Explore Beyond Podcast — Presence, Conscious Leadership, Travel Stories, and Personal Growth

Explore Beyond is a personal growth and conscious leadership podcast that dives into presence, self-awareness, discomfort, embodied leadership, and transformative travel experiences. Hosted by Courtney Lewallen, this podcast provides actionable, real-life reflections and stories designed to help listeners navigate presence, leadership, change, emotional resilience, stress, and adventure in both everyday life and intentional travel.

If you’re searching for how to be more present, how to sit with discomfort, leadership in real life, or meaningful travel stories that change you, this podcast is for you.

What You’ll Learn on the Explore Beyond Podcast:

How to be present in everyday life
Conscious leadership practices for real situations
How to sit with discomfort and navigate change
Travel stories that reveal leadership and growth lessons
Self-awareness practices you can use immediately
Using your senses and breath to return to the present moment
Leadership through uncertainty and the unknown
Personal growth through travel and reflection

Recent Podcast Episodes

Below are recent episodes with summaries and transcript highlights to help you explore the topics of presence, conscious leadership, personal growth, and travel stories in more depth.

Befriending the Uncomfortable

- In this episode, Courtney explores how learning to sit with discomfort instead of running from it can change how we show up in life, leadership, and growth.

“For a long time, if you asked me to sit in discomfort, I would have run the other way. But recently, I’ve started to notice where discomfort lands in my body — in my chest, in my energy, in my breath — and instead of trying to escape it, I’m learning to be with it.

And what’s interesting is, when I stop running from discomfort, it actually softens. It doesn’t control my choices anymore.”

Presencing: Coming Home to the Present Moment

- A practical, embodied guide to being fully present using your senses, breath, and awareness.

“When I really want to presence myself, I stop using my thinking mind and start using my senses. What am I seeing? What am I smelling? What am I hearing? Where do I feel the breeze on my skin?

And all of a sudden, I drop out of my head and into my body. There’s nothing wrong with the present moment — we just forget to be in it.”

The Belize Jungle: A Story of Leadership, Chaos, and Adaptability

- A wild travel story that reveals real lessons about leadership when everything goes wrong.

“We were ten minutes into the jungle trek when an army ant crawled up my pant leg and started biting me. That’s when I realized this trip might not go according to plan.

From flooded tents, to macheting campsites, to crossing a boulder field in the dark with exhausted students — this experience reminded me that leadership isn’t about control. It’s about staying calm when everything else feels chaotic.”

A Real, Raw Beginning for 2026

- A reflection on journaling, visioning, fear, and starting again without having it all figured out.

“I woke up this morning with no intention of recording a podcast. I opened a dusty journal that had been sitting on my desk for over a year, and the prompt asked what makes me feel most at ease. And the answer was space to explore. That’s when I remembered I had this podcast called Explore Beyond.

I don’t have a plan here. I just want to be real, be raw, and explore what’s going on in my world — the highs, the lows, the fear, the excitement, and the curiosity of starting again.”

This personal growth and conscious leadership podcast is for people who want:

More presence in their lives
Personal growth without perfection
Conscious leadership in real situations
Meaningful travel experiences
Honest reflections instead of polished advice

Here, we talk about real things — from the beauty and vulnerability of personal growth to the wildness of intentional travel and conscious leadership. You’ll hear reflections on journaling, visioning, fear, transformation, travel, connection, and all the everyday moments that make life meaningful. If you are looking for more resources on presence, leadership, and travel reflections, visit my personal growth and conscious leadership blog.

Whether you’re:

Standing at a crossroads
Saying yes to something new
Reclaiming your own story
Or simply craving deeper connection

You’re welcome here.

No agenda. No polished script. Just honest exploration.

Tune in — and let’s explore what’s beyond together.

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