Breathe Transform Heal

wedish-born, holistic health and transformation coach

Andrea Somer specializes in helping women heal their bodies from the inside and out through retreats worldwide and with coaching and mentorship programs. Somer is also a personal trainer, gut and hormonal nutritionist, meditation teacher, and somatic breath work practitioner based in Los Angeles.

Through her past traumas, she uncovered tools that put her on track to create the life of her dreams, which she now teaches other women.

Have you always been health conscious, or was there a specific experience that made you change?

Growing up in Sweden, I was fortunate enough to grow up with good quality produce, home cooked meals and movement as the foundation of health. However, when I was 19, I backpacked in Australia for 3 months, eating fast food and drinking alcohol every day. It made my body react in a negative way, and I came home with a few extra pounds and gut health issues. I was diagnosed with IBS, had to eliminate things from my diet to heal my gut, and I became more health conscious from that point.

What do you do as a holistic health and transformation coach?

I help women heal their bodies from the inside out, heal their trauma and work through their limiting beliefs on a conscious level through mindset work and through somatic and embodiment work. I believe in a multidimensional approach in order to truly optimize our physical, mental, and emotional health. I help people truly find alignment in body, mind, and spirit by teaching them how to connect to their truth and how to honor that, how they can follow their unique path and live the life that they truly desire. I believe everyone needs someone to walk with, to calibrate to, that can pull out of us what we can’t pull out of ourselves - I am that someone for my clients.

What inspired you to become a holistic health and transformation coach?

I started out as a personal trainer, but it was always about more than physical health for me. I always had a more holistic approach and was passionate about mental health. At the beginning of my career as a trainer, I lost my father to mental illness and addiction. Through my own healing journey in grief, I uncovered so many tools and modalities that I wish I had had access to earlier in life. In my teenage years, I dealt with depression and anxiety, growing up with a bipolar and alcoholic father. The work that I started doing for myself helped me heal a lot of trauma and find alignment in life through truly living my purpose. This is what I want for everyone, for us to know that no matter what we have been through, we can heal and create the life of our dreams. I know that this work changes people’s lives and that I was put on this earth to bring this medicine so that we can create ripple effects and become a more conscious, free, and loving collective.

You have a coaching and mentorship program. Who is it most suitable for?

Women - of all ages. It’s never too late, and it’s definitely never too early to learn about ourselves and unlearn anything that is holding us back from living in the truest expression of ourselves and in our power. I truly wish I had been given this level of support and tools in my 20s and even my teenage years.

When it comes to health and wellness, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see people make?

I believe that the biggest mistake people make is to think that all information out there applies to everyone. The most important relationship we have is with ourselves and with our bodies. Our body holds wisdom, and we need to learn its signals, its needs, and learn what WE need in order to feel our best. It will never be a one-fits-all approach, we are all unique. I also think that people still try to treat symptoms instead of dealing with the root and don’t understand the correlation between mental /emotional suppression and trauma with a decline in physical health/disease.

What simple habits can a person do every day, in their busy lifestyle, that will improve their well-being?

It’s hard for me to say one thing because I know that there are multiple habits required for us to optimize our health. Such as eating clean, moving our bodies, sleeping good, getting outside, and practicing mindfulness. It is never about how busy we are, it is about priority. But one thing that we all can do that will improve your well-being is - mindful breathing / breath-work for 5 minutes every day.

You’re passionate about women’s empowerment and how the mind, body, and spirit are connected. And you mentor and coach women to reach their full potential. How did you reach the level of consciousness that you have today?

Through self-discovery and questioning

everything that I ever knew to be true. I sit with myself, face my darkness and my shadows, question my conditioning, and continue to strip down the layers to come closer to my truth. It started through healing my grief of the loss of my father, and through that, I realized there was so much more trauma for me to unravel. It became the start of the beautiful journey of rediscovering the woman that I truly am and who I want to be. I am devoted to my vision and my purpose, it is stronger than anything else which requires me to rise to these levels.

Are there any good tools, books, movies, or podcasts, you would recommend to check out for a “holistic beginner” or someone that wants to begin better mind and body habits?

There is a lot of good content out there, but here are some of my favorite books;

The body keeps the score

Becoming supernatural

The 4 agreements

The power of now

I am more about the tools that will inspire us and connect us to source and our own power, rather than the “how to’s”. I think it’s easy to get lost in what everyone else is doing and want people to tell us what to do. I believe it’s important to study the material that interests you and learn from people that can bring you back to yourself so that you can strengthen the relationship with your own inner wisdom and compass. The answers are inside of us always, we just don’t listen to our body and soul enough, living in an era with a lot of external distractions and things that disconnect us.

You just hosted a retreat in Costa Rica. Can you share details about it?

The CreateYou Retreat is a luxury wom- en’s retreat, a unique and transformative experience designed to help you reconnect with yourself, nature, and other powerful women. It is a beautifully created safe space for healing & transformation, for women to work through their traumas & limiting beliefs and connect in sisterhood. We take you through different experiences and ceremonies that will support you in your journey to become the most authentic & powerful version of yourself.

The March retreat was located in breathtaking Costa Rica, surrounded by nature, the ocean, and even our own private beach. A full weekend: Thursday-Monday, filled with yoga, sound baths, meditations, workshops, breath work, personalized coaching, energy healing, dancing, private chef, and more.

What should people do more of?

Disconnect from social media and external distractions and connect more to nature and to themselves. In the time that we live in, I think we get more and more distracted from being in the present moment, being connected in our bodies, in our hearts, and souls. So detoxing from everything that clouds our connection to self should be done more regurarly.

To learn more about Andrea Somer, visit: www.bodymindspiritcoaching. net/ andrea-somer.mykajabi.com/ createyou-retreat

To learn more about Andrea Somer, visit: www.bodymindspiritcoaching.net/ andrea-somer.mykajabi.com/createyou-retreat

Personal trainer, model, and aspiring actor Karl Brown sat down with us to discuss how dealing with his mental health helped him lose 100 lbs and saved his life.

Photography by Amina Touray