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 »
Ever feel like you need the perfect plan before you can start anything? This conversation might change that. In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna sits down with Chris Baer, a raft guide and whitewater kayaker who lives half the year out of a converted school bus and spends his winters chasing first
Ep #117 Where Is Baer: A Life Built on Showing Up and Figuring It Out 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
What does it take to help someone do something they’re afraid to do? In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna sits down with Casey Bryant Jones, Director of the Ottawa Kayak School, for a conversation that gets into the real inner game of learning whitewater kayaking. Casey has spent years teaching paddlers of
Ep #115 Why Your Flip Isn’t a Failure with Casey Bryant Jones Read More »
Have you ever had a “stupid, hare-brained idea” that worked so well it took over your life for a decade? That’s exactly what happened to James Byrd when he looked at the North Fork of the Payette River in Idaho, thought about his college football stadium experience, and decided the best kayakers in the world
Ep #114 James Byrd: The passion behind the North Fork Championship Read More »
What does it take to keep going when everything around you — the sport, the culture, the system — says this isn’t your place? At the age of 13, Naina Adhikari made her way to the Ganga River, 300 km from her home village to start learning how to whitewater kayak. She couldn’t swim, and
Ep #113 Naina Adhikari: The Woman Changing What’s Possible on the Ganga Read More »
