If you’re like me you’ve heard that stretching is good for you. That it reduces stiffness and helps to prevent injury. But it wasn’t until recently, during my training as a yoga teacher, that someone actually explained to me why stretching prevents stiffness and injury. Now that I have some insight into our bodies and how they work I realize that stretching is even more important than I thought. If you want to feel more comfortable in your boat, develop more ease getting in and out of your boat and want to paddle for many years to come read on. Stretching can help and I’ll give you some reasons why.

Let’s start by exploring something called fascia. Fascia is a layer of connective tissue that covers our muscles. It acts like shrink-wrap to hold muscles and muscle groups together and it naturally gets tighter over time. That feeling of stiffness that you feel in the morning when you wake up – that has a lot to do with the shrinking of the fascia overnight while you slept. Imagine what happens when you sit at your desk,, in your car, in your kayak and then go to bed without stretching or moving your body in ways that counteract the position of sitting. Your fascia will ‘shrink’ overnight and bind your muscles into the position that they are used in most. If you wake up in the morning and do the same thing over again your fascia continues to bind and get more rigid. Over time this will reduce your range of motion, make you stiff and less able to do things like get in and out of your kayak or even sit up straight in your boat.

We naturally get stiffer and lose range of motion as we get older, but when we stretch and move our bodies we also stretch and move the fascia which allows us to maintain greater range of motion, flexibility and suppleness as we age. Although we can’t completely reverse the natural tightening of our muscles as we age, it is possible to increase flexibility at any age by stretching on a consistent basis. It can be as simple as doing 3 –4 stretches right after you get out of your boat or as involved as a regular yoga practice lasting from 30 to 90 minutes daily. Of course, the more dedicated you are to your stretching the more benefits you’ll receive. The important thing is to stretch and move your body in ways that lengthen the muscles that you overuse and strengthen the muscles that you under-use.

Our muscles are connected to our bones by tendons so when we have certain muscle groups that are stronger than others they can pull our bones out of alignment causing pain and injury. My husband, also a professional whitewater kayaker, has experienced this first-hand. The muscles on one side of his body were so much stronger and tighter than the muscles on the other side that they were pulling his spine to one side, a factor that lead to a herniated disc. To heal his injury he had to learn to lengthen those tight muscles so that they would allow his spine to come back into alignment. If he had paid more attention to his body and followed a regular stretching routine along with his paddling he could have avoided this injury. Now he practices yoga and stretches daily and his back is healing well. He has incorporated stretching into his daily routine.

Instead of waiting for an injury to make you stretch why not start stretching now to stay pain-free and healthy! For kayakers the most important muscle groups to stretch are the hip flexors and the shoulders. Essentially, we want to work on opening the front of the body to counteract the position of sitting in our kayaks and paddling forward.

Two simple stretches that are easy to do right after you get out of your boat are lunge and thigh stretch. Both help to open the front of the hips.

Low Lunge:

1. From standing step your left leg back to take a wide stance. Bent your right knee (the front knee) over the ankle. This is important! You don’t want your knee to be over your toes. If your knee is over your toes you’ll want to move your right foot forward so that when you bend your right knee it’s directly over your ankle.
2. Keep your left heel up. You can either do a high lunge which means keeping your left knee off the ground, or a low lunge placing your left knee on the ground and pointing your left toes.
3. You can keep our hands on the ground in low lunge, on your knee or you can lift your arms up over your head, lift the chest and stretch through your fingertips.
4. Hold for 10 –20 seconds and make sure to breathe deeply while you stretch. Swith to the other side.

Thigh Stretch:

1. From standing bend your right knee and take your right ankle or foot with your right hand.
2. Keep your knees as close together as possible. Don’t pull up or back on your ankle or foot. You can press your foot into your hand.
3. Tuck your tailbone. This means draw your sit bones down toward the floor and you’ll feel lengthening in your low back. You’ll feel a deeper stretch in your right hip flexor. Lift your chest.
4. Hold for 10-20 seconds and breathe. Switch sides.

