The Discomfort Zone

What does it take to stay calm above a big rapid when you're also wondering whether the people in the eddy have your back?

In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, talks with two instructors who are breaking barriers in whitewater kayaking. Rolando Arrieta is an ACA-certified whitewater kayak instructor and storyteller based in Washington, D.C. He launched Breaking Barriers, a two-day whitewater progression program on the Potomac for people of color. Courtney Smith is an ACA Level 4 whitewater kayak instructor and Class V boater who teamed up with Rolando on the project.

Every paddler knows the work of settling nerves above a rapid, but what does whitewater confidence take when the discomfort starts long before you even reach the river?

If you believe that whitewater paddling should be accessible to everyone, and want to learn what you can do to make it more accessible, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• How a spot on speed skating's "falling stars" list got Rolando into kayaking

• What a seventh-grade Girl Scout told Courtney she was afraid of before a paddling trip

• The comment under a photo of new paddlers that sent people rushing into Courtney's DMs

• Why Rolando started Breaking Barriers, and the day on the Gauley he hopes to experience

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, and get inspired to bring someone new into your crew.

A year ago, a low back injury meant Anna Levesque couldn't sit in a kayak, or even a chair. She wondered if she would ever paddle whitewater again. This season she's back surfing, stern squirting, paddling Class IV whitewater, and coaching.

In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, tells the full story of how she rehabbed a bulging disc without surgery.

She had to work through some serious discomfort, including letting go of kayaking, learning how to breathe again, going for walks at 4 a.m. because the pain was too much, and keeping the faith when it seemed impossible.

What do you hold onto through a long recovery when you can't do the thing that makes you feel like yourself?

If you're sidelined right now and wondering whether you'll be able to get back to what you love, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• What happened when Anna tried to get back in her boat at month four

• The transformative yoga practice she took on when all she could do was lie down

• The breathing lesson that blew her mind

• The investment in her own healing that stretched her

• What she already had in place before the injury, and how it showed up during rehab

If you could use a hopeful story about getting back to your joyful place after serious injury, tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

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 than 25 years in the ski industry, competing out of Jackson Hole, cat ski guiding, and running heli-ski base operations in Alaska. She left competitive skiing after five concussions in one season, and later walked out of an office job she calls her glass cage, to build her own outdoor industry business.

Today Nadia says she skis better than she ever has. So what shifted? And how does someone who once pushed past every limit decide which risks are worth taking now, on the mountain, on the river, and in business?

If you've ever pushed past your limits to prove something to yourself, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Why Nadia still takes the bigger cliff jump

• What flipping and swimming have to do with losing money in business

• What Nadia's Dad said when she quit her job to sew for a living

• Is "follow your passion" bad business advice?

Tune in wherever you get your podcasts!

Have you ever wondered how the legendary Brown Claw got started?

Dave Fusilli runs West Coast sales and marketing for Pyranha Kayaks, is a longtime IR athlete, and is one of the founders of Demshitz and the Brown Claw. In this replay of one of the most downloaded episodes of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, gets the real origin story, then asks Dave about the hardest stretch of his life.

Paddling icon Bren Orton traveled in the Pyranha van with Dave for years. Dave says he was always afraid of THAT phone call. Then it came.

If you want to be able to hold joy and grief at the same, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Where the Brown Claw actually came from

• What Dave does above a big waterfall when his heart rate is up and his muscles stop cooperating

• Why Dave gives people 5 chances

• How he navigated the devastating loss of Bren

Listen in, stop taking yourself too seriously, and go throw somebody the Brown Claw.

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 attorney, executive director of Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, UN Champions of the Earth laureate, and author of The Water Remembers. Her family fought for the Klamath and its salmon for six generations, from fish protests to the removal of four dams.

What does it take to win a six-generation fight nobody thought you could win? Amy shares the courage, faith, tenacity, and humor it took, and what she found by walking straight through the door of fear.

If you need an uplifting river story right now, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• Her grandmother and great-grandmother facing down armed federal marshals from a rowboat, with granny panties tied to the net and a prayer song

• The 2002 fish kill that sent Amy to law school

• The Yurok worldview of balance and responsibility that fueled generations of resistance

• What her niece Keeya Wiki's first descent of the free-flowing Klamath means after 170 years of fighting

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Sommerville Johnston brought a rubber band to this recording. Stretched, it is the discomfort zone. Pulled further, it snaps. How much stress resilience do you have before you snap?

