
Advertise on podcast: The Courageous Life
Rating
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This podcast has
253 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Joshua SteinfeldtExplicit
No
Date created
2018/01/16
Latest episode
2026/10/09
Average duration
68 min.
Release period
11 days
Description
Founded by coach and teacher Joshua Steinfeldt, The Courageous Life invites you into a deep conversation about finding the courage to pursue what matters most in life, work, and love.
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Check latest episodes from The Courageous Life podcast
On Joy, and What Makes Life Worth Living | Kelly McGonigal
2026/10/09
Joy gives life meaning, sustains hope, and helps us feel close to others.
It is the emotion that tells us: life is worth living, good things are possible, and you are not alone.
And yet, many people find it difficult to allow themselves to feel, show, or even seek joy.
Instead, we often worry:
Is it selfish to want joy?
Is joy even possible when life is hard?
Instead of turning to joy as a resource, we try to protect ourselves from the perceived risks of caring too much.
What if, instead, you were able to trust the feeling of joy and appreciate the good in your life?
And what if you were able to help others experience the benefits that joy provides?
In our conversation today,
and throughout the pages of her paradigm-shifting new book: Joy Is a Risk Worth Taking
Renowned Psychologist, Bestselling Author, and Teacher Dr. Kelly McGonigal
Weaves together a beautiful blend of storytelling with insights from psychology, neuroscience, and research conducted around the world,
As she offers us tangible ways to experience this powerful emotion in everyday life.
Her words are motivating and uplifting,
But the possibility she invites us to live into is even more so:
Sharing joy is an act of courage and compassion—
and one we can take even when life is difficult.
For more on Kelly, her books, classes, and other offerings please visit kellymcgonigal.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On the Science of Mastering Your Intuition | Laura HuangOn Unwinding Anxiety and Finding Inner Peace | Dr. Jud BrewerOn How the Arts Transform Us | Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Upcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's LIVE 6 month journey: From Fear to Love.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on February 4, 2027.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On the Art and Science of Deep Listening | Emily Kasriel
2026/10/02
Why do so many conversations leave us feeling unheard and disconnected?
In her beautiful book Deep Listening,
acclaimed BBC journalist, accredited executive coach, and mediator Emily Kasriel argues that it’s because we've forgotten how to truly listen.
Distracted by our own agenda, we so often hear without understanding, impatiently waiting for our turn to speak.
In today’s conversation we’ll explore the life-changing practice of deep listening,
How it can enrich our relationships as friends, parents, and partners,
enhance our effectiveness as leaders,
and strengthen the fabric of our communities.
At a time when divisions within communities, organizations, and families are often a source of profound pain,
Emily’s work offers inspiration and practical guidance on how we can better listen to each other, even when we fiercely disagree.
The evidence-based approach Emily developed for Deep Listening was born out of her experiences:
As a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King's College Policy Institute in London As a past Practitioner in Residence at the London School of Economics. And leading the BBC’s British Council Crossing Divides around the Globe project, where they signed up more than 1000 young people from 119 countries for her training in Deep Listening.The insights Emily will share throughout our conversation span:
scientific studies, experiences with indigenous elders, and powerful personal stories from time spent with legendary listeners in politics, business, and the arts. All of which point toward the healing medicine we may be in need of most right now-
The ancient practice of listening in ways that foster:
More profound encounters, deeper connection,
and the possibility of truly understanding each other.
For more on Emily, her book, TED talk, resources, and other offerings please visit emilykasriel.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On Choosing Love (No Matter What) | Deeyah KhanOn the Science, and Magic, of Great Conversations | Alison Wood BrooksOn Imperfectionism and the Art of Living Well | Oliver Burkeman
Upcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's new LIVE 6 week course: Unlocking Creativity.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on October 11th, 2026.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On Freedom From Unreasonable Expectations | Jennifer Reid
2026/09/28
What would life look like without the constant, crushing weight of guilt?
