Finding Your Innerglow with Kyle Somersall
A year ago, Kyle Somersall found his own creative outlet blogging about meditation and some insights it offered him. Since then, his blog has grown into a community and movement, called Innerglow. We spoke about how this entrepreneurial chapter and how he uses meditation to stay inspired and intuned with his own goals.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Kyle Somersall. I’m a meditation teacher, writer and the founder of Innerglow. I taught third grade for three years. I’m interested in creating experiences that allow people to deepen connections with themselves and others, along with bringing more of a focus on social-emotional learning into education.
What is Innerglow, and why is meditation important to you?
Innerglow brings people together to meditate and connect. We host meditation classes and social events that combine meditation with different forms of self expression. Many young people are aching for meaningful connection, fellowship and accessible ways to explore their spirituality, so our intention is to meet those needs. Our long-term vision is to create a lifestyle brand that encourages people to connect with their value and share things they care about.
Meditation is important to me because it’s helped me grow tremendously as a person. I feel more capable of doing things that scare me and overall I’m more compassionate to myself, which enables me to extend more compassion to others. Simply put, it allows me to take better care of myself, which allows me to show up more fully in work, relationships and other parts of life.
Aside from meditation, how do you stay productive and inspired throughout the day?
Exercise and journaling are really big for me. I try to take time everyday to write down small wins and things that I’m grateful for. It really helps to keep things in perspective and manage discomfort that comes from uncertainty. I also joke with myself that if I get to the gym consistently, I can really do anything. I notice that when I’m not working out I start to doubt myself more and my energy levels tend to be lower. I’m always shocked by how much better I feel after a good work out.
Giving myself structure is also really helpful. I was the kid in school that never used his planner or wrote things down, so I had to come a long way with keeping myself organized. I noticed it’s really helpful for me to fully schedule out my day in my calendar instead of just having a list of things that I want to get done. The calendar allows me to really see how long things take, and I’m more conscious of when I’m procrastinating or doing work tasks that aren’t the highest priority.
I’m also a big music fan, so I usually have music playing. I often put different songs on repeat because that tends to help me get into flow.
Another super helpful thing is having peers that inspire me and hold me accountable. I have weekly vid chats with two friends that are also entrepreneurs. It’s great to be able to support and learn from each other. Especially for me as a solo founder, things can get pretty lonely, so it’s nice to have close friends that are working through similar challenges.
What are some of your recent favorite books/podcasts/apps?
Books
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
The Creative Curve by Allen Gannett
It’s Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein
Buddha’s Brain by Dr. Rick Hanson
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Subliminal by Leonard Mlodinow
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Nobody by Marc Lamont Hill
Podcasts
Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman
How I Built This by Guy Raz
Apps
Instagram is definitely my most used app. Amazing the opportunities it offers to build a brand
For meditation I’ve used Insight Timer and Will Williams Timer in the past
What’s next for you and Innerglow?
I’m in the process of getting seed funding and building a team for Innerglow. The plan is to scale meditation offerings around NYC and expand our meditation and mindfulness programming/consulting to more schools.
I’m personally planning to write more and have ideas for a book that I want to create.
You can find more about Innerglow on their site or follow them on Instagram @innerglowny or follow Kyle and his adventures on Instagram.