Sophia Kopasakis

Hi there!

My name is Sophia Kopasakis.

When I was 5 years old, I was influenced greatly by the historic victories of my Greek culture, and ever since then, I wanted to achieve athletic greatness.

In middle school, I was breaking records in the track and cross-country sports, while participating in multiple Greek dance groups and my church’s Greek basketball team.

My high school years were filled with athletic accomplishments and major achievements in my running sports; however, the constant stressors of competing led me to give up competitive running before the start of my senior year.

In college, I spent my first few years doing traditional weight training in the gym, while getting my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology.

I did have the desire to get back into competing as a runner again, however, I ended up experiencing overuse injuries in my feet and ankles.

Because of my pain issues, I had to keep running on the shelf for now.

Towards the last few years of college, I joined the crew rowing team.

I was immediately the fastest rower on the team and broke all the college records, and I was carrying the team to athletic victory, just like my Greek ancestors.

But yet again, my pain issues and the stress of competition got the best of me, and I experienced a major plateau in my physical performance.

This was a plateau that I just could not break.

In the process of putting my rowing life to rest, I found a circus art form called Prop Manipulation Arts and immediately fell in love with it.

Prop Manipulation Arts is a circus art form where the artist twirls, juggles, or manipulates a prop (ex: spinning a fire staff or juggling clubs).

As I became more skilled in the circus flow arts, I found myself in high demand and have been getting booked for various paid gigs almost every weekend.

By age 29, however, despite my growing popularity and success in business as a circus flow artist, I started feeling my entire body hitting a massive wall.

I was in pain almost everywhere in my body.

My hips, lower back, knees, feet, and ankles were always in pain, and I had no mobility in my shoulders.

I was very adamant about fixing myself and finding my own way, but I just got to a point where I was in complete agony all the time and I didn't know what to do next to help myself.

So I hired Ryan to be my Functional Patterns coach to help me fix my body and develop a better understanding of my issues.

The moment I started training with Ryan, I realized I had been moving incorrectly almost my entire life.

Even though I had an extensive athletic history, I was struggling very hard at the beginning of my Functional Patterns journey.

The main thing that I struggled with the most was slowing down my movements when I train and slowing down in my life as a whole.

I just didn’t want to stop moving quickly; because moving quickly was what got me gold medals for my entire teenage and adult life.

Another thing that Functional Patterns showed me was my intense desire to always be moving.

Not only did I struggle to slow down, but I never wanted to stop moving or rest properly.

During the week, I would wake up early to get to work, train, and tend to my house chores.

But on the weekends, I would spend hours each night, dancing into the wee hours of the morning.

On top of all that, my diet was completely backwards.

Not only was I moving incorrectly and not giving myself any time to rest at all, but I also wasn’t nourishing myself properly.

Thankfully with Ryan's advice, over time, I picked up the Functional Patterns concepts.

I started eating healthier, training smarter, my body started feeling much better and stronger, but I was still struggling with pain in my feet and ankles.

My breakthrough with my feet and ankles came when I started to rest more and move less.

Why has my body been having so many pain issues over my entire life?

Because I wasn't training my body in an intentional way to correct my imbalances and I could not give up my party life on the weekends or make myself rest properly.

Each weekend I was wrecking my circadian rhythm and stressing out my body further by "having fun."

After years of battling with myself, I have finally gotten to a point where I no longer feel the desire to party as much and I have better ways to train my body properly.

Now, I am almost completely pain-free most of the time, but still have a lot of work ahead of myself.

Functional Patterns, for me, isn't just a journey to change my body, it's a journey to change my lifestyle and mind.

Before Functional Patterns, I was hanging out with the wrong people, in the wrong places, at the wrong times.

I am not saying that you should never have fun.

What I am saying, is, that there are other ways to enjoy your life without having consequences to your health.

Now that I am more conscious of my dysfunctions and better aware of how to fix them, I am better able to enjoy each moment of each day because I am in less pain and more athletically capable.

Another message I would like to offer is understanding the importance of patience and the art of slowing down.

It is not a bad thing to slow down when you train your body.

Being conscious of your biomechanics; this is how you’ll get even stronger and get out of pain.

Think More. Move Less. Get Results.