It’s important to stretch on a regular basis over time. If you want to delve deeper into stretching I highly recommend finding a good yoga class near you. It’s important that you try out different classes to find the right one for you. There are many different kinds of yoga and the first class you go to may not be the one for you so don’t give up too easily. Experiment with different teachers and classes before you write it off. My new DVD Yoga for Kayaking is now available in the webstore so Click Here to get a copy and start feeling the benefits for your body and your paddling!

Happy Paddling and Happy Stretching!

The trick is simple:  whenever you’re feeling nervous when you’re kayaking focus on how grateful you are for the skills that you do have.  It works something like this:  I’m at the top of challenging whitewater that I’m about to run, but I feel really nervous and negative chatter starts going through my head.  At this point I think:  “I’m grateful for my skills.  I’m grateful for my experience.  I’m grateful for my strength.  I’m grateful for my ability to read whitewater.”  And so on – you get the idea.  What this does is cut off the flow of negativity and doubt and focuses my attention on the positive.  Then I can proceed with the rapid filled with positive thoughts, which usually leads to positive action.

I like the ‘being grateful’ technique better than affirmations because there isn’t room for doubt when you’re being grateful. If I say:  “I am strong,” then my mind can always intervene with “but the River is stronger.”  When I say ‘I’m grateful for my strength’ then I’m showing appreciation for and recognizing all of my experiences, my skill, my teachers and perhaps even a higher power, and there isn’t much room for doubt in that.  And being appreciative, for me, produces a feeling of wellbeing that has a calming effect.  It’s also very motivational and inspiring.

I suggest that you try it and see how it works. It may help keep your positive juju flowing. Even if you think this sounds a bit ‘airy-fairy’ I challenge you to try it at least once if you have difficulty staying confident on the river.  After all, there’s nothing ‘airy-fairy’ about acing a sick line on a challenging rapid!

1.  Angle = 45 degrees relative to the downstream current or current inside the eddy.  When we have the right angle we expose just the right amount of our kayak to the current which, in turn, does the work of turning our kayak for us so we don’t have to.

2.  Edge = Lifting our upstream edge when we’re peeling out and lifting our downstream edge when we’re performing an eddy turn.  Lifting the correct edge allows the water to hit the bottom or our boat so that we don’t flip while performing this skill and allows the current to turn out boat.

3.  Speed = Taking good, strong strokes to gain some momentum, but not paddling so hard that you blow your angle and edge…

4.  Look where you want to go.  Self explanatory!

As a kayak instructor I drill people on these skills on the water all the time.  Practicing them helps to create better reading water skills, balance, effortlessness and control.  Plus, good eddy turns and peel outs are a lot of fun!  Almost anyone can paddle straight down a class II and III river, but they’re missing out on a lot of fun and are not learning to paddle to their potential.  Beginners often resist eddy and ferry practice because it can feel unstable and challenging, but if they stick with it, the benefits are awesome.

Interestingly enough I’ve realized that the components of eddy turns and peels are just as relevant off the water as they are on the water.  Take the peel out for example…  We’ve all experienced times in our lives when we’ve felt stuck.  Perhaps we feel uninspired or maybe we’ve been repeating habits and patterns that make us unhappy.  In these times remembering the elements of a good peel out can help us get unstuck.

1.  Set your angle = Pay attention and set your intention.  Ask yourself:  “What do I want to look different in my life?”  Allow yourself some quiet time so that the answer bubbles up from inside of you.  You know what’s best for you so trust yourself and set the intention that you want for your life, or for this year or this month or just for today.  It can be as simple as:  “Today my intention is to find 3 things to be grateful for.”

