Chris Brain | From paddle passion to coaching career

In this episode India speaks to highly qualified coach and much loved character in the world of paddlesports Chris Brain. From leading groups of young people with challenging behaviour to coaching the GB Freestyle Team Chris has dedicated his working life to educating and leading people in the great outdoors whilst also nurturing his personal love for paddlesports and more recently trail running. Chris speaks openly about finding the balance between turning a passion into a career, navigating the Nile via Kayak and confronting his responsibility to looking after the environment .

Find Chris on Instagram - @chrisbraincoaching

Chris's website - www.chrisbraincoaching.com

If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram  @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk

~Music - Caleb Howard Almond ~

You can find this episode on iTunes, Spotify and many other podcast platform

If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk

~Music - Caleb Howard Almond / @oakandalmondcarpentry

Transcript

India  0:02  
Hello, and welcome to the start a ripple podcast. I'm your host India Pearson. And I believe ripples umaid when we connect movement with nature, not only for our mind and body, but also the environment to this podcast is a platform for me to chat with inspiring folk who feel the same, and have some fascinating stories to tell from their experiences. I hope the conversations that come from this podcast will encourage you to get outside, move dream big, and see what happens from the ripples you create time to introduce my guest with over 20 years of coaching experience behind him, Chris brain is a highly qualified and much loved character in the world of paddlesports. From leading groups of young people with challenging behaviour, to coaching the GB freestyle team, Chris has dedicated his working life to educating and leading people in the great outdoors was also nurturing his personal love of paddlesports. And more recently, trail running palm equipment describes him as one of the nicest guys, you'll meet on the water. And I'm delighted to have him on the podcast. Hello, Chris, and welcome to the start ripple podcast. I keep it joining us.

Chris  1:21  
Yeah, thanks. I mean, yeah.

India   1:24  
Okay, so let's go right back to those little ripples that you started making in your life. And hear a little bit about your background, and how you came to where you are today.

Chris  1:35  
So I grew up in North Manchester, and I, I've always been a little bit outdoorsy, really, I've always quite enjoyed sort of going for a walk in the hills, or like bike riding with my dad, that sort of thing. And my uncle has, as previously been really into karaoke and really into canoeing as well. And, and he managed to get hold of a couple of really old sort of fibreglass boats, that he that he said he'd like, give it to me, my dad, so we could go down to our local river and go for a paddle because we actually lived quite close to quite close to the river. And we returned up down there with these boats, and these boats are really out of date at the time. And we turned it with them and kind of the rest is history, really, we ended up getting involved with a local Canoe Club and with the Activity Centre, and and took it from there from from that point onwards, we just couldn't stop going. You know, my dad's still paddles, now we're talking 20 years down the line, he's still going out there all the time. I'm still really regular on the water, of course, and we both still love it, which is great.

India   2:39  
Now, as you say, you were an outdoorsy type, from a young age. So you could have got into any kind of sport, but what was it about being on the water that hooked you? and made you think there Yeah, this is going to be something that's going to be play a big part in my life moving forward.

Chris 2:58  
Yeah, I, I ended up going out with with my uncle or my dad out to to Whitby harbour. And this is, this is before actually, we had the boat stages mentioned just a minute ago. And we we went out paddling down through the Astrium and my uncle said he take me out to, to the waves that were just outside of have this sort of end of the history. And my dad wouldn't go he wasn't he wasn't here to tell he was hanging back here, you know, it's choppy enough out here. And I went out and I was probably only about two minutes. And we only just get out into into the little bit of waves. And, and just kind of sat there for a few moments with like the water kind of crashing around us. And I was just amazing and absolutely loved it. And I thought you know what, I'm really, I'm really up for this. And that sparked my own class get mad at Esma and quickly get some boats and go down to the river. And it just felt like I had somehow managed to find the right thing. And my data found that as well which really allowed us to both get out together. We're both keeping each other motivated for that. So yeah, we just looked at

India   4:06  
Yeah, I think if you find something that you love, and then you have a friend or a family member that loves it just as much as you do, and it can make that experience even more special and and of course with watersports and you know, it can be better to have a buddy with you from a safety point of view to now you then turned this passion this love this hobby into a career you're now an insanely qualified paddle coach, you know you've you've coached Olympic teams and all sorts. What made you want to turn it into a career?

