The Courageous Life

Joshua Steinfeldt

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.

  1. 2 days ago

    On The Art of Living | Parker J. Palmer & Mark Nepo

    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

  2. 11 Aug

    On Doing Work that Matters | Miroo Kim

    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

  3. 25 Jun

    The End of Violence | Dr. Gary Slutkin

    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

  4. 19 Jun

    On the New Science of Pain and How to Heal | Dr. Rachel Zoffness

    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

  5. 11 Jun

    On Choosing Love (No Matter What) | Deeyah Khan

    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

  6. 2 Jun

    On Love and The Illusion of Separateness | Elias Amidon

    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

  7. 22 May

    On the Possibility of Meeting Hate with Love | Dr. Barbara Tint

    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

  8. 14 May

    [Best of] On Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry Shukman

    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

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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Joshua Steinfeldt
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    246
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Courageous Life
  • Show Website
    The Courageous Life

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