2.  Find your Edge =  Find your balance.  Take time out in your day to find your center, your balance point.  Sit quietly or go for a walk or bike ride or paddle!  Instead of constantly sending your energy out to everyone else, save some for yourself.  You can only take care of others if you take care of yourself first.  Going a step further, you can find your balance on edge — don’t be afraid to challenge yourself, to push your limits just a little.  Step outside of your comfort zone and hang out there for a bit and you’ll find that what you were so afraid of isn’t so bad after all.

3.  Speed = Start moving and move in a different way, in a different direction.  If you’re on the river and you get stuck in an eddy you don’t say to yourself:  “Oh, I’m stuck, I guess I’ll just have to stay here all day.”  If you said that you would never get off the river!  Somehow you find the courage, strength and determination to paddle out of that eddy back into the current.  You may not be sure of how you’ll end up at the bottom of the rapid, but you take initiative and you go for it.  Same thing when you feel stuck in life.  Big projects start with one little baby step, and then another and then another….  You don’t have to paddle like crazy, just start taking some strokes and the momentum will build on itself.

4.  Look where you want to go = It’s important that  when you have a goal that you’re reaching for that you don’t sabotage yourself by telling yourself stories about how you can’t do it.  I love the quote that says something like:  “Whether you believe you can or you can’t you’re probably right.”  Keep your focus on where you want to go, on what you want to create in your life.  When you hear yourself starting to doubt, coming up with excuses or being negative you can simply say:  “That isn’t true for me anymore.”  This is a very powerful statement!  Just because something went one way in the past doesn’t mean that it has to repeat itself.  We all have the power to choose where our attention is focused.  Using affirmations can help with this.  Find an affirmation that is believable to you and say it over and over.  Stick it on the fridge or somewhere you can see it.  It can be as simple as:  “Everything I do I do with ease.”  Keep it simple and keep looking where you want to go.

Eddy turns can be important to.  Maybe you need to catch an eddy to take a break, rejuvenate and find your balance.  Stopping to take stock of what’s going on in your life is important.

As I mentioned, I drill my students on the water on this stuff and it take some practice to refine peel outs and eddy turns so that they feel effortless.  If I had given up on kayaking after my first trip down the river because I couldn’t eddy turn or peel out or stay upright I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today.  On the river I’m sure that you get out there and practice as much as you can, even if you don’t feel like you’re getting it right all of the time.  The same thing goes when applying this stuff to life.  Don’t give up the first time that something doesn’t work out the way you want it to.  Keep going back to the basic steps mentioned above and recognize the lesson.   Being open to the learning will help you do it differently next time.  With practice peel outs and eddy turns become effortless both on and off the water.

Now that I’m older and more experienced I’m more willing to admit that the boats are pretty heavy, especially creek boats, and that the ability to carry a kayak can be a barrier to entry for some people, especially older women.  I’m also more sensitive to how carrying my boat affects my posture and my body alignment. Shouldering a 40 lbs boat for years can create pain and misalignment in the body. For people who come to the sport with previous injuries, carrying can be very challenging. Unfortunately the impacts of carrying kayaks is rarely discussed within the sport of whitewater. Mostly, I think, because paddlers feel that it’s something they have to do to be successful.  And, it is to a certain extent, but perhaps we can soften to be more inclusive of new and diverse paddlers.

Yes, if you’re a class IV-V paddler you need to be able to carry your own boat for obvious reasons.  Fair enough. I suggest paying attention to your alignment when you’re carrying on one shoulder.  Try to keep your spine and hips as straight as possible. Don’t sacrifice your body to keep up with others.  If you know you need more time to hike in then start earlier than everyone else.  Don’t be stubborn about switching shoulders half way.  You may feel cool at the time, but as you get older you’re body will revolt. You can also explore carrying your boat on your head or using a pack for really long hikes on expeditions.