Chris  4:44  
Well, when I started off, I never really saw it as as being a job at all it was it was not something there's no direction I was heading in really I was actually on my way to study media studies like college and university and I was going to go and do something probably to do with newspaper or journalism or something along those lines, but my family had convinced me that it would probably be a good idea to do some qualifications in the paddling, so that I could like work and paddle surf at the same time, really. And they would go hand in hand that I could earn a bit of money, which would fund my brand new cocaine habit, which required loads of kit and equipment and wetsuits and all that sort of thing. And so I just kind of got started with this idea of actually, you know, this really good to be able to do it and learn and coach and, and even just earn a little bit of money doing it. And, and it was at one of those real decision making moments in my life when when you're presented with an opportunity of Do you, do you go this way? Or do you go that way. And in the end, I made the decision that I was actually going to follow this pathway of trying to pursue a career working in the outdoors and, and delivering coaching, I'd also got into a little bit of rock climbing as well at the time. So it was, it was one of those moments was like, What do I do I continue with what I think I was going to do before I knew about kayaking, or do I do I carry on with it and see where it leads and where it's where it's led to? It's been really, really great for me, I've loved every minute of it. It's not without its challenges, of course, but it's been, it's been absolutely fantastic to build it into a career which I'd never really saw coming when I was sort of 1516

India   6:23  
Yeah, and like you, I've turned my passion and hobby into a career. You know, I was an avid yoga fan. And then I became a yoga teacher and a sap yoga teacher. And one thing I've decided not to do is to become a paddleboarding coach because I love paddleboarding so much. But I want to keep that as a hobby, and not, you know, cross the line between work and play. And how do you find that, because I know a lot of people are often tempted to turn their passion into a career. But sometimes you can find that you lose, you lose the passion side, because there is the pressure of it being a job. And how have you found found that, you know, turning your passion for paddlesports into a career as a coach,

Chris  7:20  
I think finding the balance is one of the trickiest bits, actually. And I'm really conscious of that balance being really important. So I want to be able to get out on the water and do my own thing and go and do my own paddle and my own adventures as well. But it's also found that balance of doing it for work at the same time. So I really have it in my mind that I'm a paddle first and like a coach. Second, really. So if I ever got to the point where I think I'm only doing this for work, and it's just simply become a job, I think I'd really take the time to reevaluate that and and work out again, which direction is it heading, and I'd hoped i'd just continue to paddling and that's why I'd really want to do but the the balance has been great, so far, I still managed to get out and do a fair amount of paddling for myself, although, of course, it's never enough, you know, you always want to do a little bit more, don't you. But managing to balance that with work is is great and, and the work also takes me to some really great locations that I probably wouldn't go to, or and with people that I probably would have me if I didn't do that for a job as well.

India   8:29  
Yeah, and I think the community side is is really special. And, you know, it can often make you forget that it that it's work when you're seeing other people love, you know, and get into a sport that you're so passionate about. It can make you forget that you're that you're there and being paid to do that job. And, and speaking of, you know, seeing people be and inspiring people within paddlesports I know that you've worked with kids with challenging behaviour in the past, and I'd love to hear a bit more about this and how, how you have used paddlesports to, to work with their challenging behaviour because I know there's a lot of science behind you know, getting kids outdoors. But I'd love to hear hear from your experience on this.

Chris  9:20  
So I really think it's important for people to to connect to those outdoor spaces and to and to try new things and to go outside. And the organisation that I used to work for I used to work for a charity called Fairbridge. It would use outdoor activities as a way of engaging young people in just something different or something that that was positive, not necessarily a sport, they're going to all of a sudden take up themselves, okay, I have but just to give them a new experience and they loved it without failure. It always worked whether that was people really enjoying the sensation of paddling the boats or enjoying just sort of splashing the water and going for a swim Or whether that was just connecting with the sort of natural spaces around them. They always loved it. And I, and I really, I think I knew the power of the outdoors with young people and people in general. But I really started to see it when we, we took these, what were quite often kids from the centre of Manchester and really experienced watersports, so those kind of green spaces, and we took them into some really cool locations in North Wales and the Lake District, and they just came alive. And I thought this is this is it, you know, going going outside and experiencing those places just works?

