Science, experience and a very human approach.
ABOUT JANINE
I'm Dr Janine van Someren, founder of The Wellbeing Advantage. For more than 25 years, I've worked across sport science, academia, high performance and workplace wellbeing, exploring what helps people feel well, cope with pressure and perform at their best. Together with co founder Dr Ken van Someren, whose background is in sport science and human performance, The Wellbeing Advantage is grounded in decades of research, practice and real world experience.
Today, I bring together physiological insight, behavioural science and coaching to help individuals and organisations better understand stress, recovery and resilience.
I'm particularly interested in the gap between how we think we're coping and what's actually happening in our body. We can be highly capable, productive and seemingly managing everything, while spending far too much of our day switched on and too little of it genuinely recovering.
My approach is simple. I don't believe most people need another list of things they should be doing. I help people understand what's happening, identify what's draining their capacity and discover the behaviours that genuinely help them recover.
The goal isn't to eliminate stress. Stress is part of work and life.
It's about developing the capacity to respond when you need to, and to recover when the pressure passes.
PhD | Sport Scientist | Firstbeat Specialist | Bestselling Author | AIBF Thought Leader in Wellbeing
People First. Science Led.
Client feedback
Ken & Janine are clearly extremely knowledgeable in their field with a huge amount of experience which they condense into clear, simple, actionable strategies to cultivate behaviours to improve wellbeing & high performance behaviours.
Sarah Mayes, UNILEVER Foods & Refreshment Science & Tech
The Messy Midlife Toolkit
Real conversations for the messy middle of midlife.
Alongside Vivienne Berryman, I co host The Messy Midlife Toolkit, a podcast exploring the things many of us find ourselves navigating in midlife, from confidence, careers and identity to the invisible load and the question of what comes next.
It's warm, practical and refreshingly honest, with plenty of conversation about the bits of midlife that don't always make it onto the highlight reel.
If midlife feels a little messy, you're in good company.
We talk about the things that can creep up on us in the middle years: changing careers, wobbles in confidence, carrying the invisible load, questioning what we want next and trying to find a little more space for ourselves amongst everything else.
Between us, Vivienne and I bring different perspectives, plenty of lived experience and a willingness to talk about the things we don't always say out loud. There are no perfect answers and definitely no pretence that we've got midlife completely figured out.
Expect honest conversations, practical tools, a bit of science from me, plenty of humour and those reassuring moments when you realize, “Oh, it's not just me then.”
Whether you're rethinking work, rediscovering who you are beyond all the roles you play, or simply wondering what you want the next chapter to look like, The Messy Midlife Toolkit is here to keep you company along the way.
Conversations that matter
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
In Part 1 of my conversation with Brendan Tierney on The Sligo Show, we talk about stress, recovery and why being good at coping doesn't necessarily mean we're recovering well.
A lovely conversation about the science behind what happens when we're constantly switched on, and why understanding what's happening in our body can be the first step towards changing it.
Part 2 with Brendan Tierney: See the X ray of your day
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
In Part 2 of my conversation with Brendan Tierney on The Sligo Show, we look at his own physiological data and see what was really happening during his day.
Where was stress showing up? When was he recovering? And were the things he thought were helping actually making a difference?
The data is an X ray of your day. This is what that looks like in practice.
Part 3 with Brendan Tierney: The 7 habits, rapid fire
Good at coping. But are you recovering? Part 1 with Brendan Tierney
Part 3 with Brendan Tierney: The 7 habits, rapid fire
In Part 3 of my conversation with Brendan Tierney on The Sligo Show, we take a rapid fire tour through the seven habits from my book, The Wellbeing Advantage.
From routine and movement to rest, connection and sleep, we explore the small everyday habits that can make a meaningful difference to how we feel, recover and cope with the demands of life.
Stress, recovery and what actually helps
Part 3 with Brendan Tierney: The 7 habits, rapid fire
A conversation from The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast about what happens when we're constantly switched on, why rest doesn't always mean recovery, and the practical things we can do to help our body and mind switch off.
wellbeing, resilience and the stories that shape us
I joined That Conversation Matters to talk about my journey through sport, research and wellbeing, and the experiences that have shaped the work I do today.
In conversation with Susan Ni Chriodain. We explore resilience, the pressures of modern life and why understanding ourselves better can help us make meaningful changes to how we live, work and recover.
The science of stress and recovery
In this conversation, I explore what stress actually looks like in the body, why we can feel tired but still struggle to switch off, and the importance of building genuine recovery into busy working lives.
A practical look at how understanding our own stress and recovery patterns can help us make better choices about our wellbeing.
RTE Radio 1 Interview with Aine Kerr
RTE Radio 1 Interview with Aine Kerr
Janine and Ken chatted with Aine Kerr on her RTE Radio1 show Reignite about all things workplace wellbeing. They discuss their backgrounds in high performance sport and how it led to the founding of The Wellbeing Advantage. Additional topics include why they include wearable technology in their corporate wellbeing programmes and the experience of clients on their Energising Leaders programme.
The Business Post Article
RTE Radio 1 Interview with Aine Kerr
Article Extract:
"Couple who worked with Olympic athletes take corporate wellbeing service to the Irish Market. The Wellbeing Advantage, a Sligo-based healthtech founded by Janine and Ken van Someren, uses sports monitoring technology to improve wellbeing in business environments. Originally based in the UK, the business relocated to Ireland during the pandemic."
Online Interview with Think Business
Online Interview with Think Business
In-depth article exploring our background & the importance of workplace wellbeing provision for staff health & wellbeing.
Alive And Kicking With Clare McKenna
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
Online Interview with Think Business
Newstalk radio host Clare McKenna looks at ‘health’ in the widest sense of the word. From mindfulness to skin problems, from personal health journeys to tips for better exercise, Here she chats with Janine van Someren, founder of The Wellbeing Advantage who turned her PHD and coaching into wearable tech.
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
Join Janine as she joins Sinead Kelly on the Self Health Podcast. In this episode, Janine explains explains how sleeping for longer periods does not necessarily translate into quality recovery, highlighting the importance of measuring sleep quality. Janine also discusses how sleep improves your overall health.
The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
The Self Health Podcast with Sinead Kelly
On The Sharon Fitzmaurice podcast Janine discusses how small changes create huge impact to our health & wellbeing. Topics include what activities allow you to rest, focus and thrive. Understand how the quality of your sleep has the biggest impact on you physically, mentally and emotionally.