If you’re a class II/III boater that paddles Rivers that have easy access there’s no reason why you shouldn’t ask for help if you need it.  Double carrying your kayak is a great way to get to the river.  I know that most older women I teach prefer to double carry.  I would rather they double carry and enjoy kayaking than decide that they don’t want to kayak at all because they can’t carry their boat and feel that it’s absolutely expected of them.  One advantage of double carrying is that it’s easy on the body.  If you can carry your boat on one shoulder, place a piece of foam, sponge or your PFD strap between the boat and your shoulder to alleviate any pain.  And if you feel like you’re struggling right now when you carry your boat, know that it does get easier the more you do it.  It build strength and stamina that will also help you on the water.

I do push my students to carry their own boats because it gives the paddler more freedom to move around and get where they want to go without having to wait on others.    It also gives paddlers, especially beginners, an idea of what the sport entails  and what level of physical strength can be developed. However, I’m much more available and willing to help students who are struggling.  And I don’t expect them to carry their own boats at all times.  I feel like there’s a balance I can strike between encouraging my students to carry their own boats and allowing them to enjoy kayaking without feeling the pressure of having to be proficient at it right away.   Awareness, compassion and understanding are key to inviting and encouraging new paddlers into our sport.  And this is one area where we can help beginners feel more at ease.

If you have a set time, like a week or two weeks and you prefer to have all of the logistics taken care of  you can book onto an international trip with a reputable outfitter.  This is a fantastic way to travel because there’s very little prep time needed.  You buy your plane ticket, pack your stuff and show up!  From there you’re taken care of and you can relax (in between paddling) and focus on taking everything in.  Usually the food is really good too.  With good outfitters running cool paddling trips all over the world it’s easy to plan the perfect adventure!   I encourage every paddler to take an international kayaking trip at least once.  Some fantastic destinations include Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, Africa, Bhutan, Nepal or Europe.  In case you’re still not convinced,  here are my top five reasons you should take an international paddling trip this winter.

1.  Learn something about yourself

We all know that whitewater kayaking reveals a lot about how we each uniquely deal with stress and fear.  Combine that with traveling to a foreign country where you aren’t familiar with the customs or the language and you have the opportunity to transform your life with a great deal of enhanced self-awareness.  There’s nothing like learning about the attitudes, customs and beliefs of others to help you better understand your own attitudes, customs and beliefs.  This self-awareness is empowering and life changing as you learn new ways of being.  It may inspire you to let go of old habits and patterns that no longer serve you on and off the river!

2.  Paddling new and different rivers improves your skills and confidence

If you’re getting really comfortable on your local rivers then a good challenge is to travel and paddle rivers you’ve never seen before.  This will especially develop your river reading skills and confidence.  Choose a reputable outfitter with outstanding guides that will create a safe, trusting environment that makes it fun to push your limits beyond what you normally do with your buddies.  This can be especially effective if you feel that you’re stuck in a bit of a rut.  Doing something new and outside of your comfort zone can help bring new energy into and improve your kayaking.

3.  Expand your horizons by immersing yourself in a foreign culture

One of my favorite aspects of traveling abroad is learning about new cultures.  What they eat, how they live, when they take naps, their sense of humor.  I find it fascinating to learn about people because it expands my horizons of what I think is possible.  The coolest thing is that you realize that even though we may look, sound and act a bit different, all of us are human and share the same desire to be loved, accepted and to feel good.  It’s fantastic to meet and paddle with kayakers from other countries because you immediately have a connection to a passion you both share.

4.  Go somewhere warm when it’s cold in the northern hemisphere!

This is a no-brainer!  Most of us living in the norther hemisphere welcome a little warmth, light and sunshine during the coldest winter months.  If you don’t get to paddle in the winter because of the weather then a paddling trip to the Southern Hemisphere can cure your paddling withdrawal and the winter blues!

5.  The opportunity to see places off the beaten path

Not only are you traveling abroad when you go on an international paddling trip, but you’re also visiting locations off the beaten path within that country.  This usually means that there aren’t many other ‘tourists’  who visit the area.  My favorite aspect of this is that the locals are curious and friendly and not always in your face trying to sell you something.  And, the food and customs are usually traditional because the demand for ‘tourist amenities’ is lower.  This gives you the opportunity not only to see pristine flora, fauna and rivers, but also have a friendly, safe and unique interaction with the locals.

