If you love honest conversations that explore the messy, beautiful, and complex truth of being human, come join the conversations on Living the Questions
Inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s words, “Live the questions now…,” this show invites you to explore life’s uncertainties through honest conversation. It’s not about having the answers — it’s about embracing the messy beauty of our shared humanity and creating space for connection.
Join us as we uncover the layers and live into the unknown — one big question at a time.
[ watch the trailer ]
Welcome 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 for deep, authentic conversations that encourage you to live into your questions and meet each moment with clarity and authenticity. Join us as we explore the questions that lead to growth, transformation, and the beautiful complexities of being human.
[ episodes ]
Ep #1 | How Do We Respect Our Needs While Loving Others Deeply?
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 deep care.
Ep #2 | Can You Honor Your No Without Needing Validation from Others?
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 tension between self-care and caring for others, and how we can learn to trust and align with our inner wisdom.
Ep #3 | Does What I'm Doing Really Matter? A Conversation w/ Chad Brown
What 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 being human — and the courage it takes to live into the unknown.
Ep #4 | What 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 like a filter, shaping our perception, and what happens when we learn to step outside of it. What if your voice is clearer, stronger, and more meaningful than your inner critic would have you to believe?
Ep #5 | Overthinking: 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 own decisions.
Ep #6 | What If Your Wellness Isn’t Just About You? A Conversation w/ Nisha Mody
What 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 commodification, this episode invites us to consider how our own healing contributes to the world around us.
Ep #7 | What 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 compassionate space to land.
Ep #8 | Can 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 ourselves play, be different, and trust in the mystery?
Ep #9 | What Power Do I Hold and How Do I Intend to Use It? A Conversation w/ Althea Seloover
What 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 conversation about capacity, compassion, and choosing presence over performance — for yourself, for others, and for the collective. If you're longing for clarity, groundedness, and/or a deeper sense of integrity in how you live and lead, this episode is a soulful companion.
Ep #10 | Spaciousness | 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 true spaciousness 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 practice — one that nourishes your nervous system, restores your clarity, and brings you into right relationship with your own capacity. Not every kind of space is life-giving. But the space that brings you back to yourself? That kind of space can change everything.
Ep #11 | Vulnerability | 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.
Ep #12 | What Opens When We Stop Trying to “Fix” Ourselves? A Conversation w/ Holly Lowery-Davis
What 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? This is a tender invitation into the slow, sacred work of becoming — with ourselves, and with something greater.
Ep #13 | Discernment | 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 when (and/or how) to share something tender, this one’s for you.
Ready to
take these conversations deeper?
Living the Questions isn’t just about exploring big ideas — it’s about living them. If you’re craving a space to untangle what’s true for you, witness + relate differently with old patterns, and step into a more aligned, embodied way of being, my Rehumanizing YOU coaching offerings might be your next step.
This is a space for deep inquiry, integration, and transformation —where we invite curiosity to become clarity and insight to become action.
Curious? Let’s explore together.