Today’s guest, psychiatrist and author of: Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life From Unreasonable Expectations,
Dr. Jennifer Reid argues that women today are living with so much guilt.
Guilt for working too much.
Guilt for not working enough.
Guilt for saying no, for saying yes, for taking a break, for asking for help.
This emotion can infiltrate our lives, our work, and our relationships
and if we’re not careful,
can easily rob us of our capacity for joy and self-worth.
In today’s episode Jennifer and I take a deep dive into the emotion and experience of guilt,
and the possibility of breaking free from the unreasonable expectations that can shape our daily lives.
While Jennifer’s work often focuses on women,
We intentionally expanded our conversation to speak to anyone who may be struggling with:
guilt, people pleasing, self-criticism, or self-blame. What Jennifer offers instead is a beautiful alternative.
The pathway to living, working, and building relationships shaped by your own desires, values, and brilliance.
For more on Jennifer, her book Guilt-Free, podcast, substack, and other offerings please visit jenniferreidmd.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On the Art of Aliveness | Vivien TaiOn the Science of Mastering Your Intuition | Laura HuangOn Inner Healing and Embracing Our True Self | Dick ShwartzUpcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's new LIVE 6 week course: Unlocking Creativity.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on October 11th, 2026.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On the Power of Saying No to New | Eric Athas
2026/09/18
New things are everywhere.
And they keep pulling us away from what matters the most in our lives.
In his revelatory book: Saying No to New,
New York Times Editor, and celebrated journalist, Eric Athas shows us how to rewire our impulse to consume new things and reclaim control of our time, money and attention.
Eric writes:
“One of the biggest lies of modern times is that new is always better.
An upgraded phone will always outshine the one from last year.
A new pair of sunglasses is always better than the one you wore last summer.
The new fitness app is the only thing that will finally motivate you to reach your goals.
Influencers constantly promote the latest trends, while retailers make the check out process more seamless than ever.
And for many of us, the next new product, trend, or fad is getting too good to resist.
But instead of improving our lives, new things often drain our resources and distract us from achieving our goals.
We're tricked into thinking that the only way for us to feel satisfied is by getting cheap dopamine spikes from the next new thing.”
In today’s conversation we’ll explore some of the powerful insights Eric has gained through his experiences writing the book, doing original research, and conducting interviews with scientists, philosophers, tech insiders, happiness gurus, and decision-making experts.
What Eric will share sheds light on:
Why we like newness so muchHow we can get better at discerning when Newness is additive to our lives, When it isn’t,And how we can quiet the noise of consumerism and take a more intentional approach to the things we ultimately let into our lives.For more on Eric, his book, newsletter and other offerings please visit sayingnotonew.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On the Science of Mastering Your Intuition | Laura HuangOn Presence, Community, and Flourishing | Daniel CoyleOn Flourishing Despite Life's Challenges | Richard Davidson & Cortland Dahl
Upcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's new LIVE 6 week course: Unlocking Creativity.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on October 11th, 2026.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On Music, Meaning, and Love | Vijay Gupta
2026/09/10
By age twenty-five, Vijay Gupta had lived several lifetimes:
he played Carnegie Hall at eight,
studied at Juilliard and Yale before most had finished high school,
joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at nineteen,
gave a celebrated TED Talk seen by millions, and launched a nonprofit.
But behind the accolades was estrangement, addiction, and a private unraveling.
In his unflinching memoir: Restrung,
Vijay describes, with breathtaking and heartfelt clarity,
his journey of breaking apart and remaking a self.
Today, we’ll explore some of that journey.
Together, discussing what he’s learned about the possibility of moving from fear, emptiness, and isolation
To love, meaning, and deep connection.
These learnings haven’t come easy.
As a boy, Vijay was raised between the strict devotion of Bengali immigrant parents and the ruthless demands of the conservatory.
