Wellness for every stage of life.
Using nature, technology, community, and science, Life Stages makes mind-body health and personal development easy, sustainable, and personalized for individuals and organizations.
Why Life Stages exists
Our mission
Life Stages helps people build and sustain a healthy, aligned life through science-based personal wellness and development skills. We tackle the growing global mental health and social isolation crisis at the intersection of nature, technology, community, and science.
We help people reach a baseline of health and well-being, so they can become their best selves and contribute their unique talents to the world.
Our vision
We believe there is untapped potential in nature, self-knowledge, and wellness. We want every community and individual, especially women, youth, and historically underfunded communities, to reach a baseline of wellness and become their best selves.
We aim to be a key support in that journey by making evidence-based wellness easy, sustainable, and personalized.
- MPhil in Psychology & Education, University of Cambridge (2018)
- AB, University of Chicago (2012)
Inspired by 15+ years of work and lived experience
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Chicago
Finding nature in the city
Founder Zulma Y. Terrones grew up in urban Chicago, where Lake Michigan, city parks, and Midwest cornfields and plains were her nature. After graduating from the University of Chicago, she worked for local start-ups. During this time, she struggled with her own mental and behavioral health and her place in the world.
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Almost 5 years abroad
A leap of faith
To reset her life, Zulma set off on what was meant to be a yearlong backpacking trip. It became almost five years of travel across Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. Along the way, she watched people from many backgrounds take on new, challenging outdoor activities and be transformed, from a brighter outlook and refreshed mindset to better daily functioning and fewer psychiatric symptoms.
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University of Cambridge
Researching outdoor transformation
Wanting to understand what she had seen, Zulma earned a master’s in Psychology and Education at Cambridge, with an emphasis in outdoor health. She partnered with an outdoor therapeutic education organization serving adolescents with developmental and behavioral disorders, and led a case study on how participants understood and related to therapeutic outdoor programming.
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Portland, Oregon
Clinical work through the pandemic
In 2019 Zulma moved to Portland for its access to nature and strong community mental health services. For over two years she worked as a 24/5 crisis clinician for youth with acute psychiatric symptoms and high-risk safety concerns, using experiential learning to help them regain stability and build distress tolerance and coping skills.
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2022
Life Stages is founded
The COVID-19 pandemic made the need for effective, accessible, personalized mind-body health clear. Zulma brought together peer-reviewed research, trauma-informed clinical experience, and outdoor experiential learning to found Life Stages: an evidence-based model to help people improve their mind-body health at any stage in life.
Zulma’s goal is to change how the world thinks about health and well-being, outdoor adventure, and human potential, by continually informing direct service, health research, and, ultimately, global health policy.
Learn more about ZulmaOur pillars and values
Our approach draws on decades of research across psychology, sociology, social work, counseling, neurobiology, and more, and across diverse communities, including LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, youth, families, young adults, rural, and psychiatric populations.
Holistic health & abundance
We don’t treat health in pieces. We work with physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being together to support whole mind-body health and personal growth.
Evidence-based knowledge
Knowledge is power. We help you build new knowledge and skills to care for your wellness in an evidence-based way.
Community & interconnection
The world is deeply interconnected. We foster positive connection to yourself, your community, and your local environment.
Our values
- Evidence-based research
- Strengths-based, trauma-informed lens
- Diversity & inclusivity in wellness
- Accessibility
- Adaptability & personalization
- Sustainable personal development & wellness
- Iteration & progression
- Continual personal evolution & accountability
- Technology & industry innovation
We know health and well-being are not fully accessible to many people around the world. That’s why we keep evolving our model with the latest research, technology, and educational approaches, so wellness and personal development reach as many people as possible.
The people behind Life Stages
We combine decades of psychology and outdoor adventure research with years of clinical and experiential practice to help people overcome stressors and build lives of joy, peace, and fulfillment.
Zulma Y. Terrones
Zulma is an entrepreneur and interdisciplinary professional working at the intersection of behavioral health, research psychology, and experiential education. Drawing on the University of Chicago and the University of Cambridge, domestic and international nonprofit service, and startup experience, she helps others build mind-body wellness and reach their potential.
Julian Waterford
Executive Assistant to the FounderKeeps day-to-day operations running smoothly with precision and warmth, so the team can focus on helping our community thrive.
Luisa Arias
Software Engineering
Kacey Zhang
Branding & Communications
Seethala
Software Engineering
Sarah Disla-Borja
Branding & Communications InternSarah Disla-Borja is a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, majoring in Communication with a Visual Track. She is passionate about digital media, content creation, and visual storytelling, with a strong creative mindset and an eye for design. Sarah is excited to join the Life Stages team as a Branding & Communications Intern, where she looks forward to contributing fresh ideas, expanding her skills, and learning from the team.
With thanks to past team members and internsShow all 73 names
- Ryan Ramos
- Giselle Vega
- Anthony Calabrese
- Ashley
- Ananya Bharadwaj
- Isha Suba
- Sophia Xu
- Riana Gutierrez
- Jocelyn Back
- Hanjie Shao
- Glory Gage
- Sehoon Park
- Milena Pesic
- Xinzhu Chai
- Sreeja Pagireddy
- Shaurya Chawla
- Blake Dual
- Gloria Carbajal
- Carolina Mendoza
- Xiaoran Liang
- Niklas Feil-Ho
- Jordan Covington
- Maimuna Muntaha
- Galen Spies
- Chris Lo
- Lindsay Behrens
- Michael Bohm
- Abrar Hussain
- Sreeya Yakkala
- Jasmine Samontina
- Shivani Nandakumar
- Clémentine Paris
- Siyuan Zhang
- Nivegna Lagadapati
- Lolyna de la Fuente Ordaz
- Ronald Li
- Omkar Naik
- Geoffrey Wang
- Rushi Sharma
- Jacky Cai
- Anish Athmakoor
- Cassidy Chu
- Parth Sharma
- Pooja Munishamappa Raju
- Janvi Patel
- Aysa Erel
- Jason Yu
- Simon Cooper
- Sayf Alhafidh
- Jay Alag
- Aditye Hegde
- Dan Pham
- Emily Zhang
- Jason Corn
- Keon Sagdhegi
- Wang-Meng Yang
- Emanuel Sarbu
- Brian Thai
- Andrew Lopez
- David Song
- Jordan Yen
- Rohan Bhagavan
- Wen Wei Tan
- Michelle Sousa
- Jada Simantel
- Tanvi Penugonda
- Siddhant Tripathi
- Jasper Nguyen
- Anwesha Mohanty
- Acsah Lukose
- Andy Wang
- Joseph Kim Lee
- Varshini Gurushankar
Organizations we’ve worked with
What our community says
Being able to do a leadership / mental health workshop out in nature is a dream come true! Zulma is an amazing facilitator and I really appreciated that she customized the workshop to our group’s needs.Kim W., Skate Like a Girl Employee Wellness Cohort
Thank you so much ZY for your work in the world, it is so important and needed and I loved the way you held space in the group.Life Stages member, forest bathing event
It was really nice to have a more structured discussion with like-minded individuals… the pamphlets have been helpful in my everyday life since I’ve done the workshop.Jessica K., Skate Like a Girl Employee Wellness Cohort
Take this wonderful opportunity to learn to be present in nature, and to take care of yourself.Life Stages member, forest bathing event
The hike was a good reminder that I need to slow down and pay attention to my own health.Austin, Employee Wellness Participant
Evolve with Life Stages
Whether you’re looking for personal support, a community, or a program for your team, there’s a place to start.
