Mind Body Paddle

Mind Body Paddle Mental agility and paddle coach. Catalyst for change. https://linktr.ee/mindbodypaddle
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Some things are easier with the right people around you. I have a group for exactly this kind of thing, whenever you’re ...
08/20/2026

Some things are easier with the right people around you. I have a group for exactly this kind of thing, whenever you’re ready.

More on the Mind Body Paddle Community here: https://annalevesque.com/community/

08/18/2026

I get to introduce Abby Holcombe as the newest member of the Mind Body Paddle team, our Content and Marketing Coordinator. Abby Holcombe

Before that, she was a guest on my podcast, talking about fear, representation, and why she started filming herself on the river.

Full conversation on The Discomfort Zone Podcast: https://annalevesque.com/the-discomfort-zone-podcast-episode-23-abby-holcombe/

It’s not everyday that you have an opportunity to join a monk walking for peace. Last week my parents hosted Ikeda Kensh...
08/16/2026

It’s not everyday that you have an opportunity to join a monk walking for peace.

Last week my parents hosted Ikeda Kenshin, a Japanese Buddhist monk who was walking for peace from Toronto to Montreal. I’m grateful I happened to be visiting at the same time.

I walked with him from L’Orignal to my parent’s house and from my parent’s house to Hawkesbury.

As he walks he chants the following mantra, in time with his drum:
‘Namu Myono Renge Kyo’

It translates to: ‘Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Flower Sutra.’

When I asked him about it, he said that it is a prayer that he and all beings become the Buddha.

Things that stood out to me:

🍽️ When he was finished eating dinner, he poured a bit of water on to his plate, pushed all of the little food scraps to the middle and drank the food scraps. It was the cleanest post meal plate I’d ever seen. I wish I had taken a photo. Nothing wasted.

🪘 He chanted and drummed the entire time he was walking. That takes devotion, dedication, persistence and courage.

✨He is revered as a monk AND he is a human who gets up everyday and does the thing. Whether it feels hard or easeful.

🍦 His joyfulness when offered ice cream and pie for desert! And his joy and interest in people.

🥅 His faith in people and receiving help along the way. He relies on the kindness of people along the route, and he seems to be well taken care of, some of it last minute. Deep faith that the net will appear.

I’m grateful to be part of a family who is kind and generous, and grateful for Ikeda for being the change he wishes to see in the world.

If you want to learn more about him, you can look him up and his pilgrimages.

You’ll get to the bottom either way. How you get there is the part you actually choose.
08/15/2026

You’ll get to the bottom either way. How you get there is the part you actually choose.

08/11/2026

How do you break through the resistance to doing the things you know will build your confidence, but you’re afraid of doing them?

This week I facilitated my first adventure week, and I rediscovered so much joy by being pushed into unexpected new experiences. In the beginning of the week, my client went from saying she absolutely would not whitewater kayak to then giggling joyfully at the bottom of every rapid.

This week on the podcast I take 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.

In this episode you’ll explore:
🔁 The importance of recognizing the pattern of resistance
🌊 What resistance I had to overcome to break out of my 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.

It was super fun to host and guide Anna who came over from the UK for a week of adventure and coaching here in WNC.We hi...
08/09/2026

It was super fun to host and guide Anna who came over from the UK for a week of adventure and coaching here in WNC.

We hiked Shining Rock, we paddled (SUP and kayak), she climbed, we attended one of Joe Taft Yoga’s awesome classes, and did a culinary tour of some of Asheville’s best and eclectic restaurants. I’m grateful that she got me out of my home-body mode to go out and listen to music a few nights.

The combination of different adventures with the through-thread of rising to challenges, staying in the present, allowing and doing things scared, created joy and boosted confidence.

Anna’s comfort zone is in hiking, mountaineering and climbing, and one of my favorite moments was hearing her spontaneously giggle at the bottom of every rapid.

After a scary whitewater experience in the past, she had written kayaking off. I was very ecstatic that she went from telling me she wasn’t going to kayak, to giggling and looking comfortable on the water 🙌

Thanks Anna for trusting me as a guide on your journey, and for being an adventure badass and lovely person 🩵

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