He grew up navigating the world of elite orchestras,
Found himself in the depths of burnout,
and ultimately experienced an unexpected reawakening—where he discovered that the music he’d spent his life studying was seen not as a curio of high culture or mere entertainment,
but a lifeline of connection—
most vividly in Skid Row, where people living through addiction, homelessness, and incarceration heard it as survival itself.
When these audiences encountered the music Vijay would play,
They often spoke to how they saw their own lives reflected in the stories of the composers:
the rage of Beethoven,
the fragility of Schumann’s mind,
and the plight of Handel—who wrote Messiah bankrupt, ill, and broken, yet transformed despair into an enduring Hallelujah.
Vijay’s writing, and the work he is doing in the world,
Unsettles assumptions about success,
And beautifully illuminates how art can restore not just audiences,
but artists themselves.
For more on Vijay, his music, memoir, non-profit Street Symphony, live events and other offerings please visit vijaygupta.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash AhadiOn Why We Suffer and How We Heal | Dr. Suzan SongOn How the Arts Transform Us | Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross
Upcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's new LIVE 6 week course: Unlocking Creativity.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on October 11th, 2026.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On the Science of Second Chances | Jennifer Doleac
2026/09/03
When criminal justice expert and Stanford-Trained economist, Jennifer Doleac thinks about reform,
she’s not just hopeful,
she’s optimistic that second chances are possible—for the justice-involved population and the system as a whole.
In her eye opening new book: The Science of Second Chances,
she reveals her powerful approach to reducing crime and incarceration.
Today, we’ll take a deep dive into some of the cutting-edge economic research and real-world experiments she’s conducted and called upon in her work.
Together exploring the possibility of approaching big, complex problems as scientists in a lab do.
Carefully testing different approaches and following the data to maximize impact.
Jennifer’s work points to an innovative path forward that harnesses practical, achievable solutions.
As she invites us to consider the possibility that we can have both public safety and a smaller, less intrusive justice system—
without waiting for big, structural reforms that might never come.
And, that creating the society we ultimately want, and need,
may actually come from shifting focus from the enormity of the problem
to the power of small, evidence-based changes.
For more on Jennifer, her new book, podcast, and other offerings please visit: https://jenniferdoleac.com/ and for her substack head to https://probablecausation.substack.com/
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
The End of Violence | Dr. Gary SlutkinOn How to Speak Up When it Matters | Dr. Sunita SahOn Science, Hope, and Humanity | Matt Kaplan
Upcoming opportunities to learn with Joshua:
Learn more about Joshua's new LIVE 6 week course: Unlocking Creativity.
Limited spots are available. Course begins on October 11th, 2026.
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On Tending to the Unfixable & Finding Beauty Anyway | Lisa Olivera
2026/08/27
Emotional pain, of all kinds and magnitudes, is part of life.
We’ll never be able to find ourselves free of it;
no meditation or amount of therapy will cure us of the harder parts of being alive.
Celebrated author and therapist, Lisa Olivera has confronted this reality for years, weaving her exploration of it throughout her popular SubStack, Human Stuff.
She reminds us that the practice of turning toward the ache with care—reverence, even—might be one of the most meaningful gifts we can give ourselves.
It might even save us.
Through her work, Lisa offers questions and practices that invite us into this possibility.
Questions such as:
How do we confront and tend to the painful parts of being human without letting that pain entirely overtake us? How do we find joy even when depression visits, even when we lose someone we love, even when the hurt of the world is ever-present? How do we cultivate aliveness in the midst? Today we’ll engage with these questions alongside themes from her gorgeous new book:
When the Ache Remains: Lessons on Tending to the Unfixable and Finding Beauty Anyway,
All of which point to how what Lisa calls; the ache of being alive,
shapes our lives,
how we can alchemize pain into medicine,
how presence is accessible,
and how it’s possible to find beauty and joy even in the midst of some of our most harrowing experiences.
