It appears that the Royal Ginger is into meditation (through the efforts of his Hollywood strumpet consort, of course).
So am I, and always have been.
However, I don’t do it by way of yoga or Buddhism or any of that mystical bullshit. I just call it “thought and reflection”, and I do it when I wake up — in that delicious period of time when my mind can wander freely — or else when I’m otherwise alone (e.g. in the car or on a long flight). During that wonderful break, I think about life, my life, my priorities in life and my goals and ambitions. I also reflect on my problems, my faults, and the hindrances which prevent me from living properly.
See, I always thought that everybody did this stuff. But apparently not. Maybe it’s because everyone is too caught up in the here-and-now, or is being enslaved by technology, or is entangled in the machinations of others.
And in today’s world, it’s so difficult to cut oneself off, even for just a half an hour; and even if one does, there’s a real need to empty the mind of the clutter before turning inwards for those Deep Thoughts.
Myself, I think a little range time is the perfect way to clear the mind — there’s no time to think about life’s minutiae when you’re trying to slow your heartbeat, concentrate on the sight picture and drop each round into the X-ring. And in that wonderful aftermath of a range session when the adrenaline levels drop and you reach that calm state we all know so well, you’ll find that this is a good time for quiet contemplation and reflection.
So there you have it: shooting helps with meditation, not that airy-fairy yoga bullshit.
I think it’s hard for old farts to understand the meditationers. Notice I started this reply with “I think”, and not “I’m like”. So many of the new age set spend most of their awake time in a “mad frenzy stream of semi-conciousness” in which they never examine their lives. For these folks meditation is probably a really good thing.
I find that idle time during a drive, with no conversation, radio, or other distractions is a really good time to reflect on all the things “meditatable”, such as why we only have one National Ammo Day every year.
The long drive time without distraction as per gwalchmai above works for me, crank out on I-10 heading West with 80 mph speed limit and everyone does 85 and long nice stretches of road settles a body down into a meditative state.
I’ve long used range therapy. As you described, focusing on the basics to get a good result pushes all of the other stuff in life into the background. I find that afterwards a majority of that stuff doesn’t come back, meaning it was trivial and unworthy of worry.
I also subscribe to the Zen of Concealed Carry; that ability to maintain a calm and tranquil state of mind when dealing with an obnoxious and/or insulting posturing asshole, secure in the knowledge that I can absolutely, positively, Mozambique the son of a bitch if I have to.