India   10:36  
Yeah, you know, such a simple way of engaging young people that obviously has a huge impact. And now, you know, we can clearly clearly hear that you love your paddle sports, but I know you've also been getting into trail running recently. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about that, you know, why have you decided to take up a new new sport and new way of keeping fit and and how that's affected both your physical fitness but also your mental health too, you know, you're outdoors, you're running in nature, what impact has that had on your well being?

Chris 11:17  
Yeah, so so paddled for, like over 20 years now. And that's, that's kind of become the norm of what I what I really do. But I I realised probably about two years ago that I wasn't really doing any any sort of physical cardio, so our breath type exercise on on a daily basis, or on a regular basis, like in a kayak, it's quite possible to kind of take it quite easy and go with the flow, especially if you're on a bit of a river. And it doesn't necessarily tie you out too much. So I'm really looking for something that will help me to get out on a daily basis will keep me fit, but also will allow me to, to explore so my local environment, because I would usually drive from like Manchester to North Wales, bypassing a load of really great places to get to an equally great place, I you know, which is two hours drive away. And so there's got to be a bit more on my doorstep. So I thought, you know, what I'm going to, I'm going to take the time to go with a map, get out there on foot, and, and do some exploring. And initially, you know, trail running was definitely for me, it was about trail walking with a little mixer. And sometimes it still feels a bit like that, because it's not always easy to run up the hills that around me, but I've absolutely loved it. And I've really been surprised at the benefits that it's had for myself physically, but also mentally, it's just become the hour that I try and do on a daily basis to turn my phone off to I you know, don't go out there with headphones on, I just kind of listen to what's going on around me and, and just enjoy that, that process of being outside on my own. Or with people you know, I'm not against going out running with people, but I'm often am on my own, and just enjoying that space. I like that. It's it's been really, really good for me.

India   13:04  
And are you running No, just out on the hills or in a forest? Or are you also taking your running, you know, out to more urban areas, you know, like streets and roads.

Chris  13:16  
So I do quite a mix, actually. And I've got where I live in North Manchester, I've got quite good access to up onto some of the mall and some of the hills but I can also do some really good road running from there as well. So I do quite a mix. And whilst the running on the road presents quite a different viewpoint. And of course, there's there's cars and there's you know, there's obviously a little bit more pollution in that that kind of way, I still find that I really enjoy it and it still feels like it's, it's still quite adventurous because you get to find where you're going. And you get to think about where you're, you know, where you're going to run and take you know in some of the appeals and the downhills. So it's not as it's not as wild in terms of nature, but I still really enjoy going seeing those different places like that and doing on foot is is great.

India   14:02  
Yeah, and just just a moment ago, you mentioned that you don't run with headphones, which I'd like to chat a little bit more about, because when I was training for the Brighton marathon, which I never got to do because of COVID and when I was training, there was the question asked, you know, are you going to do the marathon with headphones or not? Because you do get a very different experience and and I was training with headphones, you know, listening to music or a podcast to get me through those longer runs. And but those times that I didn't have my headphones, I'd have a very different experience, you know, I'd be a lot more in tune to the woodland that I was running in to the sounds around me. I guess I had a little bit more of a deeper relationship with the run that I was doing. And however I did find that those runs a little bit longer. And so yeah, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Chris  14:57  
Yeah, I I suppose I've got I've got A strong argument for or against headphones, you know, loads of people sort of want to run with music on and that's, that's great and the way that they choose to relax but I've really enjoyed running without them just because like you say, you really can just listen to what's going on around you and, and the sort of natural sounds, you know, the the wind and the birds and all that really, really suits me Actually, I do sometimes worry on the road, you know, you've got to pay attention quite a lot as well that whether or not i'd I've missed some of the sort of audio cues of cars coming up behind me and all that sort of thing. So yeah, I personally really enjoy running without headphones, but I never say never, I'm sure I probably run faster if I had some music pumping.