For more on Lisa, her books, substack, events and other offerings, please visit lisaolivera.com
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On Curiosity, Presence, and Love | Dr. Jacob HamOn Listening and Attending to the Soul | James HollisOn Why We Suffer and How We Heal | Dr. Suzan SongThanks for listening!
Support the show
On The Art of Living | Parker J. Palmer & Mark Nepo
2026/08/21
Beloved Poet, spiritual teacher, and storyteller Mark Nepo,
And
Writer, speaker, activist, and founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal, Parker J. Palmer,
Have touched the lives of millions of people around the globe seeking to live more courageously, authentically, and in ways that foster a more compassionate world.
For some time I’ve dreamt of getting the two of them together for a conversation to explore some of the greatest lessons they’ve learned over the course of their lives and careers.
Lessons about what it means to live well,
To work well,
And to relate to each other, and the world, in life-giving ways.
We finally did.
For more on Parker, his books, podcast and other offerings please visit newcomerpalmer.com. For more about the Center for Courage and Renewal visit couragerenewal.org
And for more about Mark Nepo, his nearly 30 books, poetry, and live events please visit marknepo.com
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Looking for more inspiring conversations with Mark and Parker? We think you'll love these:
On Wisdom and Love in Troubling Times | Mark Nepo & Elizabeth LesserOn Choosing Love | Mark Nepo On Honoring the Soul (Pt. 1) | Parker J. PalmerOn Work, Friendship, and Embracing Impermanence | Parker J. Palmer & Jerry ColonnaThanks for listening!
Support the show
On Doing Work that Matters | Miroo Kim
2026/08/11
Author and Leadership Coach, Miroo Kim, spent much of her life
checking off every seemingly important box.
From getting into the right schools,
to a 20 year career in tech that spanned roles within some of the world’s most iconic companies,
Places like Microsoft, Apple, and Meta.
It was what some might call a dream career.
And yet, instead of the meaning and fulfillment one might expect to find as a result,
In the end, Miroo found herself:
Burned out, Feeling depressed, And sitting with the experience of emptiness. So she started to wonder:
“Is this the only way of working?
Do I really have to suffer at work until I retire?
Is there another way?”
Her new book: The Placeholder: The Place to Go to Create Your Noble Work
Explores these questions and traverses the territory of meaning, fulfillment, and vocation.
In today’s conversation we’ll unpack many of the lessons contained within it’s pages.
Including the hard-earned wisdom Miroo has gained over the years through:
Research, Experimentation,Reflection,And the work she does coaching leaders on workplace culture. All of which point toward the possibility of a different experience of work.
One where we don’t suffer.
One where we get to do what matters deeply to us.
And one that leaves us feeling fulfilled through the process.
For more on Miroo, please visit peopleculture.co or follow her substack which you can find at placeholder.community
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On the Science of Mastering Your Intuition | Laura HuangOn Work, Friendship, and Embracing Impermanence | Parker Palmer & Jerry ColonnaOn Curiosity, Presence, and Love | Dr. Jacob HamThanks for listening!
Support the show
The End of Violence | Dr. Gary Slutkin
2026/06/25
Violence is often regarded as an unavoidable fact of life.
The truth however is far more hopeful: violence is a disease that can be cured.
Using a bold new approach,
Epidemiologist and violence prevention specialist Dr. Gary Slutkin is reclassifying violence as a a disease:
One that enters the brain and infects people, communities, and countries via the same process as other epidemics.
Gary makes a compelling research-backed case that when:
Shootings occur in a school or community, A political figure is assassinated, Or an authoritarian leader directs violence in his nation’s own cities, These are not just tragedies,
but disease outbreaks that can (and must) be interrupted and contained.
As a leading epidemiologist, Dr. Slutkin led teams to end epidemics of cholera and tuberculosis, then HIV/ AIDS in Africa and Asia with the World Health Organization.
Upon returning to the US, he began to discover the invisible science of violence—and how to contain it using the very same epidemic control methods.
Today, we will dive deep into the insights he’s gained over the years,
a time-tested roadmap for recovery,
And the playbook that has been used to dramatically reduce or eliminate violence in many of the most dangerous neighborhoods throughout the US and Latin America.
It’s a playbook that has also been successfully adapted to curtail political violence, election violence, and gender-based violence in countries around the world.
Whether it’s domestic violence, mass shootings, state tyranny, or war
Gary argues that these are all syndromes of the exact same disease,
And that they all require the same interventions.
More importantly, he reminds us that we already have the tools to protect ourselves,
heal our communities,
and end violence in our lifetime.
It is now up to us to use them.
For more on Dr. Slutkin, his powerful new book: The End of Violence: Eliminating the World’s Most Dangerous Epidemic, as well as other resources and offerings. Please visit: garyslutkin.com
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On Choosing Love (No Matter What) | Deeyah KhanOn Science, Hope, and Humanity | Matt KaplanOn How to Speak Up When It Matters | Dr. Sunita SahThanks for listening!
Support the show
On the New Science of Pain and How to Heal | Dr. Rachel Zoffness
2026/06/19
Every one of us will experience pain,
be it back pain,
the pain of childbirth,
or living in an aging body.
Not a single one of us will escape.
But what if everything you thought you knew about pain was ... wrong?
Many of us have been told that pain is purely physical,
something to do just with bones and body parts.
In her revolutionary new book: Tell Me Where it Hurts: The New Science of Pain and How to Heal
Leading global pain psychologist, pain scientist, and Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine,
Dr. Rachel Zoffness is completely upending the myths we've been sold about pain.
Through cutting edge neuroscience and the incredible work she’s done with her patients,
Dr. Zoffness is shedding light on the fact is that chronic pain is treatable.
And that the foundation for effective treatment happens when we focus on the whole person--not just a body part.
It happens when we begin to reconnect physical and emotional pain,
And it happens when we begin to uncover the often under-discussed truth:
Pain is constructed by the brain--influenced not just by injuries, but also by emotions, expectations, and environment.
In Rachel’s words: Pain is always biopsychosocial.
And because of this,
We have infinitely more control over pain than we might have ever imagined.
This insight, and the pioneering work Dr. Zoffness is doing,
Are offering what so many of us need in the face of pain:
Greater agency, Hope, Possibility, And perhaps most importantly,
A roadmap for healing.
For more on Dr. Zoffness, her books, events, resources, and other offerings please visit zoffness.com
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:
On Why We Suffer and How We Heal | Dr. Suzan SongOn Flourishing Despite Life's Challenges | Richard Davidson & Cortland DahlOn Presence, Community, and Flourishing | Daniel CoyleThanks for listening!
Support the show
On Choosing Love (No Matter What) | Deeyah Khan
2026/06/11
Two time Emmy and Peabody Award winning Documentary Filmmaker
Deeyah Khan has dedicated over a decade of her life to making empathetic and unflinching films which deal with some of the most important and polarizing issues confronting our world today;
extremism, violence against women, inequality, racism and social exclusion.
Deeyah has filmed with:
battle-hardened jihadis,
members of armed militia groups,
American domestic terrorists and white supremacists,
And through these encounters she’s had illuminating and often surprising results.
After spending a number of months filming with members of the United States’ largest neo-Nazi organization,
three high-ranking figures, including the leader, left the movement and rejected its white supremacist ideology.
All of them crediting their encounters with Deeyah as the catalyst for them to leave.
Today we’ll engage in a deep and moving discussion about what Deeyah has learned from her unique and extraordinary experiences.
Learnings that in essence come back to the power and potential of:
Radical curiosity,Deep listening,Choosing Love,And having a fierce and unwavering commitment to center the inherent dignity of all human beings.This is the final conversation in our mini series on Love.
A four letter word that is perhaps one of the most complicated in our culture,
and yet simultaneously may be the most important practice for our time.
This series, which has been years in the making ultimately brought together some of the world’s leading:
Peace and reconciliation workers, Conflict transformation experts,Scholars on compassion, altruism, and generosity,Storytellers,Writers, FilmmakersAnd spiritual teachers To unpack how Love,
as Deeyah so beautifully puts it,
"Is, and has always been, the great interrupter."
Love is what can help to break cycles of violence, hatred, and polarization.
Love is what connects us.
Love is what liberates.
Love is what heals.
Love is what brings us back to each other.
And Choosing Love is exactly what these times are calling for.
For more on Deeyah, her films, music, and other offerings please visit deeyah.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations from our mini-series on Love:
On the Possibility of Meeting Hate with Love | Dr. Barbara TintOn Love and the Illusion of Separateness | Elias AmidonOn Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry ShukmanOn Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash AhadiOn the Power of Love | Stephen G. PostEnjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On Love and The Illusion of Separateness | Elias Amidon
2026/06/02
For decades globally renowned spiritual teacher Elias Amidon has been keenly interested in the possibility of awakening to our most enlightened nature.
This fascination has led him to live a deeply engaged life.
Serving as Spiritual Director (Pir) of the Sufi Way,
Working for many years in peace and environmental activism,
Helping to cofound several schools including the Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit, and the graduate program in Environmental Leadership at Naropa University.
And authoring a wide array of books that often invite reflection and inquiry into the very nature of reality.
Today we will continue our deep exploration of Love, in this penultimate episode of a mini-series that has featured some of the world's leading thinkers, researchers, teachers, storytellers, activists, and artists.
In this conversation, we'll explore some of Elias's greatest insights into what it is that connects us all.
A subject which he reflects on often,
Writing the following in his book, Love’s Drum: Sufi Views, Practices, and Stories:
"Whatever we call it, this-that-does-not-perish is what connects us with everything
- each other, the trees, the mountains, the sky, the stars,
and all beings who have ever appeared.
We remain the unique beings we are,
but we recognize we're not alone in our beingness, we are with the entirety.
I think of this withness as love.”
Elias’s work invites us all to open to the possibility of awakening and experiencing the beauty all around us,
As we make our way home, to Love.
A journey of return that he calls
our birthright.
To learn more about Elias, his retreats, courses, books, and other offerings please visit sufiway.org.
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations from our mini-series on Love:
On the Possibility of Meeting Hate with Love | Dr. Barbara TintOn Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry ShukmanOn Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash AhadiOn the Power of Love | Stephen G. PostEnjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
On the Possibility of Meeting Hate with Love | Dr. Barbara Tint
2026/05/22
How can we find the courage to come back to love in perilous times?
To meet hate with curiosity?
And to see, with greater clarity, what connects us, rather divides us?
These are the deep and challenging questions we’re continuing to explore in
A mini-series on the podcast that has brought together leaders across
disciplines to discuss the possibility of embracing impermanence,
leaning into mystery & wonder,
And is now turning the final conversations in the series
toward love.
Dr. Barbara Tint holds her PhD in International Conflict Resolution,
Is a Professor of Conflict Transformation,
Has been doing peace and reconciliation work around the world for decades,
And is also an award winning story teller who has shared stories through The Moth and other renowned venues.
Today we’ll dive deep into the possibility,
and the courage it can take,
to choose love in challenging times,
Barb will share stories from her experiences facilitating constructive dialogue,
Building bridges across differences as a peace psychologist,
And what she’s learned about the power of improvisation, and curiosity, through her work.
Barb offers us all a beautiful reminder.
If we can find a way to suspend our judgments and assumptions,
If we can find a way to get curious,
To listen deeply, and in ways that lead to understanding each other,
Then there’s hope that we might find our way through this,
together.
For more on Dr. Tint, her books, events, and other offerings, please visit barbaratint.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations from our mini-series on Love:
On Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry ShukmanOn Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash AhadiOn the Power of Love | Stephen G. PostEnjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
[Best of] On Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry Shukman
2026/05/14
In his revelatory book Original Love,
Zen meditation master, award winning author, poet, and renowned spiritual teacher Henry Shukman,
offers a tantalizing proposition.
At any moment there is a powerful possibility available to us.
One that involves piercing the illusion of separateness,
And experiencing a deeper and more expansive sense of connection.
In these moments which are deemed by some as ‘awakening'
it can seem as if a spell has been broken.
It can feel as though are waking up from a sort of dream
as we see, feel, and know that there is in fact no separation.
There are no borders.
There is no “other.”
At some level, everything and everyone are connected.
Henry argues that these experiences can be the single most healing, positively life-transforming events that can happen to us.
Well documented for centuries, across different wisdom traditions, and now explored through scientific research,
Experiences of 'waking up' to our interconnected nature often lead to large positive shifts in our priorities.
These moments often marked by a move from self-protection and self-promotion
toward a natural flow of compassion and concern for others and the world.
This boundless experience is what Henry calls Original Love.
Today we decided to re-release this episode as part of our mini series on love.
In this conversation, (originally published at the beginning of 2025),
Henry and I will explore the possibility of Original Love.
An experience that Henry beautifully reminds us becomes more likely
When we begin to:
Allow whatever is arising in the moment to simply be as it is, Meet our lived experience with greater curiosity, presence, and love,And when we begin to loosen the grip of control as we learn to increasingly relax into uncertainty. For more on Henry, his books, teachings and live events, please visit henryshukman.com or check out The Way, his popular meditation app - which you can find at thewayapp.com
Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations from our mini-series on Love:
On Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash AhadiOn the Power of Love | Stephen G. PostEnjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Thanks for listening!
Support the show
Podcast reviews
Read The Courageous Life podcast reviews
CarlBarringer 2025/01/26
Enjoyable and Substantial!
This is a worth-while podcast. Joshua is thoughtful and insightful. His guests are leaders and innovators in their fields and in the topic of courage....
Annie GK 2024/09/09
Grateful, Meaningful & Profound Podcast
Remarkable and thought provoking podcast that may stop you in your tracks and really make you think deeply about what matters to you, who you are, how...
Maka2 2023/12/07
Outstanding teachers and scientists interviews that change my life!
Life changing discussions with expert teachers and scientists. In each interview I pull out one or two gems of practice that are doable for me. As a r...
CBeck8 2023/04/28
Insightful, heartwarming and delightful
Joshua offers tons of wisdom, insights and encouragements for overcoming life’s limitations with courage. He is a great moderator inviting best in cla...
Robinhood229 2022/11/15
Heartwarming and beautiful
I love the Courageous Life. Joshua is a delightful host who brings powerful questions and an open heart. His interview with Sunita Puri is one I have ...
nightnursejackie 2021/06/06
Like a Phoenix
Thank you and your guests for bringing so much insight and understanding to my life. My soul and I are deeply grateful for learning about the wisdom ...
Baby Boomer 1949 2020/11/16
Keeps Getting Better
I just finished listening to Joshua’s conversation with Roshi Joan Halifax. I’m inspired again by the way Joshua asks deep, thoughtful questions whic...
amyjunedong 2020/03/22
A journey
I’m so grateful to Joshua for creating this space to listen, learn, and reflect. Each episode is a journey into myself and highlights, in a time when ...
charlie mei nyc 2020/02/22
Thoughtful and grounding
I spent an entire Saturday listening to this podcast. The guests are authentic and always offer an interesting pov. I like how they’re stories with no...
Omid Edwin 2019/12/28
Practical & Thought-Provoking
Each podcast I subscribe to serves a purpose. This podcast supports a personal goal that is paramount. I subscribe to The Courageous Life for insights...
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