A year ago, a low back injury meant I couldn’t sit in a kayak, or even a chair. I wondered if I’d ever paddle whitewater again. This season I’m back surfing, stern squirting, paddling Class IV whitewater, and coaching. In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, I tell the full story of how
How do you learn to trust yourself enough to know your limits, and still take the big risk when it counts? In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, talks with Nadia Burton, founder of WhatVest and Big Hollow Designs. Nadia spent more
Ep #125 Trusting Yourself in Skiing and Business with Nadia Burton Read More »
On her birthday, Amy Bowers Cordalis was handed a detonator wired to a dam on the Klamath River and told to stomp on it as hard as she could. In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, talks with Amy Bowers Cordalis: Yurok
Ep #124 Undamming the Klamath River with Amy Bowers Cordalis Read More »
I told everyone in the eddy I was only going to ferry. When I peeled out, I was shocked by what happened next. The whitewater decision making strategy that I got from Clay Wright years ago initially sounded strange. In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast I work out why it became the
Ep#123 Take the Pressure Off: Whitewater Decision Making Read More »
How do you break through the resistance to doing the things you know will build your confidence, but you’re afraid of doing them? In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, takes on the hard truth that more confidence, more skill, and
Ep #122 Doing It Scared: How Confidence Actually Gets Built Read More »
How do you settle your nerves when the pressure is on and everyone is watching? In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Bryan Kirk, a former member US Freestyle Kayak Team member and Worlds medalist who has taken social media by storm with his old school boats and tricks, claims that once a paddler
Ep #121 Kayaking Is 95% Mental: Bryan Kirk on Nerves and Flow Read More »
What does it actually take to lead a team, run an international guiding business, and still choose the hard line when it would be easier to stay comfortable? Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff is co-founder of Endless River Adventures, owner of Rio Quijos Ecolodge in Ecuador, and founder of the nonprofit Need More Outdoors. She’s been teaching
Ep #120 Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff on Confidence vs Control Read More »
What do you do when fear shows up and your instinct is to either force your way through or quit altogether? In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna talks with Sara Hunter, a licensed clinical mental health counselor, certified emotionally focused couples therapist, and PMBIA Level 1 mountain bike instructor based in Asheville,
Ep #119 How to Break Big Fears into Small Steps with Sara Hunter Read More »
What do you do when you catch yourself ignoring the exact advice you give everyone else? In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque shares what happened when she coached a client to celebrate her combat rolls instead of fixating on her flips, then fell into the same mindset trap just days
EP #118 Humbled by My Own Advice: Letting Go of Perfectionism Read More »
What if the language you’ve been using to help people is actually underselling them? In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque shares a perspective shift that stopped her in her tracks: after 25 years of building a brand around “empowering women,” she’s retiring the phrase. Sparked by Emma Grede’s book Start