India  15:40  
Yeah, I think that's the thing you sort of run with the with the rhythm of the song that you're listening to. So as a quick one, you get to run faster. And now let's go back to the paddling. You, you know, I know you talked about you pedal a lot in North Wales, which is incredible. But there must have been some other places a little bit more exotic that you've gone to. So can you tell us a bit about you know, the most amazing places that you paddled?

Chris  16:05  
So I went. I've been to Uganda a few times now. And, and that's probably also I'd like to go back to as well, which would be great. But yeah, I am going to trip out in 2007 out to the nail, and Uganda, which was a real, like sort of pivotal point for me in my paddling career, because it was one of those long term goals that I'd had it was it was somewhere that I really wanted to go. And I also managed to put it up on quite a pedestal that you know, only good kayakers would go there, you know, you wouldn't travel to Africa, unless you're really committed and really keen to do this. And when I look back, I think I could have probably gone sooner, you know, I probably didn't need to be as good as I thought I needed to go there. But it was it was such a turning point for me to to head out there and to do to do that trip and I went with with really good friends who's still really good friends with and pedal now. And absolutely loved it. I think where I'd like to go I would like to head back to Uganda. And a lot of the a lot of the rapids that are there actually now have disappeared due to two dams and two hydroelectric plants being put in there a lot of the white water now is completely flat, which which is actually stunningly beautiful. It really is nice. And you know, fantastic place to serve, potentially, if that's the kind of sipping that you want to do. But in terms of whitewater, there's there is a fair amount of it that has now disappeared. There's still some there of course, but there's some that has gone. I I've had in my mind for quite some time to go to the Zambezi. So that would also be another another great trip. But you know what, there's so many good places everywhere. There's, there's rivers in North Wales that I haven't peddled before, there's probably like, even stretches a river near my house within an hour that haven't had before. So I love the concept of exploration from your doorstep, so to speak, but also the idea of travelling far and wide to see somewhere really remote that you may only ever see once.

India   18:11  
Yeah, I think that's, you know, something that this year has taught us that we can have adventures on our doorstep. Something that I reflected on quite recently actually was that just before COVID hit, I was out in India, in South India, in Kerala, and we went kayaking into the back waters and alleppey and it was absolutely incredible. And we saw kingfishers and it was beautiful. It was amazing. And then rebury recently, we went paddleboarding to my local canal. And we saw Kingfisher and we had an incredible time and on reflection, it made me realise you know, I had just as much fun going down the canal, just behind my house and my paddleboard as I did kayaking through the backwaters of Kerala. And but you know, however you there is an amazing thing isn't that by going to the far corners of the earth and exploring it's a different kind of adventure but I think it's also important to remember you can get that same exhilarating feeling and you know going somewhere that's walking distance from your home to Did you see lots of wildlife when you out Africa

Chris  19:28  
Yeah, yeah, we we did there's there was there was talk of there being no crocodiles in the Nile but we saw or in the part of the now we were on, but we saw crocodiles, so loads of incredible birds as well. All sorts of snakes and your monitor lizards and things like that. I'm quite happy with like things in context in the place where where you're meant to be so a snake in the water. So not too far away from your boat. I was I was generally quite okay with that. But like a snake in a river in North Manchester, that probably freaked me out for sure,

India   20:05  
huh? Yeah, yeah, I really wouldn't want to be seeing a crocodile down my local canal. That's fishy. And so So was this trip on the Nile was this a planned trip, you know, with a guide, or there's something that you organise just just off your own back.

Chris  20:23  
So so where we went to was actually quite well set up for there being rafting there. And so rafting trips down through that section of the river, but there's so many different channels and so many different options of where you can go on the rapid, it wasn't just like, there's there's one one way down at you know, you could actually, you could almost get yourself lost on some of the different channels and different avenues that you would, you'd be on on the river. So we, we didn't have a formal guide, we didn't meet up with somebody for at least the first few days, who had been out there quite a long time was working for the rafting companies, and was able to kind of show us the ropes and just kind of give us a bit of an overview of the landscape and where to go and where not to go. And then we kind of just weren't connecting with other people that are out there already. And sort of doing mini shots, short trips with them as well. We weren't doing a long ATV trip, we were it wasn't as if we were kind of getting in our boats and paddling and and stopping and keeping going from there. We were usually doing like the same sort of stretch of water and choosing different rapids to go down as well. So yeah, we we did have, we did have some help at the start. But we were actually quite competent to to make our own decisions after four or five days.

