".