Archery

The Archery Range is a newer addition to the Gathering making its Home on the Land in 2022. Wayfinder Archery offers an environment to know yourself more deeply through the cultivation of great intention, awareness, and discipline via the pathway of Instinctive Archery. Traditional Archery has been a hunting, warfare, and Zen practice of many lineages for thousands of years. The Instinctive shooting and Traditional Archery that Mikhel teaches is rooted in the lineage of Ishi of the Yahi tribe, preserved and passed along via many amazing European and American people, including her own teachers. 

All skill levels are welcome on the Range. Whether you are beginning your relationship with the bow & arrow, or want to continue expanding and developing your skill set, Mikhel and her crew welcome you with strong energy, great humor, and epic fun & insight. The archery range is an incredibly empowering and neutral place to integrate all you are moving through via the gathering, to ground into your body, recalibrate your energy and mind, drop deep into your self, and reveal yourself to yourself more fully. Through mindful form, precision focus and aim, a steady stance, and a clear mind & open heart, Mikhel and the Range provide a space of discovery for your self-embodiment, power, and authenticity to be explored through the art of shooting arrows. 

Mikhel offers 5 classes per session during the Gathering. Wayfinder Archery provides all of the equipment, though you are welcome to bring your own gear (recurve, longbow, field points only). There is a sliding scale request of $50-$100 for this class offering, and once you have participated in a class, you are welcome to return and shoot during any of the Range hours. Weekend shooting passes available to previous year students for a sliding scale request of $20-$75. The Archery Range is located on the lower section of the Land where there is plenty of space to shoot arrows. 

Mikhel Neshat

Mikhel Neshat hails from the Motherland of Austin, Texas, though California has been her home for 16 years. She’s in the midst of building her grassroots company, Wayfinder Archery, a Traditional Archery and education company which provides basic and fundamental knowledge in instinctive shooting, development of a relationship with the bow & arrow, and a platform to transform your relationship to yourself & nature. Wayfinder Archery brings people together to remember who they are through the power of presence, embodiment, breath, nature, yielding weapons well, good ole’ fashion humor, authenticity, and high-quality company.

Mikhel brings a special twist to the Archery Range via her tracking skills and insights of the human psyche & body language, and subconscious symbology, paired with some damn fine instinctive and intuitive abilities. She’s known to shoot straight from the heart, holds herself to the standards she encourages in others, is continually growing her courage to become who she truly is, and loves bringing order to chaos. She cherishes clean & pure water, sunlight, high-quality food and company, honesty and directness, being in nature, dancing, and conscious breathing.

Insta: @wayfinderarchery