India  21:35  
Yeah, and then you're sort of professional opinion, do you recommend people you know, look to have a guide, if they're, they're paddling somewhere that they've never been before? Do you think it's always a wise move to do that.

Chris  21:49  
So I think a guide can bring loads to a trip things that you wouldn't necessarily think of just simple logistics I where to get food from how to get up and down the river or from A to B logistics, trip planning all that sort of thing, they can really bring a lot to it. But more and more and, and this might sort of show my age a little bit, but I'm getting more interested in like the wildlife and the history and the landscape and all that sort of thing around the trip, which I really think a guide can usually bring a lot to the there's loads of people out there who are really competent, just to plan their own trip and to turn up and to do it themselves, which I think is great. And that might be that might be a goal. But if you're thinking I'd quite like to go there, but I'm just not quite sure how I'd how I run that trip or how I facilitate it, I do think there's a huge value to having a local resource guide.

India   22:41  
Yeah, I think it's easy to think that you're saving money by not having a guide, but actually, it can often mean that you're missing out on opportunities. And then there is also obviously the health and safety part of it. And there was a time in Nicaragua when I opted out of having a guide whilst on a, in a taking a kayak out and got myself in a bit of a sticky situation kind of stuck in this very large body of water and I couldn't get back in and I could have just paid $5 for a guide. You know, so I certainly learned from my mistakes there. The speaking of sticky situations, where as a coach, you know, I'm sure you're very in tune with health and safety. But Has there ever been a time when you feel a little bit out of your depth and that maybe nature had got the better of you?

Chris  23:26  
Yeah, and I interestingly like on on the river I think I can think of situations on the river where I've I've certainly felt like overpowered by by the water or like we might even be in over our head with a bit too much challenge. But some of the times where where I think you can you can see it sort of slowly drifting out of control have often been actually an open water. And so I've I've done the trip from Fort William to Inverness, across the grave gangway quite a few times now. But without fail on every single trip that I've been on, there's always been some kind of environmental challenge on that, whether that is the wind kind of creating like crazy waves on the water, or storms coming in and sort of really beating you down with loads of rain. But I remember one time when me and a friend of mine were trying to paddle from full into Inverness in a day. So we wanted to not trying to break any records. We knew we weren't up for that. But we wanted to go from falling into m&s in a day and and we'd set off from far away I think about just before six o'clock in the morning. And one of the first bits of open water you get to is a lot lucky. And we were in a couple of like what they called servcies which are like long, almost ocean racing type kayaks, which we thought would be really fast for the job, but they're like a racing set on top. So your your knees are out, you kind of expose the elements and They can be really, really good, as long as there's not like loads of waves washing on and lots of water crashing on either side. And we get onto this, this bit of water. And it just became really, really windy, seemingly very, very quickly as well, really, really windy, it was still quite dark. And we're starting to get separated a little bit. And which we're both really aware of, but couldn't really do a huge amount about because we're just getting pushed in slightly different directions. And at that point, it felt really vulnerable. Because even though I could see my friend that I was with, he was he was also really, really competent, I thought, I can't really do anything to help him out. And he can't really do anything to help me out. Because we've ended up sort of in the middle of this block. And swimming to the side isn't really an option. Should that should that happen. And I thought what what are we going to do now in the end, we managed to kind of get back together get a bit closer, we pulled right in there to the side, so that we could we could kind of ditch it if we needed to really, you know, we could get to the side if we if we had to. And actually the conditions died down almost as quick as they came up. But we had an hour where it felt like we were really on that that edge of adventure and misadventure.

India   26:15  
Yeah, there's definitely a fine line between, you know, the unknown and it being exciting and adventurous to then it crossing over. And just actually, the fun stops. And you know, you want control to come to come back into into what you're doing. Did you Did you learn anything from that trip that you now kind of take forward on to other ones?

