Embodied Soul

07/10/2025

Calm in the storm creates clarity.

I spent most of my pregnancy living in a meditation centre. It was a strange mix of calm and uncertainty. I didn’t know what the future would hold, but I learned that even when life feels uncertain, the best thing I could do was simply sit, breathe, and be present. That stillness helped me prepare for what was coming.

Even in uncertainty, creating space to pause and reflect can reveal inner strength you didn’t know you had.

06/10/2025

True strength comes from the challenges you choose to face.

Soon after leaving my husband, I got pregnant by the first person I was with. When I told him, he said, “I’ve never met a solo mother who wasn’t strong” — and then he left the country. I was so angry. Our carelessness had created a huge responsibility, and he expected me to handle it alone. I didn’t feel strong at all. I felt like my world was collapsing.

I had never planned to be a mother, but I made the choice to keep my daughter, because the pregnancy itself felt calm. It felt like she was meant to be with me. With that decision I was taking responsibility. And that choice: stepping into parenting by myself, showed me how strong I really was.

Life will hand you challenges to develop your strength. Choosing to face them reveals how strong you really are.

05/10/2025

Why I’m Sharing My Story

I’m sharing my story, from powerlessness to empowerment, because I’ve realised that the bigger work I’m here to do is all about women’s empowerment.

I’m not just here to help you get strong. I’m here to inspire you to become your strongest, most resilient and capable self and to claim a life that feels truly meaningful to you.

But I also know that nobody’s going to fully understand the work I do unless you know the journey I’ve been through to get here.

Originally, this was going to be one long blog post. But it got way too long (and not too many people read long blogs anymore 😅). So, I decided to share it in smaller, more digestible pieces. It’s growing as I go, so it may turn into a bit of a series.

Please know, I’m not sharing my story because I want pity. All the care hearts are lovely, but I’m no longer in that space.

When I write about the past, I do so from a place of strength. I remember where I was, but I no longer live there. What I’m sharing is a transformative journey, a story about the power of facing and overcoming challenges.

From the healing work I do, I know that many people (maybe most people?) have gone through even harder things than I have. And yet, so few recognise how much they’ve learned throughout their lifetime. Often what’s needed is simply to integrate the lessons of the past so you can move forward. I’ve found a lesson in every experience I’ve had, because fully acknowledging that lesson as complete allows me to keep moving forward.

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05/10/2025

🌿 This Week at Embodied Soul 🌿

Every Sunday evening I share a weekly update so you know what’s going on at my studio.

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💪 Accessible Strength

• Monday 11:30 am → a couple of spaces left
• Friday 11:30 am → just one person booked in (perfect if you’re just starting out)

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🏋️‍♀️Mindful Mobility & Heavy Lifting

Best classes for absolute beginners:
• Wednesday 4:15 pm
• Thursday 11:30 am & 6:30 pm

Classes with space:
• Monday → filling up fast, just a few spots left
• Wednesday → 10 am, 11:30 am, 4:15 pm
• Thursday → 11:30 am, 6:30 pm
• Friday → 10 am

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🥾 Strength Training for Trampers

• Tuesday & Thursday 5:15 pm → plenty of space this week

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✨ Embodied Connection with Restorative Yoga

Because my daughter will be away at camp this week, I thought I’d offer something a little bit special.

This will be a guided space to gently connect with your body, emotions, energy, and intuition. We’ll have a cup of tea and you’ll get a chance to connect and share with others, and to rest and relax with restorative yoga.

• Tuesday 6:30 - 8 pm

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🧘‍♀️Other yoga classes this week:

• Sustainable Yoga → Thursday 10 am
• Restorative Yoga → Friday 6:30 pm

Note: Sunday Restorative Yoga is paused for now

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🧩 1:1 Sessions

• Embodied Processing — $80 (1 hr)
• Theta Healing® — $100 (1.5 hr)
• Combination sessions also available

This week: spaces open Tuesday (daytime), Thursday (evening)
Message me directly to book.

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🌟 Tips for the Week

I know a lot of people are still concerned about how they look. I don’t like talking about weight loss, because that is not my focus and I don’t want to encourage disordered eating. But I can give you a few tips around reducing visceral fat, the unhealthy type of fat:

🍽 Eat enough calories
If you’re under-fuelling, your body may store fat to protect against the famine you’re creating. This is especially important for women 40+, as hormonal changes can make metabolism more sensitive to under-eating.

🧘‍♀️ Focus on relaxation
Moving into a parasympathetic state through breathing, gentle movement, or meditation reminds your body it’s safe, helping reduce stress-related visceral fat. This is why I offer restorative yoga. Nobody comes to it! But more people should make it a priority. When your body feels safe, it can move out of survival mode.

💪 Strength training should come first before cardio
Building lean muscle boosts metabolism, supports hormone balance, and helps reduce visceral fat. Endless cardio without strength can compromise muscle and slow metabolism.

🛡 Understand why your body holds fat
Fat isn’t just about calories. It can act as a protective layer and a way to store unresolved trauma. Your body is smart and adaptive, and it’s trying to keep you safe. Through Embodied Processing and Theta Healing, we can gently work with your body to release tension, trauma, and old survival patterns so you can feel lighter, safer, and more empowered.