I hope that I’ve convinced some of you to take the plunge into the world of international paddling.  It’s easy.  You can search the internet for good kayaking trips right now. There’s no better time to infuse adventure and excitement into your kayaking!  If you’re interested in joining one of the Girls at Play kayaking trips in Mexico then click here!

See you out there!

At this year’s Symposium I taught paddling classes, sat on panels, tried a SUP, did a kick-butt kayak fitness workout, paddled with old friends, learned from industry veterans and just had a really good time! I met a lot of great people and soaked in the beautiful fall colors of New England.  The vibe was positive, full of excitement and cutting edge ideas.  One special element for me was getting to catch up with my friend Jessie Stone and her organization Soft Power Health.  Back in 2004 I traveled to Uganda to help her with her grassroots efforts of preventing and treating malaria in local communities along the White Nile River.  Since then the organization has taken off and continues to grow and do amazing things at the grassroots level to improve people’s lives in Uganda.   Jessie’s work is very inspiring so please check it out.  Click here to learn more about the organization.

Thanks to Zoar and Janet Cowie for organizing and running an awesome event!  Here are two photos taken by Mark Singleton.  And here’s a link to photographer Adam DuComb’s website where many more photos from the weekend are posted.

Enjoy and see you at the Symposium next year!

Saturday morning started off with a gentle yoga class.   After breakfast we headed to the lake where we introduced the beginners to the wet exit and basic concepts while the more advanced students worked on their rolls with Anne.   The Tuck through town section of the Tuckaseegee was our afternoon river run.  Eddies, ferries and running rapids filled our afternoon and we were excited to see a big, beautiful Bald Eagle fly overhead!  Pretty amazing and not very common for that particular section of river.

We returned to circle after the river where we revisited affirmations, talked about our challenges and successes that day and practiced a new guided meditation with Sharon.  That evening after another delicious dinner at Relia’s more of the women were treated to their massages.

Sunday started with another yoga class, a bit more rigorous this time to wake us up!  After breakfast we headed to the Tuck Gorge for the day.  Fun, friendly, scenic  whitewater.  It was a great day on the river where we continued to work on our river running skills, rolling and just enjoying the experience.  A few more massages, dinner and then farewells.

The Whitewater Goddess Retreat is my favorite program because it combines many of my passions:  Paddling, yoga, massage and personal transformation.  The retreat atmosphere allows for challenge and growth in a fun, friendly, supportive and holistic environment.  It takes into consideration the fact that kayaking is much more than the physical act of paddling down a river.  There are important mental and emotional aspects of kayaking that are just as, if not more important than the physical component. The Whitewater Goddess Retreat takes the time to address all parts of kayaking.

I’m grateful for each and every one of the nine women who joined the retreat this year. Each one brought something unique and special to the program.  Enjoy the photos below, most of which were taken my Mary Stager.  Happy Paddling!

I love the physicality of kayaking.  The adrenaline rush, being outside and being active is really fun, but it wasn’t the physicality that really hooked me to the sport.  It was, and is, an intense feeling of happiness and fulfillment that comes with focusing on and enjoying the present moment.   I remember one of the first times that I experienced this feeling and it wasn’t on a hard run, or doing a cool move, or anything like that.

It was late afternoon and I wanted to go kayaking, but couldn’t find anyone to go with me.  I was so fanatical about getting to the river that I paid a friend to drive me to the put-in of the New River Gorge, drop me off and then pick me up at the take-out. At that time Ender Waves was a popular surfing spot and I knew there would be others out there.  I paddled down to Ender Waves, surfed for a while and then headed down the river behind another group.  I lingered just far enough behind so that it felt as though I was the only one on the river.

