Individual Soul-centric Instruction

I’m not very interested in teaching archery for the sake of training technically proficient archers, or simply introduce someone to the sport. I offer archery as a path for healing, growth, and connection to our humanity, ancestors, myths, archetypes, and the world in which we live.

The one-on-one archery instruction I provide starts with the very basics, assuming that a person has never picked up a bow. I have found that inviting the beginner’s mind leads to surprising depth of learning for even those with a lot of experience. I teach archery not from a technical point of view of gap shooting, or using compound bows with sight pins, etc, although I respect their use and why people use them. In order to drop more deeply into the human and archetypal archery experience, and allow the ancestral conversation to take place, I use simple recurve bows, and I help the person learn to shoot from their gut, from instinct.

From basic posture, through the six main stages of the shot, using breath, meditation, visualization, and repetition, we move through each stage, drawing out what they reflect in your relationship to self, and to the world. We might work with some of the material that comes up for you, like the emotions of shame, fear, or excitement, or the memories, beliefs, patterns, and associations that limit your ability to manifest yourself into the world.

I hope that you will build a humble embodied confidence that allows you to hit the mark, and perhaps feel the bullseye before you have released the arrow, and also curiosity and playful compassion that allows you to learn and grow from the many shots we miss.

The lessons we learn from archery translate into the other aspects of our lives, especially when we increase our capacity to be awkward, to make wondrous mistakes, to take risks, and perhaps casting the metaphoric arrows our souls were placed here to cast that we have kept safe and hidden in our quiver.

Archery as a metaphor for life, has been a profound practice for me, and I’m brought alive when I have the chance to share this with others.

While most of my offerings are meant for adults, my archery offerings can be catered to ages 9-90.