Chris  26:39  
Yeah, we did. And I think what was interesting is you could you can make a really strong point that we ended up in an entirely predictable situation where we knew there was some wind coming, we knew those that were going to be there, we knew the water we're going to go out onto. And we also knew there's only two of us. So you could you could really think looking back, we knew that was gonna happen. And so I definitely make more of a pipe now of thinking about like, what are the escape plans, you know, where are we going to go, we just decided when we did it just to kind of power straight down the middle of the water. But we could have actually gone a bit more around the edge, which wouldn't have been the most direct route, but might have been better. And I also keep my eye on the weather a bit more now, too. So not just checking the night before or in the morning. But doing something a bit more hour by hour, especially on that kind of trip. I think an extra minute spent keeping you out in the weather, like every 45 minutes every hour or so is is a minute well spent. So I do that definitely more often.

India   27:44  
And it's actually so easy for us to do that. Now I know there's lots of different apps that people use to check the weather, is there any one that you can recommend?

Chris 27:52  
Yeah, so what I actually typically try and do is use a few just to make sure that I'm like getting reliable information. I think if you want just a snapshot of what the weather is doing, if you just want to do a quick glance and see if it's the same as it was XC weather, which has a nice app is really useful. I'm also a fan of an app called windy, which works really, really well and actually gives you a few different forecasting models as well, but isn't necessarily always that quick to check in the moment. So I usually use a combination of of those two as well. And if you're going out onto a river, then the river app, or rain chasers are ones where you can actually check the river levels to see if they're higher than expected or if it's rising or falling down as well.

India 8:38  
Yeah, it's amazing what we can get on our phones nowadays. And, and I've used the windy app before and it was really accurate. So I can I can recommend that one too. And now I know that quite recently, you've started to get a little bit more involved with environmental. Yeah, the environmental side of things like litter picks on a two part and one with Kendall mountain festival. On the river, I believe it was and you start to do a little bit more was trail running. Where has this sudden need to want to get back to nature kind of come from?

Chris  29:12  
Yeah, I certainly have an N for quite some time now very much thought of myself as like a real novice in this kind of area. No, I love going out and doing stuff in outdoor spaces. And I really like those kinds of adventures but knowing what to do in terms of giving back or putting something into that space. I've always felt like I reckon really unsure. And so what I think that has led me to do over the years is kind of to to go I don't know what to do. So just do nothing. But I've I've now really come to the conclusion that doing something is significantly better, whether that is like just even the smallest thing. And I was involved with a river cleanup as part of the kendo mountain festival in November last year, and it really opened my eyes to how much like a little committed team Individuals can make a big difference. And, and even if you just go out there and pick up a few bits of rubbish, then I'll tidy up a space or do something to contribute. If other people do that as well, and it makes a massive difference, too. So now when I'm out of my trails, and I'm running, I've got a little, a little bag that I keep in my in my little rock sack just to pop a few bits of rubbish in. And I make a point of trying to do that, like, every time, I know, I'm not going to clear all the rubbish. And I think that was one of my stopping points previously, so I'm never going to manage to sort all this out. But I think if I do a little bit every time, then that's going to have a bit of an impact.

India   30:38  
Yeah, and I have a motto that small x amount of big changes. So we all need to do a little bit. And, you know, I know that when you did the litter pick with Kendall you, you were doing it with Cal major who has made a huge impact and influence a lot of people and, you know, brought awareness to the problem of plastic pollution. She's done films, He's incredible. But it's important to, you know, not get overwhelmed by these huge projects that people like how are doing and think that what you're doing won't make an impact because it will and people like how to do incredible work and inspiring others to do their little bit. So where are you on kayaks? We did the river clean with Kendall mountain festival.

