Your Real Body with Catherine Sophia

30/01/2026

Exercise Myth “If some is good, more must be better.”

Actually… bodies change through regular exposure, not huge heroic effort.

That’s why Strong Foundations exists.

Just 20 minutes of strength and resistance,
once a week,
done consistently,
can make a significant difference over time.

Stronger muscles.
Better support.
More confidence in everyday movement.

No exhaustion.
No punishment.
No need to overhaul your life.

People are often surprised by how effective small, steady really is.

If you’re curious, come and see for yourself:
🕘 Monday 9.15am
📍 Coxheath Village Hall

Sometimes, less effort, applied well, changes everything.

29/01/2026

Pain doesn’t mean your body is broken.
And working with pain isn’t about pushing harder.

Pain coaching is about:
● understanding why pain persists
● reducing fear without dismissing experience
● rebuilding trust between you and your body
● and creating change that feels doable, not overwhelming

We don’t override your system.
We work with it.

Because lasting change comes from safety, not force.

28/01/2026

People often assume classes are about keeping up.

Mine aren’t.

They’re about:
● learning at your pace
● understanding what your body is doing
● feeling safe enough to try
● and leaving feeling better than when you arrived

Whether it’s Pilates, FitSteps, or dance, the aim isn’t perfection.
It’s participation, confidence, and a nervous system that feels a bit more settled each week.

You don’t need to be “ready”.
You just need to be curious enough to start.

Drop me a message if you’re interested in Pilates, FitSteps, or Dance classes.

27/01/2026

My one-to-one sessions aren’t about fixing you.

They’re about understanding you.

Your history.
Your patterns.
Your worries.
Your strengths (even the ones you’ve stopped noticing).

Sometimes that looks like movement.
Sometimes it looks like reassurance.
Sometimes it looks like gently challenging a belief that’s been running the show for years.

There’s no script.
No template.

Just a conversation between your body and someone trained to listen.

If you’d like to start that conversation book in for a free mini consultation here.

https://www.picktime.com/7127271d-b648-47d6-b0e2-4b8f0ebea030/s/48c5824c-4ce7-48b1-ae01-795698302fa2

26/01/2026

When something feels off, we often try to explain it away.

Everything sounded reasonable.
People were polite.
Nothing obviously went wrong.

And yet… the body didn’t settle.

That unease isn’t overthinking.
It isn’t being difficult.
And it isn’t a personal failing.

I’ve written the first post in a new blog series about those moments — when words and actions don’t quite line up, and the body notices before the mind has language.

If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation feeling unsettled but unable to explain why, this might resonate.

https://www.catherinesophia.co.uk/post/when-words-and-actions-don-t-match-your-body-notices

23/01/2026

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭: If motivation arrived neatly packaged and on time, none of us would need support systems.

But here we are.
Tired. Human. Doing our best.

So if this week’s win is:
✔ you showed up
✔ you moved a bit
✔ or you realised why something felt off

That counts.
That all counts.

Happy Friday from someone who firmly believes progress doesn’t need shouting, just consistency and a bit of kindness.

22/01/2026

Someone recently found me after hearing about 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 and wondering if it might help their long-standing shoulder pain.

What mattered most by the end of the session wasn’t the name of the approach; it was moving with more support, less caution, and a different expectation of what the shoulder could do.

PRT ideas were part of that.
So were strength, movement, and experimentation.

Therapy works best when it’s bespoke, not branded or hiding behind a fancy title.

Details anonymised.

21/01/2026

A short filmed conversation, no scripts, no selling, just real talk about pain, movement, dance, and why understanding matters more than quick fixes.

If you want a little insight into how I think and work, watch this:
https://youtu.be/fRB4dCf6MO8?si=VUauTDWWAqwVVk9K

Can we make business friends with Catherine Sophia in just 5 minutes??About Catherine:Working at the intersection of science, brain, and body, I help people ...

19/01/2026

Last week, one of my lovely Pilates class members shared a story that really made me smile.

She was talking about her son, who has run seven marathons.
Amazing endurance. Clearly very fit.

But he can’t do press-ups.

So she showed him her upper-body strength, built through our Pilates classes, and dropped down to do a few press-ups.

His response was, “That’s two more than I can do!”

And this is exactly why I love Pilates.

Fitness isn’t one thing. Endurance doesn’t automatically equal strength. And strength isn’t about looking a certain way or doing extreme things.

Pilates quietly builds the bits that often get overlooked, upper-body strength, control, coordination, and resilience, in real bodies, at all ages.

Sometimes the strongest person in the room isn’t who you expect 💙

16/01/2026

By now, the shine of New Year’s resolutions has often started to fade.
Not because you’ve failed, but because real life has quietly returned.

Early mornings.
Busy brains.
That familiar feeling of trying to keep up.

This is usually the point where fitness plans start to feel heavy.
Too rigid. Too loud. Too much.

Pilates isn’t a resolution or a reset button.
It’s not a fitness fad or a race to become someone else.

At its heart, Pilates is about the relationship between mind and body.

Learning to notice rather than judge.
To move with intention rather than force.
To build strength, stability, and confidence in a way that actually carries into daily life.

Some weeks that happens in a class, moving together.
Some weeks, it happens quietly in a 1:1 studio session, where the work adapts to you. Some weeks it happens in both.

No hype.
No “new you”.
Just showing up, as you are, and giving your body something it can trust.

If this week has felt like a lot, that’s not a sign you need to try harder.
It might be a sign you need something steadier.

And that’s often where real change begins.

Find out more about Your Real Body Pilates here: https://www.catherinesophia.co.uk/your-real-body

15/01/2026

Midlife is often when strength starts to matter in a different way.

Not for pushing limits or chasing fitness goals, but for feeling capable in everyday life.

It’s the stage where many people notice that joints need more care, energy needs pacing, and confidence in movement doesn’t come from doing more, but from doing what’s appropriate and consistent.

That’s exactly the thinking behind 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

This class isn’t about workouts that leave you exhausted or sore.
It’s about 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

Seated strength work might sound simple, but it’s powerful.
It allows you to:
● strengthen muscles that support joints
● improve posture and stability
● build confidence without fear of getting down to the floor
● move without feeling rushed or judged

And because it’s just 20 minutes, it doesn’t add another demand to an already full day.

You can drop in, move your body, and head on with your morning feeling a little steadier.

Midlife strength doesn’t need to be dramatic.
It needs to be doable, supportive, and consistent.

If that sounds like something your body might appreciate right now, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is there to be explored, gently, in your own time.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧:
Every Monday (term time)
Doors open 8:45am
Class runs 9:15–9:35am

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
Coxheath Village Hall
Stockett Lane, Maidstone, Kent. ME17 4PT

𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭:
£4 per class

You don’t need to be “fit”.
You don’t need experience.
You just need 20 minutes.

14/01/2026

So… the water went off.

Not in a dramatic, apocalyptic way.
Just enough to cause maximum inconvenience.

It happened right as I was about to cook dinner.
I briefly considered cooking rice with wine (I had plenty).
Decided against it.

My husband, after driving back from Coventry, then queued at Mote Park for water — longer than the drive itself, or so it felt.

Naturally, this all got discussed during Pilates.

Because life doesn’t pause for exercise classes.
And movement still happens, even when the water doesn’t.

If you were affected by the outage too… you weren’t alone.
And yes, the floor may also have moved during class 😉