Mindful Archery

I've done archery off and on for the past 6 years.

Today was the first time I attempted it as a meditation practice... I found it challenging to maintain the meditative state in a place full of habitual chatter...

Anyone else practice mindful archery (outside of Kyudo)? Any suggestions or insights on making the practice more effective?

I did, for a time. I found it very soothing. I have no tips, though. I just entered "the zone" when I shot, and used that moment of perfect awareness to enjoy my shot before it left my bow. The way I was taught, you shoot in such a way that you know exactly where you'll hit the second the arrow leaves your string.

You might find tzb's sermon 'Sword and Bow' interesting and relevant.

I do this from time to time. As backwards as it seems, I find that it's good to not worry where there arrow is going, necessarily. Let it do its thing. Be safe, obviously, and actually point yourself at the target, but whenever I shoot as a meditative practice I focus on being aware of my motions and all the feelings in my muscles and such, and all the small things it takes to actually go from the beginning to the end of the act. Sometimes, this makes me more accurate than when I'm trying to hit the mark.

What works for me won't necessarily work for you. Hope that was helpful, in some way.

I do this with golf, same type of factors at play, ballistic paths, wind, target, body motion to achieve a 'shot'. I like it because it also includes reading the terrain and adds control of the object a bit more (ball). They always ramble on about how golf is all in the mind, because each shot requires mindfulness to be anywhere near good.

Its important to have that outer accumulation of information and then referencing that shift focus inwards onto the bodies balance in tension, orientate ones centre's to the ground, wind and gravity, before trying to conduct the swing effectively. Its a complex setup of factors to swing the club's blade through the ball just right.