About Janet Mather

I’m a coach at heart. I love to help people flourish and overcome blocks and obstacles. I’m pretty good at it, too! I’m not a coach in the sports sense—my expertise is not the how-to’s of exercise routines and fitness. Motivation is my expertise and my passion. I love to figure out what helps or hinders us from having the lives we yearn for.

My professional history includes a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Swarthmore and a Masters in Teaching from Simmons College. I taught 5th and 6th graders, Parent Effectiveness Training, Re-evaluation Counseling, tutored children with learning anxiety, gave workshops and wrote articles about children’s learning, then moved into executive outplacement, helping people find new jobs. I spent another 15 years providing career consulting and effectiveness coaching in my own practice. As I look back, it has been a joy to help many hundreds of people to move out of limitations into fuller, happier lives.

And looking back over my exercise history, there were years when a daily walk was easy and natural to fit in, even a few summers of walking in the morning and swimming half a mile several afternoons a week. Those were the times I basked in the surprise of people who thought me much younger than I was. Ahh.

But there were also years of not being able to maintain anything consistent, of feeling tired and creaky, achy and unhealthy, of sustaining my energy with coffee and Hershey’s chocolate almond bars every afternoon, of discovering my clothes were too tight and I was still tired and creaky and achy.

As I approach 60, even my on-again, off-again record on exercise has been enough that I have more flexibility, stamina, and strength than I did in my teens and 20’s. I began strength training 10 years ago in an effort to avoid the severe osteoporosis which has left my elderly mother homebound and frail. I can now open tight jar lids without needing my husband’s help! I love feeling stronger and more at ease in my body. I love being able to take a long walk when I feel like it and not aching the next day.

When I am in my best groove of significant exercise, my days flow better, I have more energy, and feel a wonderful sense of well-being. I have more emotional resilience for the challenges in my life, more focus, and a clearer head. My life works better in many ways. I wish you the same experience.

Rock on, movers and shakers!