Sommerville Johnston is a licensed professional counselor, somatic experiencing practitioner, wilderness guide, and founder of Aspen Roots Collective. She joins Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, on The Discomfort Zone Podcast to talk about growing stress resilience and regulating your nervous system, on and off the water.

If you've been running at a higher level of stress than usual, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• The difference between the stress that is growing you and the stress that is about to take you out

• The back body practice for nervous system regulation you can do while you listen

• Why Anna stepped back from hard whitewater mid career, and what was different when she came back to Class IV

• Strategies for not letting perfectionism run or ruin you

A replay from The Discomfort Zone Podcast 2023 archives. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

She told everyone in the eddy she was only going to ferry. When she peeled out, she was shocked by what happened next.

The whitewater decision making strategy that Anna Levesque, former professional whitewater kayaker and founder of Mind Body Paddle, got from Clay Wright years ago sounded strange. In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast she works out why it became the perfect strategy to come back from her back injury to surf Garburator, her favorite big wave of all time.

If you're the type who puts a lot of pressure on yourself to perform and prepare, but then find that nerves get the best of you in the moment, this episode is for you. In this episode:

• The moment Anna realized she was observing herself making a different choice than she had planned

• When to decide to commit and when to stay curious

• What Clay says to paddlers before running a river

• How to support others in making good decisions

Listen now and take your whitewater decision making to the next level, both on and off the water.

What does ego have to do with confidence in kayaking?

Benny Marr, one of the best big wave and expedition paddlers in the world, has a surprising answer that will help you discern whether to run a challenging rapid or walk away. In this conversation from 2024 on The Discomfort Zone Podcast with Anna Levesque, Benny goes into how he has used his ego for both 'good' and 'evil' in kayaking, and what that has taught him along the way.

If you have ever wondered who you're actually paddling for, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Why it's important to discern between being self-confident and self-conscious

• Where he feels nerves in his body, and the strategies he uses to focus

• How he approaches instruction and helps his clients progress in kayaking

• The strategies he and his crews have used to reach their goals.

This is one of the most downloaded episodes of The Discomfort Zone podcast with lots of stories from Benny about running big whitewater with top paddlers all over the world. Benny also turns 40 this week - so great timing for a re-release!

Tune in to learn from one of the best and most grounded paddlers in the world.

What do you do when you are the only thing between you and the line you know you can run?

Abby Holcombe, world champion freestyle kayaker, four-time USA national champion, and three-time USA team member, joins Anna Levesque on The Discomfort Zone Podcast to talk about the fear she knows is irrational, but still gets in the way.

This conversation is a replay, and since it first aired, Abby has joined the Mind Body Paddle team as Content and Marketing Coordinator. We're thrilled for her to join the team, and bring the authenticity, courage, self-awareness and experience you hear in this conversation to our work.

If you have ever talked yourself out of something you were ready for, or spent sometime cry-yaking, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• The three hours Abby spent scouting Lava Falls before she ran it a twelve years old

• Why she hiked her boat into Oh Be Joyful and then hiked back out

• What she started filming after noticing every river beta video she watched was of men

• The mantra she picked up after winning Worlds and getting torn apart on Instagram

• What it was like to live van-life as a kid, and adventure-life as a family

Listen now if you want a reminder of how to get out of your own way and stay true to yourself.

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 more joy all live on the other side of the stuff you're avoiding. The roll is the obvious example. Most paddlers know they need to practice it, but too often, put it off for months, even years.

Anna shares the story of facilitating her first adventure week, and the joy she re-discovered when she was pushed into unexpected new experiences. Find out how her client went from saying she would absolutely not whitewater kayak to then giggling joyfully at the bottom of every rapid.

In this episode you'll explore:

• The importance of recognizing the pattern of resistance

• What resistance Anna had to overcome to break out of her comfort zone

• How kindness and challenge work together in the same container

• Why courage is easier to find when you're in community with others

🎧 Whether you're resisting your roll, a rapid or a move (on or off the water), tune in to get inspiration for breaking through and finding more joy and confidence.