About Onya
I reached here as an age-group endurance athlete and a rider who did exactly what most motivated people do: I pushed. I trained harder, added more volume, stacked more expectations on a body that was already carrying a full life and then wondered why it stopped cooperating.
On paper, I was doing everything “right”. In reality, my nervous system was overloaded, my movement patterns were compensating, and my performance was being held back by a body that no longer trusted the way I was training.
Onya grew out of the point where I stopped trying to overpower that and started listening to it instead.
Sonya Brotherton
I’m a Team GB age-group athlete in long-distance triathlon and international-level stand-up paddle racing. Before that, I spent many years as a professional show jumper and dressage rider. Horses were my first teachers in feel, timing, posture, balance — and power without force. My athletic background spans modern pentathlon, distance running, and endurance sport. An equestrian accident and the spinal surgery that followed changed my direction but not my nature. I rebuilt myself using strength and conditioning — slowly, patiently, in conversation with my nervous system — learning how to run, lift, and compete again while managing nerve damage. I have been coaching for over 25 years, with qualifications across strength and conditioning, personal training, nutrition, performance coaching in SUP racing, and senior-level equestrian coaching. My work has always sat at the intersection of performance, movement quality, recovery, and the reality of life. I understand what it takes to chase a goal. The structure. The training load. The self-doubt. The resilience. The setbacks that make you question everything. The moments of surprising strength that remind you why you began. The deep pull to feel capable and alive in your body. My coaching isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about training in a way your body can absorb, recover from, and sustain — so you can perform at a high level without losing yourself to the process.