The sun was low and the whole Gorge was bathed in beautiful golden light that brought out the pink hues in the cliff walls.  It was a gorgeous evening and as I approached Double Z and looked up at Ramshead cliff a feeling of deep gratitude and beauty swept over me.  I felt a joyful connection with the river, the gorge, the trees, the stones.  It was a feeling of oneness, a merging with the natural world around me.  I felt that in that moment I had everything I needed in life and that I didn’t want to be anywhere else but right here, right now.

Yeah, I know that may sound cheesy to some of you, but what I’ve come to know for myself is that living in the present moment and feeling that sense of connection and happiness is what life is all about. That’s why I didn’t follow the path of ‘responsibility’ after college and instead became a raft guide so I could paddle all the time.  Kayaking has been a significant teacher in helping me understand how to create a happy, fun, successful and adventurous life for myself no matter what others think or what society tried to dictate that I should do instead.   I decided to let the river and kayaking be my guides and I have learned a lot of amazing things!

The river is a teacher with many faces:  Soft, easy, playful and gentle as well as scary, pushy, powerful and intimidating.   We as kayakers have the unique opportunity to receive the rivers’ teachings in a way that few others can because we have a deeper understanding of how current works.  We learn the subtleties of the currents in order to do the dance of successful maneuvering.  What’s really cool is that we can use the lessons that we learn on the river to assist us in navigating our lives off the river too.

It’s worked for me and I know it can work for anyone who takes the time to practice.  I’d like to share with you my favorite five teachings from kayaking and the river that have had a positive influence in my life.  You already practice these when you’re paddling so why not try them in other parts of your life too?

Pay Attention

On the river the number one rule is pay attention! It’s easy to pay attention when we’re paddling because when we don’t we usually end up getting trashed.  I’ve heard many paddlers tell me that they love kayaking because it forces them to focus on the present moment and everything else fades away. That feeling of focusing on what’s in front of you and what you need to do to make it through the rapid is very freeing.  In that moment there is nothing but you, the river and your goal.

If you misjudge the timing, read the water wrong or make a bad move the river will let you know immediately.  When we get trashed on the river, or miss a wave or mess up a move it’s not because the river is out to get us.  We can’t blame the river for our mistakes, lack of focus or bad timing.  We have to take responsibility for our actions and our thoughts that may have caused us to mess up.   I’ve heard paddlers try to blame the river before.  It makes them feel better, but it doesn’t fool anyone else!

Paying attention and taking responsibility for our words, actions and thoughts isn’t always easy because it means that we have to look at ourselves and admit that we make mistakes.  In our daily lives there may not be an immediate physical trashing when we don’t pay attention like there is in kayaking, but there are consequences to careless actions and words that can include drama, anger and unhappiness.

On the river, if we make a wrong move once and get trashed we’re going to do it differently the next time.  I haven’t met very many paddlers who continue to mess up because they like getting their butts kicked, but I have experienced people who get addicted to drama and blaming in their lives.

Being truthful with yourself about your behavior is an opportunity to change course.  It’s also an opportunity to practice compassion and forgiveness toward yourself and others.  Remember that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes.  Even the best paddlers in the world mess up and swim.

At first you may only become aware of a pattern after it’s happened and you feel bad.  The next time you may have more awareness and you’ll notice that you’re doing it in the moment.  Eventually you’ll notice your pattern before you even speak and you’ll be able to choose to act differently.  It’s just like learning to read water and anticipate on the river.  It may not feel like it at the time, in the heat of the moment, but we always have a choice between reacting and responding to a situation.

Look at were you want to go

Once you become aware of that point of choice how do you choose what route to take?  You can start by looking at where you want to go.  Most paddlers have experienced what happens when they stare at that big rock that they’re trying to avoid.  It never fails that every time you stare at a rock you paddle right into it.  On the other hand, if you focus on the current that leads you beside the rock you’ll make it around the obstacle.   In kayaking looking where you want to go is key to making it down a rapid successfully.  The same technique can be used in everyday life, especially when setting goals.

