What if happiness isn't something you wait for — but something you generate?

In this solo episode, Anna walks you through a moment from the start of her year that offered a clear reminder of how you can create ease — even when things don't go as planned.

Through this real-life moment, Anna unpacks one of the most powerful mindset shifts she knows:

👉 Sometimes the hardest decision is actually the most easeful one.

Using whitewater kayaking metaphors, nervous system awareness, and mental agility tools, this episode explores:

• How to stop labeling your whole day (or year) as "bad"
• Why a "bad 10 minutes" doesn't equal a bad life — or a bad paddling day
• How to interrupt unhelpful stories and return to facts
• What it really means to generate happiness moment to moment
• Why being attached to "wins" creates emotional whiplash
• How to get off the up-and-down roller coaster and into a steadier wave train of life

If you've had a rough start to the year, a missed line on the river, or a moment where plans unraveled fast — this episode is an invitation to reframe, breathe, and choose clarity over fear.

Anna also shares how these practices are taught and trained inside her Mental Agility Mastery program — a live, small-group experience designed to help paddlers and adventurers move from feeling disempowered to grounded, confident, and capable.

🎧 Listen in if you're ready to:

• Paddle past unhelpful self-talk
• Make cleaner, more self-trusting decisions
• Find ease even when life feels hard
• And remember that nothing is ever all good or all bad
• Because just like on the river — it's about learning how to paddle through rapids with skill and self-trust.

In this encore episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, I sit down with Heidi Walsh, one of the most dynamic all-around female kayakers in the world and a 2025 Female Paddler of the Year finalist, for a raw conversation about mindset, resilience, and learning through failure in high-consequence whitewater.

Heidi is known for charging Class V creeks, competing at the highest level of freestyle kayaking, and running massive waterfalls—including 92-foot drops. In this episode, she breaks down what it actually takes—mentally and technically—to keep progressing when the stakes are high and the beatdowns are real.

We dive into the story behind her now-viral switch freewheel off Spirit Falls, and what it was like to follow that iconic moment with a humbling swim while attempting to hand-paddle through Chaos after her paddle was ripped from her hands. Heidi shares the lessons she took from that moment—and why mistakes, when approached with awareness and safety, are essential for growth.

In this episode, we explore:

• How to fail safely while pushing your limits in kayaking

• Why beatdowns don't mean you're doing it wrong—they mean you're learning

• The mental skills required to run big drops and charge hard lines

• How to build resilience and confidence after setbacks

• What "sending it with style" really means beyond the highlight reel

Heidi's grounded, no-nonsense approach to risk, progression, and self-trust offers powerful takeaways for paddlers—and anyone navigating fear, challenge, and growth in their own life.

🎧 If you're ready to rethink failure, build real confidence, and lean into discomfort with more clarity, this episode is for you.