Movement Is Just For Me: An Osteopath's Recovery Story | Rosy Movement
Sonia: People of Rosy
When we sit down to craft these stories about the ROSY people at our boutique pilates studio in Collingwood, we're in awe of how our bodies carry not just our physical selves, but entire narratives of resilience, discovery, and transformation. Each person who walks through the doors of our Collingwood pilates studio brings a unique relationship with movement – one that ebbs and flows, teaching us profound lessons if we're willing to listen.
Sonia's story is all about movement being just for her, regardless of what our culture demands in its subtle cues or loud shouts that we're not enough. As an incredible osteopath, Sonia thinks about her clients' journeys as much as her own, bringing presence and introspection to movement from so many perspectives – both from how we move to why we move.
Her own journey through injury, strength, and ultimately, wisdom, mirrors what so many of us experience as we navigate the changing tapestry of our bodies during private and semi-private pilates sessions, as we age and allow ourselves to be fluid with our shifting needs at any one time.
"Movement Is Just For Me"
One moment Sonia was playing netball, her first game in 13 years, and the next she was on the ground with a torn Achilles tendon. She had been feeling super strong and capable, with a snow trip planned the following year, and this netball game felt part of this resurgence into bringing more bounce into her life.
"It's a trap we can fall into as we move toward perimenopause and menopause," Sonia reflects. "There's a change in the physicality as we get older that I just hadn't recognised the extent of at that point."
Only in hindsight was Sonia able to see that she had been trying to reverse time a little bit, doing something she loved when she was younger as a way to continue this feeling of being strong and capable.
As an osteopath, she felt she should have known more about the injury, yet the more she researched, the more complex it became. This pursuit of knowledge was partly about understanding her healing process and partly about maintaining some control when her body seemed beyond her command—something our personalised pilates sessions in Collingwood help clients navigate every day.
The months of recovery became transformative. Unable to work, tend to her garden, or clean her house, Sonia surprised herself with how the act of receiving help became its own medicine. "I didn't realise how bad I was at asking for help." For someone accustomed to caring for others, her recovery revealed a vulnerability many women struggle with – the permission to be supported rather than always supporting. This lesson in receiving became as healing as any physical therapy.
Through this forced stillness, Sonia discovered an entirely new perspective: "The way I consider movement now is very much around—does it feel good?" This simple question represents a radical shift from the pressures many women face – pressures to exercise intensely regardless of circumstances, to maintain rigid routines, to push through discomfort. Sonia now sees how these expectations create not just psychological pressure but physical stress on our systems—an insight that shapes our approach to pilates and exercise in Collingwood.
"We wax and wane, we are not just ON all the time. I've got to allow myself to be as fluid as I want to be, and the movement is just for me."
Embracing Fluid Movement at Our Collingwood Pilates Studio
Today, Sonia's approach flows with the natural rhythms of her life and body. She might rock climb for a few months, then switch to pilates near her Collingwood practice, focus on walking and riding her bike, then throw in lifting weights. The activities shift with her energy, her work schedule, her menstrual cycle, and the temperature outside—a philosophy that aligns very deeply with our boutique pilates studio.
This wisdom – that movement shouldn't be punishment or obligation but rather a celebration of what our bodies can do in each moment – infuses both Sonia's personal practice and her work as an osteopath. In a culture that glorifies doing more, pushing harder, and ignoring limits, she has discovered the revolutionary act of finding satisfaction in what is right now—just as we emphasise in our private and semi-private pilates classes.
When we listen to Sonia's story, we're reminded that our bodies carry wisdom far beyond what our culture often acknowledges. By allowing movement to be just for ourselves – guided by internal wisdom rather than external demands – we discover a relationship with our physical selves that truly nourishes us.
At ROSY Movement, this wisdom guides everything we do in our pregnancy pilates sessions, weight-inclusive pilates classes, and strength & conditioning programs. We create space for people to discover their own rhythms through private and semi-private pilates in Collingwood. Whether recovering from injury, navigating perimenopause, or simply learning to trust their body's inherent knowledge, our boutique pilates studio helps movement become not a correction of perceived inadequacies, but a genuine expression of self-care and respect for the vessel that carries us through life.
Sonia is a biodynamic cranial osteopath who treats from a whole person framework and is such a kind, thoughtful and compassionate human being and practitioner. She's also located in Collingwood, just like our pilates studio.
Gum Leaf Osteopathy | gumleafosteopathy.com | gumleafosteopathy@gmail.com
Ready to experience pilates that honours your body's wisdom? Book your session at our Collingwood pilates studio today and discover movement that's truly just for you.
