Anna: Hello, welcome back to the show. Today we’re talking about vision and the importance of looking where you want to go to get where you want to go, both on the river and in life.

I just finished working with two different clients. One was here for five days of private instruction, the other for four days. They were working with me at different times, and both are class three/four boaters. The most transformational skill we worked on, the one that created the biggest breakthroughs for both of them, was focusing on looking where you want to go. Looking ahead at the next move before you’re actually there. Whether that was ferrying, lining up for a boof, or running a move on a rapid.

They were blown away by how much easier it is to set your angle and get where you want to go when you’re looking ahead, when you’re looking at your destination. And it sounds simple. A lot of us who are kayakers think, yeah, of course you look where you want to go.

I remember learning to stand-up paddleboard surf, and I teach kayaking for a living. I mountain bike. I do all these sports where looking ahead matters. And when I was learning to surf, and honestly still now as a beginner-intermediate, I have to remind myself to stop staring at the nose of my board. It’s like the brain is wired to look right there, right in front. So it takes practice. It’s a skill to look ahead.

What’s also interesting is that a lot of folks I work with on the water think they’re looking ahead, and yet they’re not. That’s where video review is so valuable, because the video doesn’t lie. You’re either doing it or you’re not. And what also doesn’t lie is whether you’re making the moves. Paddling harder isn’t going to help if you’re not looking and paddling with intention toward where you want to go.

Coming into eddies is a great example. A lot of folks give up too soon on eddies they think they’re going to miss, because they’re looking downstream instead of up into the eddy. When they look up, they make it, and they’re always like, “Whoa, I didn’t think I was going to make it.” It’s about committing your vision and your action toward where you want to go.

It can be easy to think you’re looking toward your next move, but we all get distracted, both in life and on the water. It’s a valuable skill, and it simply takes practice.

This connects to the India trip I just got back from, about two weeks ago now. It was an amazing trip. India has incredible whitewater, so beautiful, big water. I paddled the Bhagirathi, part of the Alaknanda and the Ganga. There are so many more rivers to explore. We had wonderful guides showing us the lines and some amazing female boaters, and I’m looking forward to having them on the podcast, so stay tuned for that.

The reason I bring up India is because the trip had been in the works for a few years. The idea came to me during one of my Reboot and Refuel Resets, which is grounded in Ayurveda, in an Ayurvedic digestive and habit reset. I was receiving some Ayurvedic treatments during one of those programs, and they felt so rejuvenating. There’s a core group of clients who have been doing the Reboot and Refuel for about six years and keep coming back. I mentioned it to the group right there in the program. I said, I would love to do a trip to India. Is anyone interested? And about 90% of them said they were in.

So, talk about keeping your vision ahead. I said, I don’t know how I’m going to work this out. I don’t know what it’s going to look like. I don’t currently have any contacts in India for whitewater or Ayurveda. But I’m going to start putting it out there.

A few months later, one of the swiftwater rescue and rafting instructor trainers I was volunteering with at the American Canoe Association mentioned that she couldn’t believe I hadn’t met her friend Jeremy. “You two would have so much in common,” she said. “She’s a whitewater person and an Ayurvedic practitioner.” Around the same time, an old friend I’d raft guide trained with on the Gauley, who now lives in California, said the same thing to Jeremy: “I can’t believe you haven’t met my friend Anna.”

So we got introduced and started talking about running a trip in India. Jeremy had led Ayurvedic retreats and overnight trips on the Ganga, and we started collaborating to create something together.

One of the women who came on the trip told me she didn’t think it was actually going to happen because she hadn’t heard anything for about a year. And that’s the thing, it takes patience. It takes continuing to move in that direction. It took us a while to get the trip organized, and when I finally put it out, I didn’t even have to market it. I had so many people within my network of clients who were ready and waiting.

And that’s why I share this story. On the river, it’s important to know where you want to go and look ahead. Sometimes the line to get there doesn’t look like how you imagined. But if you’re looking ahead and taking action, paddling toward it, you’re much more likely to get there, and to have fun getting there.

It’s the same in life. You don’t always know, and you don’t have to know, exactly how it’s all going to unfold. But you do need some type of vision. And then you share it, put it out there, say yes to opportunities. That’s like paddling. We have to say yes to making the moves. We have to fight for that eddy, even when it feels like we’re not going to make it. If we look up, point our angle toward it, and give it some good strokes, most of the time we can make it.

Sometimes we think we’re looking where we’re going, but we give up on ourselves too soon. We give up on our dreams, our goals, a little too soon. Maybe it’s the self-doubt, maybe it’s the self-talk. Whitewater is a great reminder: don’t give up until you really know you need to go to plan B. And in life, even when things aren’t moving quickly, you can keep looking ahead, keep sharing, keep saying yes.

This has also been showing up in my back journey. Some of you have been asking about it, and I haven’t been talking about it as much lately because it’s been feeling really good, and I’m so grateful. But again, it comes back to having that vision: I am healing my back. I’m still doing PT and yoga every morning to support my deep core. I’m diligent about getting out of my kayak when I’ve been in it for a long time and doing stretches. I have a low back lumbar spine pillow that is a little bulky, but I carried it with me on the plane to India. I brought that pillow, another pillow, and a pillowcase I could stuff for extra support, because I was committed to taking care of my body.

Without vision and commitment to the long game, those kinds of habits don’t stick. It required changes, modifications, and consistency.

And I’m happy to say I’ve been teaching, I’ve been in my boat. I’m not stern squirting yet, but I’m surfing. I even surfed Hellhole on the Ocoee, did a few very gingerly spins. The sustainability piece now is to not let go of those habits just because I’m feeling better. To keep my eye on the goal: a healthy, strong back that lets me do what I love. I’ve also started weightlifting again, conservatively and carefully, with a trainer I really appreciate.

Getting clear on what’s important to you and holding that vision, that’s the work.

One last thing about India I just have to share, because it was one of the coolest moments I’ve ever had on a river. It was close to dusk. We’d had a few long days on the water, and I had turned around to back paddle and balance out my body. And I saw this thing come floating across the river, like above the river. My brain could not figure out what it was.

As it landed on a big rock on the other side, the sunlight caught this beautiful, shimmering long tail. It was a peacock. A huge, gorgeous peacock flying across the river. That was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

And that’s the other gift of looking where you want to go and taking on a journey: you never know what you’ll get to discover along the way.

So this is my invitation to you. Look where you want to go. Take action toward where you want to go. Keep looking even in the face of self-doubt, even when you feel like giving up. Keep holding that vision for yourself, because you can create some amazing things in your life and make some amazing moves on the water.

I’d love to hear from you. What are your thoughts on vision and looking where you want to go? You can email me at anna at mindbodypaddledotcom And if you want to come work with me on the river and practice this for real, reach out. We can talk about private instruction or coaching. It’s my passion. I love helping people have breakthroughs on and off the water.

Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you have an awesome week.