Paddle out of your comfort zone with coach and activist Adya Misra

The founder of People of Colour Paddle, Adya Misra, shares her journey from a 24/7 job and out onto the water for escape and a new coaching career.

Adya Misra was scared the first time she stepped off a pontoon and into a kayak to paddle. While living in Stockholm in the 2010s – drawn to the Swedes’ love of landscape – her friend invited her out on the water for a summer day that changed her life. Until then, outdoor activities had not been available to Adya and she spent the day trying not to embarrass herself. Yet, she was immediately hooked on this hypnotic water-bound activity finding she could finally escape and recalibrate.

Main image: Paddling Llyn Padarn, Llanberis | Credit: Adya Misra

Upon returning to England, Adya attended a club three or four times a week exploring the coastline and sea caves of our island nation. She learned techniques, tides, and trip planning. Now 37 and living in Wirral, Adya gave up her 24/7 gig in academia for a quieter 9 to 5 which makes space for paddling and coaching. In gaining qualifications, Adya realised that “sometimes the certificates you don’t have matter more than those you do” and developed a student-led approach “rather than enforcing fixed structures of drills and skills”.

Now, this self-confessed “salty sea dog” explains how coaching drew Adya and her students into our high places’ lakes, lochs and tarns where “mountains offer beautiful distractions for people when things get hard on the water” as well as some shelter for beginners when winds aren’t too high.

TGO: When did you first discover a love of the water and being outdoors?

Adya: I moved to Stockholm in 2013 and partly inspired by the Swedes love of their incredible landscape, and partly inspired by the beautiful city of Stockholm, I was very motivated to be outdoors more. I didn’t really know what to do though because my experience of outdoor pursuits was very limited. I had been skiing a few times and surfing a handful of times. Neither was available to me at that time. One of my friends took me kayaking in the summer and it honestly changed my life.

I’m not going to lie, I was very scared the first time I had to get into a kayak from a pontoon, tried to keep up with a group and did my best to not embarrass myself. After that first experience, I knew I had to do it more so weekly kayaking trips turned into kayaking three or four times a week very quickly. When I returned to England I knew I wanted to do more kayaking and I joined a club to get out more. That’s where I really learnt everything about technique, boats, tides, trip planning and our beautiful waterways.

TGO: You have spoken out about your experience of being told you don’t look ‘outdoorsy’ enough. Do you still feel this judgement and how do you manage the impact of that?

Adya: Honestly, I ignore it. I felt like I didn’t belong for years; on reflection I do wonder how much it was judgement from others and how much of it was just my impostor syndrome. I remember one of my colleagues telling me years ago that I didn’t look the outdoors type, and I asked them if they expected me to wear cargo trousers to work. On the other side, I’ve had so many instances in the past where people have tried to undermine me in my sessions as a leader or coach, either by jumping in and contradicting me or simply taking over. I have developed strategies to combat this, and a big part of that has been growing up for me and realising that other people’s behaviour says more about them than it says about me.

The judgement we don’t talk about much, is from governing bodies, non profits, mainstream media, brands in the niche but very trendy outdoors space. I have been careful not to say too much about this because I’d rather focus on sports coaching, but this is very rife and somewhat problematic.

TGO: You say that paddlesports changed your life. Could you share what necessitated these changes and describe how they manifest in your life now?

Adya: You’re right, I say this a lot and it’s very true! I was a completely different person before I found kayaking. I had a different job, I lived differently, my idea of fun was a day out in the city. I used to work in academia as a researcher and it was pretty much a 24×7 gig. Saturday mornings were reserved for the lab and so were Sundays. I was completely immersed in my work and there was no time for kayaking. But, once I had started, I had to make time.

