CourLife Blog Posts
CourLife Blog Posts
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CourLife's Manifesto on Health and Wellbeing
CourLife's Manifesto on Health and Wellbeing
We believe success should support life—not consume it.
We believe that health, wellbeing and purpose are not rewards for productivity,
but foundations for a life that is fully lived.
CourLife exists for women who have done the hard things.
Women who have achieved, led, contributed and carried responsibility—often quietly.
Women who now feel a deeper call to live with intention, integrity and humanity.
We believe midlife is not a decline; it is a recalibration...
Midlife is a moment when what once worked no longer sustains...
When external measures of success lose their power...
When the body, the heart and the nervous system ask for something truer.
At CourLife, we honor prosocial virtues—not as ideals, but as evidence-informed practices that support wellbeing, more effective leadership and longevity. We also advocate for:
Humility over ego.
Authenticity over performance.
Compassion over criticism.
Gratitude over scarcity.
Purpose over pressure.
Respect over hierarchy.
Generosity with boundaries.
Empathy without overextension.
Goodness as a daily choice.
Happiness rooted in meaning, not intensity.
We reject hustle without humanity.
We reject perfectionism disguised as ambition.
We reject the idea that worth must be proven... again and again and again.
We believe confidence and courage can be quiet...
That strength can be soft and steady...
And, that wisdom deepens with reflection and self-awareness.
CourLife is where science meets story...
Where research meets real life...
And, where ambition is both strengthened and softened by humility.
This is not self-improvement; it is self-return.
We are here to help you live:..
Healthfully.
Intentionally.
Fully.
Be Brave. Honor Your Heart. Live Fully.
Six Ways to Slow Down
Six Ways to Slow Down
Do you feel like you're constantly running on the treadmill of life? Not quite sure how to take a break or stop feeling like you always have to be "doing" something? It's not always easy to slow down, but it turns out that slowing down is exactly what we need. Slowing down is not only good for our wellbeing, but it can also help us feel less stressed while accomplishing more.
When our minds are speeding, our performance and effectiveness get slower or weaker. It's not "being slow" that we're seeking necessarily; it's the feeling that we have time to do the things that matter. We can handle our daily tasks; we don't feel stressed; and we feel like we have the time to rest, be present and enjoy the good things in life.
We might also struggle to slow down in the right ways—ways that actually help us achieve the feeling of slowing down, which is what we're really trying to achieve. For example, we often turn to our smartphones as a form of relaxation but instead of soothing us and slowing down our thoughts, they hijack our attention, speed us up, and generally make us feel even more frazzled.
So how do we slow down—our racing thoughts, our overactive stress response system, and our bodies? Here are six science-based strategies that may help:
1. Take Intentional Pauses
It's thought that taking intentional pauses can lead to better outcomes. More specifically, taking a moment to consider something more deeply may help us to act with greater clarity, momentum, and impact (responding versus reacting).
2. Find a Quiet Space
Spaces with lots of noise, intensity and movement can activate stress systems and overwhelm the body. That's why to slow down, we may need to identify a quieter, more mellow environment that can counteract our high-alert bodily responses.
3. Explore Mindful Meditation
When our brain is constantly running over a list of "To Dos," worrying about what the future holds or ruminating on the past, it doesn't really matter how slowly our body is moving because our minds are racing! Clear your thoughts with mindful meditation.
4. Spend Less Time on Your Phone
We often feel frazzled and need a break from our busy lives, so what do we do? We pick up our phones. We scroll through social media, the news or shopping websites. But all these activities do is make our heads even fuller as we consume huge amounts of information in a tiny amount of time.
5. Have Physical Contact With the Earth
Recent research has shown that physical contact of the human body with the earth has numerous health benefits like improving cardiovascular health and staving off depression.
6. Slow Down Your Thoughts
Sometimes when we get the feeling that life is too hectic, it's a direct result of what's going on in our heads. We may just need to redirect our thoughts. Journaling—getting those thoughts out of our heads and onto paper may help... or going for a run or taking a cold shower —two techniques that can help our brains switch gears and get unstuck.
Be Brave. Honor Your Heart. Live Fully.
What You Do Now Will Determine What You Can Do in The Future
What You Do Now Will Determine What You Can Do in The Future
What are the things you love doing right now?
Seriously. Take just a minute to consider the activities in your life that make it full and rich… and without which you would experience a decline in happiness and satisfaction.
Is that girls’ night dinner every week what keeps you going? Do you enjoy Saturday morning hikes with your best four-legged buddy? Perhaps you enjoy having a glass of wine while you gallery-hop downtown on a Friday night. Or, maybe you are a hardcore tri-athlete who enjoys competitive swimming, cycling and running.
Whatever activities bring you joy, if you want to continue to participate in them–or some semblance of them–as you age, you need to consistently practice three things now: eating healthy(ier), being physically active and connecting socially–and, if all three are achieved, the effects are even greater.
When thinking about food, the best action you can take is to dramatically limit/reduce your intake of processed foods. Whole foods, in their natural form, do the body, mind and spirit wonders! They are packed with things like fiber and phytonurients (e.g., compounds found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes that promote health and prevent disease), and do not contain toxins that negatively impact your physical, mental and emotional health.
When engaging in physical activity, aerobic and resistance training are both key. Maintaining strength and muscle mass is imperative as we age as it helps mitigate the risk of injury by improving balance and preserving bone density. And, believe it or not, simply walking each day for a minimum of 30 minutes will provide great benefit.
Finally, connecting with others offers a host of valuable benefits: it stimulates your mind, offers a sense of community and belonging and also can help you define and effectively live your purpose. In addition, social connections and relationships stave off depression and loneliness, which lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression, memory issues and even death. While episodically, these behaviors will positively impact your health, the greater benefit is that cumulatively, these effects will maintain that state of improvement long into your future.
But, NOW is the time to begin cultivating these habits so you’re able to do what you love to do later in life. And, even if you’re in mid-life, like I am, it is not too late to re-evaluate, and modify areas of your life where improvement is needed. Go ahead, begin with one change today–and start enjoying all the benefits now, and know that they will serve you well throughout the next few decades.
What are the activities you love doing now that you want to be able to do when you're in your 70s, 80s, 90s?
Be Brave. Honor Your Heart. Live Fully.
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