Brandon Sommers

I started practicing yoga in 2015.  I became hooked from the physical practice, taking up to 3 hot classes a day.

In 2017, I began my 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training.  I wasn't in love with teaching yet.  I wanted to become a yoga teacher so I could get free yoga for the rest of my life.  I knew this was something I wanted to keep doing for the next 50 years, and if I became a teacher it would save me at least $50k in membership fees.  What I didn't realize, is that I'd go on to spend more than $50k continuing my yoga training because I fell in love with the practice in a whole new way.

By 2018 I was teaching yoga and I took every opportunity I could to develop a skillfulness in yoga and teaching.  I started teaching in multiple Baptiste Yoga studios in Nashville, TN.  I began teaching yoga to kids in schools, and continuing my growth as a teacher by traveling across the globe averaging one yoga training per month for several years.

That allowed me to befriend and expand my network, colleagues, friends, and have a greater grasp of how the practice is delivered, how community is created in a powerful way, how trainings are led, and what this practice is really all about.  I personally know over 90 different people who own yoga studios within the baptiste yoga community all over the world.  To be able to draw inspiration from the way each of them lead their communities, from social media to email newsletters to studio policies, teacher trainings, core values, events, types of classes, and so much more, has been invaluable in my growth in which to lead from.

I've attended many Baptiste Yoga trainings, 16 of which were led by Baron Baptiste, the founder of Baptiste Yoga.  I've gotten to work on team with him and his organization at 5 week-long international trainings.  When I started going to Baptiste Yoga trainings with Baron, my obsession shifted from developing a skillfulness on my mat, to developing a skillfulness as a leader in rooms full of people.  I was enamored by what life-altering shifts & transformation were made possible in a large group setting happening at these trainings, and I could tell right away that this was my calling.

I became a student of leaders.  I fed a curiosity within me to learn what made one leader more impactful than another.  Almost every yoga teacher I know loves to teach yoga.  And yet there are massive differences to the degree of their impact and effectiveness, both relating with people, and bringing life-changing experiences into their teaching.  So what makes a yoga teacher stand out from the others?  Is it popularity?  A good yoga music playlist or yoga sequence?  I could write a 100-page thesis on that question alone.  What I've come to learn is there's another layer of transformation most yoga teachers and students are missing.  They love creating sweat and challenge and community through the physical poses.  But the real breakthroughs that can stay with you and change your whole life from just one yoga class is what I'm interested in.  That doesn't mean I have to find the deepest most philosophical thing to talk about and teach to.  It just means that whether or not you can do crow pose, has no significance on your ability to transform your life in a moment.  And it's that transformation that I am constantly looking for.  To develop within myself, and to create space for discovering within my students.

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Outside of yoga, I grew up in Minneapolis, MN where I loved playing sports, singing in choirs, and performing in theater.  I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, have recorded albums for myself and other artists, performed in professional musical theater, and lived on a cruise ship for 6 months singing with an a cappella group.  I taught tennis on and off for 15 years, which I loved and shaped me as an infectious and joyous teacher.  I've traveled to 14 different countries and in 2021 I spent more than 100 days road tripping by myself across the country.  I love sunsets, driving manual transmissions and motorcycles, have fostered and owned rabbits, and love to do photography.  I also experience depression and although I own a yoga studio, sometimes yoga alone is not the complete remedy.  I'm very open about my mental health because life is less about looking good for others, and more about supporting each other as often as we can.