I ended up changing career paths and leaving full time research to pursue a career in publishing. It offered stability and a quiet 9 to 5 that I needed to fit around more kayaking. More kayaking meant more time outside and learning more about our natural spaces. This has motivated me to explore more and of course, get out more! When you go out as much as I do, you encounter lots of problems too, so a big outcome for me has been managing stress, risk and emergencies. When there are stressful situations in life, paddlesport is not only a way to escape my stressors but also a way to recalibrate.

TGO: Is this journey what inspired you to become a coach?

Adya: All I wanted was to help people in our club who were new to kayaking. Unfortunately, some people believe that until you have a long list of certificates, you cannot help anyone. Sometimes, the certificates you don’t have matter more than the ones you have- and this is the judgement that I refrain from talking about too much publicly. I love taking people out on the water; it’s a big responsibility and I take it quite seriously.

I practice student-led coaching so I give people the space to think about what they’d like to develop under my guidance rather than enforcing a fixed structure of drills and skills people may or may not be interested in. I have been subject to some questionable experiences in my early days of paddlesport so I have learned from those and avoided replicating them in my coaching. I am also fortunate to have amazing mentors and coaches whom I can rely on to show me “how to do it well”.

TGO: Can you describe the being on the water surrounded by fells and mountains?

Adya: I’ll be honest, I didn’t do any paddling in big lakes until very recently when I started coaching paddleboarding because it’s a good place for people to start and develop their skills. The mountains and fells offer beautiful vistas to distract people when things get hard on the water! I’m a salty sea dog, and my happy place is the sea. I love kayaking along our beautiful rocky coastline, the cliffs and sea caves are my comfort zone.

TGO: Do you have any advice for newcomers?

Adya: Llyns and tarns are good and somewhat accessible areas for people to venture if they would like to start paddling. Our urban waterways are great too, but, people don’t always see the beauty in our urban spaces when they are just starting out. I have noticed that people tend to go for things solo, rather than find others, in the past few years (possibly a COVID hangover)! My advice to newcomers is to find people to go out with, rather than attempt it alone. If you want to paddle with me, give me a shout!

TGO: Was there a trigger moment for your that inspired you to found People of Colour Paddle or did it come about more organically once you identified the lack of opportunities out there for the Global Majority?

Adya: A little bit of both I think. I had been thinking about it quietly for some time, but when I passed my stand up paddleboard coach assessment in 2022 I let my assessor know that I want to create opportunities for people of colour/ethnic minority groups who do not have the opportunities to participate in outdoor activities.

A week later I was at the Summit organised by All the Elements and Opening up the Outdoors. Meeting so many wonderful people doing amazing things in the outdoors was really inspiring and I created the instagram page after my second beer at the pub. I remember Phil Young asking me what was holding me back and I said “I don’t have a good name”. The hive mind agreed that People of Colour Paddle was good enough and that’s how it all started.

TGO: As a paddler, are you concerned for the state of our waters here in Britain, damaged as they are by sewage, agriculture and road pollution?

Adya: We’ve been the canaries in the coal mine in this area. Paddlers have been getting sick for years in many rivers across England. I think it was always assumed to be a localised problem, but I believe organisations like Surfers against Sewage, Planet Patrol have done a huge amount of work increasing awareness of the scale of the problem. What concerns me the most is that there is absolutely zero accountability here- everyone puts their hands up and says “it’s not something I am responsible for”.

There are a lot of highly paid individuals in positions of (perceived) influence who are not able to shift the needle and convince lawmakers to take action. When I started People of Colour Paddle, one of my overarching aims was to get the global majority groups more engaged in this area so we could put more pressure. If we all agreed this was a priority, how long can they realistically ignore us? This is an oversimplification of course, because I know we’re grappling with some really big issues at the moment around financial security so people couldn’t choose the health of our waterways over putting food on the table.

TGO: When you’re not on the water, how do you like to pass your time out of doors?

Adya: I have recently started fell walking with my spouse and we’re enjoying the beautiful views! We’re not very good but enjoy a bit of trig bagging now and again!

Follow the adventure @queenadya and justonemorepaddle.com online.

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