It doesn’t matter where you are now, that doesn’t have to define where you’ll be 1 week, 2 months or 3 years from now.  Just like when you’re on the river and you’re in an eddy. You know where you are and by looking to where you want to go you find out what moves you need to make to get there.  You don’t sit in the eddy all day feeling sorry for yourself because you’re not at the bottom of the rapid already.  You take action to get out of the eddy and head down the rapid.  You don’t always know if your moves will work out exactly how you thought, but one way or the other you’ll make it to the bottom of the rapid and learn something along the way.

If you’re feeling like you’re in a rut in your life think of it as though you’re caught in an eddy.  You have the skills to get out and you have the vision to see where you want to go.  Keep your eyes on your goal as you make that first move of peeling out.  To help with building up the courage to break out you can practice using affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements that assert our goal (even if we haven’t met it yet) or assert how we want to feel. They are statements that we use to replace the negative voices and feelings that come up when we’re challenging ourselves.

Affirmations are useful in those times when you’re looking to where you want to go and your mind starts going wild with stories about why and how you’re not good enough, too scared and so on…   An example would be “I feel relaxed, confident and focused.”   When we repeat affirmations to ourselves we feel good and that helps to overpower the negative voices and thoughts.

This takes practice.  The affirmations we use need to be believable for us or have the possibility of being believable.   It’s important to repeat them to yourself often and over and over again.  When you wake up, before you go to bed and when you feel calm and quiet.  Writing them in a journal 10 to 20 times is also a good practice.  It’s like practicing those hard moves in easy water first.  The more you repeat them to yourself when you’re calm, the more natural it will become to call on them in situations when you’re challenged and really need them to help you keep your eyes on where you want to go.

Be Grateful to overpower your fears

Another tool I use to work through fear and intimidating on the river and to keep good things flowing in my life is gratitude. It’s impossible to feel badly when you express gratitude for something and the more you express gratitude the more you’ll have to be grateful for.  Just try it and see what happens.

When I’m paddling a tough river I take the time at the beginning of the run to express gratitude for the river, for my paddling friends, for my skills, for the sunshine and for whatever else comes to mind.  Doing this gets me into a positive mindset and immediately replaces any negativity and takes power away from my fears.

Off the water I continue this gratitude work by thinking of five things that I’m grateful for when I wake up in the morning and five things I’m grateful for when I got to bed at night.  I start with simple things like how grateful I am for my comfy bed.  From there more and more things pop-up. Being grateful for what we have is the first step in creating more happiness in our lives.  Just like in kayaking when you practice the good basic skills that you know you build a strong foundation upon which you can easily and quickly progress.

Build a supportive team

The paddlers you surround yourself with are an integral part of how comfortable, confident and happy you feel on the river. In my experience as a paddling instructor, women thrive and progress much faster when they feel supported and trust those around them.

I’m picky about who I paddle with, especially when I’m paddling a river that challenges me. I like to feel safe with and supported by my fellow paddlers. I don’t like to paddle with people who are overly aggressive, who put their needs before the group or who get frustrated if the group isn’t moving at their pace.  I don’t have fun in this type of environment and the point of paddling is to have fun.

The same is true for me in my life in general.  I surround myself with friends and family who accept and love me for who I am and who support my endeavors in a good way.  That doesn’t mean that they always tell me what I want to hear.  I count on my good friends to call me out on behavior that isn’t productive.  The key is to not take things personally.

My students like to joke about my ‘tough love’ method of teaching.  I definitely make them do things that they don’t want to do like run a rapid without a paddle, practice their roll or practice back ferries.  I don’t do it to make them suffer I do it because I know it will help them get better.  They know me so they recognize my intention and they don’t take it personally.   In this way they feel good about pushing their limits because they know they are supported.

Another requirement of a good paddling buddy is that they’re willing to fish your gear out of the river and give you words of encouragement when you swim.  Same goes for your friends off the river.  It’s easy to feel good, to have fun and to let yourself shine when you’re surrounded by people who support, encourage and inspire you.  Surrounding yourself with a supportive team on and off the river helps you flourish as a paddler and as a person.