India   31:23  
Yeah, we were Yeah.I only asked this because it was paddleboarding that really opened my eyes to the issues around plastic pollution. And you know, I'd see little bits, my garden and walk. But you know, I might pick something up or someone else do might do, I guess it's a little bit easier to do a litter pick whilst you're on fit. Once I started spending more time on the water, I started to see so much more that was sort of hidden in the reeds and, and been there for years and years and years as well. And I don't know if you found this to

Chris  31:59  
Yeah, and it's a totally different perspective of thing when you get into the water and start start looking for a way to help the environment. And when we when we did that litter pick, we we went and moved all the vehicles to the end. So we would have like a way of moving all the rubbish at like after we finished. And what was really interesting is we walked back up the river, we decided to walk back out, which takes about 20 minutes. And I remember looking at the river and thinking oh, there's not there's not that much in there. It won't take us that long. And that was genuinely my perspective. When I walked with it, I can see a few bits, but it's not going to be that it's not going to be that much of an issue. This it seems like it's quite clean already. And when we went down, I could not believe how much there was in there. It was it was genuinely unbelievable how much rubbish was in just, I think it was less than 2k that we actually managed to clean up. We almost couldn't clean it up enough towards the end because our boats and we had some RAF's was so full. It was unbelievable. And I think from the bank, my perspective was, oh, it kind of looks clean. But as soon as we got on the water, we refined it, I think we found something like 50 golf balls, you know how different different parts of the river we found? Yeah, car keys, there's shopping trolleys in the cones, plastic pipes, which shouldn't have been in there, there was so much stuff. And I thought, well, from the bank, this looks fine. But when you're in the river, it really needed some help.

India   33:30  
Wow.I mean, the mind boggles as to how some of these objects get into our waterways, you know, a shopping trolley. What is the story behind that. But I think it's great that establishments like Kendall mountain festival, are, you know, doing these litter picks to bring a little bit more awareness? You know, I know they, they ran it as a virtual event as well. I saw it online, and I ended up going out and doing a beach clean that day. And just a great way to share the issue, but also share the enthusiasm for our environment.

Chris  34:05  
Yeah, and I think that that, for me has been the real turning point there is that you can just do a little bit. And that will help. You know, rather than thinking I've got to, I've got to do a massive event, I've got to go out for the full day, I've got to get 20 bin bags, you know, out of out of the canal. It doesn't have to be that way. It can just be small, small things that you're going to contribute to try and help a space or try and clean up his face or whatever you're going to do. And I've kind of come to the conclusion that if I don't do it, or we don't do it, then who is going to do it? You know, that's that's the point often on the runs that I do from near my house. I won't see anybody else. And I think if there's only me going to walk past this bit of rubbish today, then there's only me in a position to sort it out. So I'm going to take a bit responsibility with that.

India   34:55  
Yes, absolutely. All right, Chris, the big question that I asked everyone On this podcast, looking back at the ripples you've made in your life, what are the key things you've learned to keeping your mind and body healthy.

Chris  35:10  
So I think I think remembering that you do have to keep your mind and body healthy is is really important. I've, I've been quite focused for for quite some time now on making sure that I look after myself physically and mentally when I'm out on the water or just sort of through my daily life. And that's where trying to run regularly and go outside regularly is really come in, but also just paying attention to, you know, how I feel whether that is that I'm feeling like on top of the world one day or not, not quite so great The next day, and I'm doing something about that. And usually, for me, the answer is to, to go out and do something, whether that's, you know, go out on a paddleboard or, you know, go for a walk or anything like that. So I think that those things are really important just to keep it at the forefront of your mind that I think for a lot of people that they are probably they're their biggest asset, you know, looking after themselves is really important. And I know, people have responsibility to look after other people as well. But making sure that you do something to look after yourself is is really important. And for me that's going out for a paddle but for other people, it could just be taking the time to read a book or to go for a walk or whatever.

India  36:26  
Yeah, it can be the most simple things, I think. And okay, so before we wrap up, if anybody wanted to find out a little bit more about you, Chris, or, you know, book a coaching session, where can I do that? So

Chris  36:38  
the best way to get ahold of me is through my website, which is www dot Chris brain coaching.com or you can find me and follow me on Instagram and there's a Facebook page with the same name as well. So yeah, again, searching me anyway like that.

India  36:53  
Oh, it's been absolutely awesome chatting to you today, Chris, thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing your journey. Such a great insight into you know, the balance of being a coach but also doing what you do because you love it as well. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the start every podcast. If you liked he heard then please do subscribe and write a review. It helps other like minded souls find this podcast and means you'll never miss an episode. If you want to get in touch then the best place to find me is by Instagram. I'm at with underscore India or you can find my wellbeing hub at fin and flow. Thanks again and speak to you soon.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai