Shows
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterDiscernment | What’s the Difference Between Withholding and Wise Protection?What does it mean to share vulnerably without oversharing? In this solo episode, I explore the tender discernment between fear-based withholding and wise self-protection. After scrapping a previous recording, I sit down in real time to reflect on what it means to live the questions when some of them still feel too raw to name aloud. With gentle honesty, I unpack the difference between boundaries that isolate and boundaries that support, the nervous system cues that guide our discernment, and the invitation to remain open while also honoring what is still forming within. If you’ve ever struggled with wh...2025-06-1233 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterWhat Opens When We Stop Trying to “Fix” Ourselves? A Conversation w/ Holly Lowery-DavisWhat does it mean to be with yourself so fully that it opens a door to something greater? In this final guest episode of Season One, I share a deeply personal and expansive conversation with my somatic coach, Holly Lowery-Davis. Together, we explore how cultivating a relationship with the Self — through the body, through presence, through emotion — can become the very pathway back to something beyond us: Spirit, Nature, Meaning, Mystery. Holly shares the living question at the heart of her work: How do we honor the stories of our pain without becoming them — and what becomes possible when we do...2025-06-051h 10
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterVulnerability | How Do We Let Ourselves Be Loved in the Middle of the Mess?Some experiences are deeply personal, yet not meant to be carried in isolation. In this episode, I explore the tender space between needing others and recognizing that some emotional journeys can only be walked from within. This conversation wrestles with the complexity of grief, overwhelm, and self-protection, while gently inviting compassionate curiosity as a pathway back to connection. Through themes of vulnerability, nervous system regulation, and parts work, this episode holds space for the paradox that while no one can walk your path for you, you don’t have to walk it alone.Ready to...2025-05-2936 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterSpaciousness | Are You Creating Space or Just Creating Distance?Spaciousness has long been a guiding word in my life — but I’ve come to realize that truly living it is different from simply offering it to others. In this solo reflection, I explore what it means to create space in our lives — not as avoidance or burnout-fueled withdrawal, but as a life-giving, grounding practice of rehumanization. Together, we explore the difference between spaciousness that reconnects and survival-driven distance, and how this theme weaves into nervous system care, seasonal rhythms, and the ongoing practice of embodying what we teach. This episode is an invitation to reclaim spaciousness as a living...2025-05-2237 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterWhat Power Do I Hold and How Do I Intend to Use It? A Conversation with Althea SelooverWhat does it really mean to be in right relationship with your power? In this expansive and heartfelt conversation, Althea Seloover invites us into the depths of that question, offering wisdom rooted in lived experience, recovery, and deep care for humanity. We explore how power can be reclaimed through rest, how self-care becomes a radical act of resistance, and what it means to move at a human pace in a world that constantly demands more. From redefining words like “work,” “sin,” and “justice” to mapping the internal landscapes of burnout, healing, and congruence, Althea’s insights challenge and nourish. This is a conv...2025-05-151h 27
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterCan We Stay Open to What We Can’t Explain?Some conversations meander in the most magical ways, and this one is a celebration of cosmic timing, personal joy, and the sacredness of embracing what makes us feel most alive. I reflect on the significance of things like numbers — not just as dates or symbols, but as threads of connection woven through family, memory, and meaning. From repeating numbers to astrology, from childhood delight to spiritual inquiry, I explore what it means to honor joy, even when it’s misunderstood, and to build a relationship with uncertainty that invites wonder instead of fear. This episode gently asks: Can we let...2025-05-0843 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterWhat If Overextending Isn’t the Path to Love?What if taking good care of yourself isn’t selfish — but the very foundation of how you care for others? This episode explores the tender, tangled process of shifting out of over-functioning, especially when people-pleasing patterns run deep. I reflect on the internal tug-of-war between the fear of being “too much” or “not enough” and the slow, sacred work of learning what true boundaries, congruent giving, and right relationship with self can look like. If you’ve ever struggled with guilt around saying no, or felt overwhelmed by nuance when all you want is clarity, this conversation is an honest and com...2025-05-0139 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterWhat If Your Wellness Isn’t Just About You? A Conversation with Nisha ModyWhat if your personal wellness is intertwined with the well-being of the world around you? Nisha Mody joins for a thought-provoking conversation on the complexities of personal wellness, self-trust, and the interconnectedness of individual and collective care. Nisha reflects on the tension between privilege and responsibility, questioning how her own well-being can exist in a world filled with injustice and violence. Through themes of grief, growth, and healing, she examines how stepping into personal power — while remaining present and self-compassionate — can be an act of service to the greater whole. From navigating discomfort and discernment to redefining wellness beyond comm...2025-04-241h 11
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterOverthinking | Are You Expanding or Overcomplicating Your Perspective?The beauty and challenge of nuance is that it offers both freedom and overwhelm — especially for those prone to overthinking. In this episode, I explore how my deep love for perspectives, meaning-making, and endless exploration sometimes becomes a source of anxiety rather than clarity. What happens when nuance feels more constricting than expansive? How do we honor where we truly are instead of where we think we should be? Through personal reflection, I unpack the delicate balance of discernment, self-trust, and the timing of our own learning, revealing insights that may resonate with anyone navigating the complexity of their ow...2025-04-1727 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterWhat If The Way You Hear Yourself Isn’t Who You Really Are?What if the way you hear yourself isn’t the truth, but a distortion shaped by old insecurities? Editing the first few episodes of this podcast invited me to listen to my own voice over and over again and what I noticed was a familiar yet eye-opening pattern — the initial playback was clouded by self-criticism, a harsh internal voice telling me I didn’t make sense. But something shifted on the second and third listens. Without realizing it, the distortion dissolved, and I could hear myself differently, with more clarity and grace. This episode explores that experience — how insecurity acts lik...2025-04-1028 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterDoes What I'm Doing Really Matter? A Conversation with Chad BrownWhat if the questions you’re avoiding are the ones that hold the most meaning? Chad Brown joins the podcast for an honest, unfiltered conversation about purpose, grief, and self-trust — sharing raw reflections that offer a refreshing perspective on navigating uncertainty and building relationships rooted in truth. He explores the weight of small decisions, the paradox of wanting clarity while resisting life’s invitations, and how loss has reshaped his understanding of what truly matters. From the tension between ambition and presence to the challenge of staying in integrity with ourselves, this episode dives into the messy, beautiful reality of bei...2025-04-031h 12
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterCan You Honor Your No Without Needing Validation From Others?Overview:Navigating the complexity of boundaries and the courage to say "no" is a profound journey of self-connection. In this episode, I share my personal reflections on the difficulty of recognizing and honoring the boundaries of my body, particularly when external pressures or past conditioning make it challenging to assert them. I explore the emotional and somatic processes that accompany saying "no" — from the confusion and dissonance of feeling misaligned, to the eventual realization that honoring myself is necessary for genuine connection with others. This conversation invites you to reflect on your own relationship with boundaries, the te...2025-03-2727 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterHow Do We Respect Our Needs While Loving Others Deeply?Overview:How do we honor both our needs and the needs of those we love? In this inaugural solo episode, I dive into the complexities of balancing care for ourselves while showing up fully in our relationships. Exploring the tension between people-pleasing, self-sacrifice, and genuine love, I unpack the journey of learning to hold space for both. How do we navigate the discomfort of growth, the murkiness of evolving boundaries, and the reality that the answers are always unfolding? Join me as I reflect on what it means to live into this question with integrity, compassion, and...2025-03-2027 min
Living the Questions with Courtney KoesterLiving The Questions Podcast TrailerWelcome to Living the Questions, a podcast where we embrace the messy middle of life — the space between questions and answers. Hosted by Courtney Koester, this show invites you to explore what it means to live in the unknown and navigate the questions that shape our lives. Each episode dives into the beauty of being present, showing up as you are, and allowing life to unfold without the fear of needing to have all the answers. From the intricacies of self-expression to the challenges of overcoming self-doubt, Living the Questions is a journey of self-discovery, curiosity, and connection. Tune in...2025-02-1207 min
The Emotional Alchemy Podcast117. PEOPLE PLEASING: Integrating the Self-Abandonment Wound with Venessa Rodriguez and Lindsey LockettSend us a textIf you’ve caught yourself bending over backwards to accomodate others only to feel drained and undervalued, this is a must-listen episode for you. My dear friends Nervous System Coach Lindsay Lockett and Intuitive Nourishment Guide Vanessa Rodriguez join me in a vulnerable chat about a survival mechanism we unwittingly latch onto - people pleasing. We dissect the roots of this behavior and its relationship to how we relate to the energetic resources of the Earth Archetype. Drawing from our personal journeys, we illuminate how this behavior stems from societal and par...2023-09-111h 55