If you flip over roll up and keep going

Imagine giving up kayaking after your first swim.  I’m sure it’s happened to someone, but for most of us we didn’t let a swim discourage us into giving up.  It’s important to learn from the swim, but not to internalize it as an indication of your self-worth.

This is a big one for women.  In my own kayaking I have allowed the results of a competition or a bad line or a swim equate with my self-worth.  This wasn’t productive at all because it led to me feeling sorry for myself and feeling like a bad person.  This was especially true for me if I felt that others were judging me.  Really, no one was judging me but myself.  We are our own worst critics.  Most people want to see us succeed at what we do.

Set backs like swims can enhance our knowledge and experience. We stand to learn a lot when things don’t work out the way we want.  Sometimes it takes four or five times of flipping over on an eddy line because we had the wrong edge lifted before we understand what we’re suppose to do.  When we figure it out we don’t forget it.

I read recently in a small business magazine that venture capitalists like to invest in someone who has failed in business ventures before because it shows them that the entrepreneur isn’t afraid to push the innovation envelope.  The investors see this as a good quality.  Playing it safe all the time keeps us comfortable, but doesn’t help us progress.  Facing challenges can be uncomfortable and rewarding at the same time.  That’s why most of us love kayaking so much!  That rush of satisfaction, accomplishment and joy that we feel at the bottom of a scary rapid that we just ran is addicting.  And if there were no chance of messing up it wouldn’t be that exhilarating.

So don’t let fear of failure or setbacks get you down or stop you.  There is opportunity in every experience so when you flip over, roll up and keep paddling!

Learning these five lessons on the river and then applying them to my kayaking and to my life in general has helped me live a happy, successful life. They assist me in living in the moment.  Just like there are infinite possibilities of paths that current can take down a river, there are also infinite possibilities of how our lives can look and feel.  The next time you meet a challenge or come up on an obstacle in your life just imagine what you would do on the river and you’ll discover that you already have all that you need to get through it!

This article was first published in the AW Journal.  If you’re not yet a member of AW please join!  Click here for more information.

Set up for the event included parking a semi full of kayaks in the middle of Central Park and unloading them down stairs to Bethesda Fountain, the venue for the paddling. We had to unload a lot of boats and we were happy to have the assistance of some of the park employees — awesome, strong women who caught onto lifting and carrying boats fast! I was impressed. Most of them had never seen kayaks before and they handled them easily.

Friday night we were invited to a reception that included delicious food catered by one of the best chefs in the city (lucky us!). Originally the reception was suppose to be on the rooftop of the building, but it was rainy so they moved it inside. We did have the opportunity to go up on the roof and enjoy the nice skyline view of the city, the tree-top view of the park and the some of the buildings on upper east side. It was very cool.

Our hotel was right off of Time Square, which feels crazy with all of the billboards, lights and tourists. We spent some time in the M&M and Hershey stores there. They actually provide a lot of entertainment… especially the M&M store.

During the event, which was only 4 hours, we introduced over 300 people to kayaking. Toward the end of the afternoon there was a long line with people waiting up to an hour to get into a kayak. Had the weather been sunny I’m sure we would have seen hundreds more.

It was really awesome for me to watch people have so much fun in kayaks and really enjoy being outside. I had a great time chatting with people and helping them with their paddling. Kayaking really does transform people’s attitudes, moods, and lives and I’m so grateful every time I get to witness that on whitewater or flatwater. I enjoy bringing kayaking to people everywhere!

I paddled around a Dagger Alchemy most of the event and then switched into a Perception Tribute. Both boats are very different and very fun on flatwater! I even saw some wildlife… fish, turtles and a beautiful small Heron. Central Park is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the event. I appreciate Confluence and EMS bringing kayaking to people everywhere! Enjoy these photos of the event.