Vaishalee Patel has been practicing yoga and mediation for 25 years. Through dedicated study of classical Himalayan philosophy and yoga, she has been teaching its holistic and integrative approach of breath, body, and mind for the last 15 years. