Shedding Old Shells: Mindfulness, Midlife & Showing Up Fully with Caren Cooper
During a recent conversation with Caren Cooper, I was struck when she said:
“I’m kind of fabulous. Why am I not showing up as my fabulous self?”
It reminded me how often women, especially in midlife, hold back rather than stepping fully into who we are.
🙋🏻 Enter Caren Cooper
Caren is a certified Neuro-Identity Evolution™ practitioner and trauma-informed mindset coach who helps Gen X women with what she refers to as “unscrewing themselves” from inherited patterns like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and invisibility so they can step into embodied confidence and live fully expressed lives.
In our conversation on Conscious Corner Podcast with Courtney we discussed:
🐚 The hermit crab metaphor - growth means shedding what no longer fits and moving into a more expansive shell.
🪞 Mirror work + self-love - even something as simple as high-fiving ourselves can shift our nervous system and remind us of our worth.
🙅 Breaking free from people-pleasing - releasing identities we didn’t choose so we can show up as our full, authentic selves.
Her words were a powerful reminder that shrinking might keep the peace, but it costs us vitality, health, and joy.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here
🎥 Watch the full episode here.
🔍 Why Awareness Matters
What Caren describes so beautifully is what mindfulness helps us uncover:
The awareness to notice what we’re carrying.
The compassion to let go of what no longer serves us.
The resilience to step into our next chapter.
This isn’t just personal - it’s professional, too. In a recent LinkedIn poll, I asked:
“What’s the most overlooked workplace challenge for women lawyers in midlife?”
More than half of respondents said: The career + caregiving juggle.
It hit home. Midlife is often when women lawyers are at the peak of their careers and carrying some of "the" heaviest personal, physical and emotional transitions. Yet many of these challenges remain invisible in the workplace.
✨ Playing Big Without Burning Out
That’s why I’m so passionate about the program I’m co-leading with Shonda Moralis, MSW, LCSW:
“Playing Big Without Burning Out: Mindfulness & Menopause for Women in Law”
This CLE-eligible session blends science, real-world strategies, and guided practices to help women lawyers embrace themselves - even in the messiness of transition - and keep thriving.
Like Caren, Shonda and I are committed to supporting women in midlife to stop shrinking, start noticing, and step fully into their next chapter.
👉 If your firm or organization is looking for ways to support women lawyers at this critical stage, I’d love to connect.
💭 Reflection for You
Where in your life are you ready to shed an old shell and step into a bigger, more authentic version of yourself?
If you’d like to explore how mindfulness can support you, your firm, or your team, let’s connect.
With gratitude,
Courtney 🩷