The Healing HypeWhat is my intention? What is my desire? What is enough?As I mentioned last week, I deleted my social media apps on a Saturday night after I was so overstimulated and underwhelmed with the projections coming at me. I was in a period of what I call apathy, but maybe also depressive, where everything in my life was quite amazing, yet I felt disconnected from myself. I intellectually knew it was “all good”…but it did not feel that way. I knew my period was coming on, which usually induces these feelings, but the mood was coming on a little earlier than usual. And then I got into “...2022-08-0108 min
Ozarks at LargeMaking Documentaries and Music in ArkansasOn today's show, the life and stories of Jack Hill. Plus, musician and songwriter Travis Koester, our weekly conversations with Michael Tilley and Courtney Lanning, and much more.2022-07-0853 min
The Emotional Alchemy Podcast49. EMOTIONAL ALCHEMY: Untangle People-Pleasing Patterns with Empowerment Coach Courtney KoesterSend us a textIf you are on a journey to untangle from people-pleasing or perfectionist tendencies, you’re going to want to tune into this conversation with Courney Koester. This might be stating the obvious to define what “people pleasing” is but I think it’s important to dive into nuanced topics with the same vocabulary. I define “people-pleasing” as a pattern of putting the needs of others before your ownWhen this happens, who you are and what you want is replaced by the needs and...2021-06-301h 08
Done ApologizingHumanizing Anxiety with Courtney KoesterCourtney Koester took the journey from filmmaker + photographer to Empowerment Coach + Reiki Master Practitioner. Frequently found sipping tea, boarding a plane or getting lost in a sea of trees, this Sagittarian’s heart was made to dive deep + explore. With firsthand experience in untangling from patterns of people pleasing, self-abandonment + self-judgment, Courtney’s work focuses on the importance of self-reconnection + the invitation to rehumanize ourselves. Her medicine is in guiding humans to clear the harsh lens they’ve viewed themselves through and begin to explore their whole self from a widened + deeply aligned perspective.
In this conversation, Tami a...2021-05-201h 07
The Chicagoland GuideAmy Koester-Skokie Public Library and Courtney Sturgeon-YPC with the Illinois Holocaust MuseumThis week on Inside the Skev, we were joined by Amy Koester, the Learning Experiences Manager at the Skokie Public Library. Amy supports a team of staff who develop and provide library events for all ages, hands-on learning opportunities, and information and reference services. She also works with the Civic Lab team. We were also joined by Courtney Sturgeon, who is a fellow member with me of the Young Professional Committee at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. Courtney is a small-business owner, media relations specialist with Business Wire-A Berkshire Hathaway Company, and freelance journalist. We discussed the upcoming YPC Virtual...2020-12-2845 min
Sacred Wealth3 | Work From Home with Courtney KoesterThis episode is my interview with Courtney Koester of CKoester Inspired. We chat about what my work from home situation looks like and how you can transition easefully in the time of C0V!D. Although she is interviewing me here, I did want to tell you a little bit about Courtney and if you’d like to get her on the pod let me know!
Courtney is an empowerment coach and on top of being a powerful facilitator of growth in her one on one container she also has tons of free resources including journal pr...2020-11-1940 min
The Everyday Entrepreneur PodcastFrom Cinematography to Helping People Discover Their True Selves with Courtney KoesterFrom the film and cinematography industry to coaching others to discover who they really are with Courtney Koester.Episode SummaryIn this week’s episode of the podcast I have the lovely Courtney Koester who went from working in the film industry to building her business as an empowerment coach. We challenge you to ask bigger questions of yourself and your life, really thinking about what you want. Courtney gives us guidelines and ways to know when we are out of alignment and not living in our integrity.Episode TakeawaysBeing misaligned in...2020-10-2753 min
Mystery in the Radio WavesE34. "One Way Train to Pun Town" Cat Alter, Courtney Vineys, Gabe Durham, Taylor Behrens, Mark JacobSeries: Suspense
Show: Love, Honor, or Murder
Date: Jun 29 1950
https://www.genericradio.com/show/KDQXIV0X7Z2?fbclid=IwAR19wn4Fke-dZNi9vFH1H9ybcBk4iNJ7hqFWMh6_jcMEMiJP9-nivQAFkpg
Thank you to this wonderful cast!
Taylor Behrens
Lauren Blair Donovan
Jesse Koester
Mark Jacob
Cat Alter
Courtney Vineys
Meredith Dillon
and your host Elizabeth McIrvin!2019-07-161h 17
Freshly Baked CrackersEpisode 12 - A Fistful of CrackersGreetings true believers!! The crackers are back with an all new episode. Freshly Baked Correspondent Andy McDonald stops by to catch us up on new music for 2015. Kendrick Lamar's genius To Pimp A Butterfly is discussed as well as music from Mourn, Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, and Courtney Barnett. Then the dynamic duo discuss whats been going on in the world of the nerd. This episode is brought to you by Wolftracks T-Shirts and Design.2015-04-0600 min