Do you feel called toward something bigger — a dream, adventure, or purpose — but fear keeps holding you back?Welcome to The Discomfort Zone — the outdoor, mindset, and leadership podcast where courage meets the edge.Every Tuesday, host Anna Levesque — world-class whitewater kayaker, World Championship medalist, author, and mental agility coach — dives into raw, real conversations with paddlers, athletes, leaders, adventurers, and purpose-driven humans who choose growth over comfort.From powerful stories on wild rivers and mountain trails to navigating major life transitions, these conversations explore what it truly takes to face fear, build confidence, and find your flow — on and off the water.You'll hear:Stories from whitewater kayakers + outdoor athletes pushing their edgeInsights from guides, coaches, and leaders creating impact in their fieldsPractical mental-agility + leadership tools you can use right awayLessons from expeditions, competition, and personal transformatio
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Episode #125
Ep #125 Trusting Yourself in Skiing and Business with Nadia Burton
Sep 29, 202650 min
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!
REPLAY: The Brown Claw and Losing Bren with Dave Fusilli
Sep 22, 202655 min
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.
Ep #124 Undamming the Klamath River with Amy Bowers Cordalis
Sep 15, 202658 min
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.
REPLAY: Grow Your Stress Resilience with Sommerville Johnston
Sep 8, 202656 min
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.
Ep #123 Take the Pressure Off: Whitewater Decision Making Solo Ep
Sep 1, 202611 min
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.
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