ALSO:

💖 Decondition your mind and love your body
Cultural messages and social conditioning tell us our value depends on appearance. Learning to decondition these beliefs through mindful movement, self-compassion, and focusing on what your body can do rather than how it looks supports both mental and physical health. Your body is strong, capable, and worthy exactly as it is.

🧐 Call out the culture
The fitness industry is flooded with “before and after” pictures and influencer transformations that are often exaggerated or filtered. The truth is that all those bodies already look fine (and yours does too!) Follow people who talk about healthy body image (and yawn and unfollow when you see those before and after pictures).

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Kia kaha i tēnei wiki! 💜
Katy

Send a message to learn more

04/10/2025

04/10/2025

Courage isn’t the absence of fear.

After 14 years in an abusive relationship, the day I left, my husband tried to physically stop me by holding the door shut. He was 6 ft 4. I’m 5 ft 4. It was terrifying. He rarely physically abused me, but that day he did — he held the door shut and punched the wall right beside me.

For years I felt like I was not allowed to leave him. He told me I was not allowed to leave him.

But that day, I had the courage to walk away. Only years later did I even recognise that as abuse.

The most courageous thing you can do is choose yourself, even when you’re terrified.

04/10/2025

Even in the hardest moments, giving compassion to your past self is powerful.

During those 14 years stuck in the relationship, I didn’t feel capable of doing anything on my own. My ex-husband drove me everywhere because the stress of driving overwhelmed me. Grocery shopping was unbearable. I couldn’t handle crowds and hated being around people. I often had meltdowns after being in social situations. I was so angry. I avoided life and hid inside that relationship.

What I didn’t know at the time was that my undiagnosed autism, high sensitivity, and unresolved childhood trauma were driving so much of this struggle.

Learning to have compassion for your past self, and acknowledging the challenges you faced, is the first step toward healing, empowerment, and change.

03/10/2025

Ever felt completely powerless?

Thirteen years ago, I didn’t even have a driver’s license. I had spent 14 years of my life, from age 18 to 31, in an abusive, controlling, co-dependent relationship. It took me seven years from the moment I knew I needed to leave to finally find the courage to walk away.

Even after years of feeling stuck, you can still choose freedom.

01/10/2025

One comment/question I get a lot is:

“You’re not going to break me, are you?”

No. It’s very unlikely that you’ll get hurt.

Heavy lifting is actually a very safe thing to do.

We load your body slowly and progressively.

And smartly.

The first time you come we’ll only be focusing on technique.
You’ll start with lifting 6 kg off the ground.

You might progress to 14 kg on that first day, OR you might take months to progress to heavier weights.

You’ll listen to your body and progress at the pace that feels right for you.
And I’ll meet you where you’re at.

We record what you lift each week.
And we record how you’re feeling each week, so you know whether increasing your load feels safe.

Sometimes, if you’ve had poor sleep, lots of extra life stress, or you haven’t eaten enough, you may want to lift less that day.

We make small, gradual progressions that are sustainable for your body.
And I’m always looking at your technique to make sure you’re lifting safely.

Most people are not going to injure themselves because they approach heavy lifting cautiously and mindfully.

There’s a reason I’ve called my class:
✨ Mindful Mobility & Heavy Lifting ✨

Being a yoga teacher as well as a personal trainer (I’m also an intuitive healer) means mindfulness is a key component of my classes.

I’m always reading your energy and adapting things to suit the people in the room.

I encourage everyone to slow down and really pay attention to their bodies.

Do injuries happen in heavy lifting?
Yes, they can.

I’ve tweaked my back once, and two people have tweaked their back in my class.

However… far more injuries happen in daily life.

The reality is, you’re so much more likely to injure yourself if you don’t do heavy lifting.

If your body is weak, and you allow it to get weaker by not training it, you could get injured just getting up off the couch.

Heavy lifting makes your body more resilient and less prone to injuries.

01/10/2025

So, next week on Tuesday, I’m going to experiment with combining my Embodied Connection Evening with Restorative Yoga — and making it a little community gathering as well.

I haven’t been getting much traction with yoga on Friday evenings. To be honest, that’s probably got a lot to do with how tired I feel after a full week of classes!

I’ve had some interest in my Embodied Connection Evenings, and some interest in Restorative Yoga… but not enough to sustain either of them on their own.

So this Tuesday, 7th October (when my daughter is away at school camp), I’ll have some extra time to create something a little bit special. It will be a space to connect with yourself and with others in the community. It will also be a space to find a deeper sense of relaxation and restoration.

Here’s what we’ll do:
• Gentle movement to unwind from the day
• A cup of tea and some quiet connection
• A sharing circle to check in and connect with each other
• I’ll share some simple techniques to help you feel safe and grounded and release stress from your body
• Restorative yoga to really settle and restore
• And, depending on the group’s receptivity, a little energy work or meditation to bring you into a Theta brainwave at the end

We’ll start at 6:30 pm and run until 8 pm.

If this sounds like something you’d like to try, please let me know.

If I don’t get any interest in this, I’ll likely not offer it again for a while. I do feel like it could be a really lovely, nourishing way to end the day, and a chance to build a small, supportive community, and I’d love to share it with you.

I will eventually price it higher than my other offerings, but for this first one I’ll offer it for $22 or a class pass.

Send a message to learn more

30/09/2025

I used to fast til 10 am. Now I start with cacao, protein powder and a little bit of high protein almond milk at about 6 am. I'll have breakfast later on, after my run.