What does it actually take to train your brain for courage, and can you do it while running a 13-mile hike-in class V expedition and going back to school full-time?

In this replay episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque revisits her conversation with Anna Wagner: whitewater paddler, explorer, and Dr of Occupational Therapy, whose approach to courage is equal parts science and grit. Anna Wagner has run the Middle Kings, the Stikine, and the Rio Baker, and has a knack for finding her "mean girl" voice exactly when she needs it most.

This is a conversation about what courage actually looks like when it's built deliberately, not borrowed from someone else's highlight reel.

If you've ever wondered why hard things feel so hard, and how to keep showing up for them anyway, this one is for you.

• How neuroplasticity works — and why positive self-talk feels fake before it feels true
• Anna's "mean girl" strategy for cutting through fear and self-doubt mid-rapid
• Why chunking big adventures into small steps is the same skill as running a rapid
• How one piece of advice from a professor changed Anna's lifestyle and her performance

Whether you're preparing for a big river objective, navigating a major life transition, or just trying to quiet the voice that says you don't belong here, this conversation will give you something real to work with.

🎧 Listen now and start building the neural pathways that bring you back to your best.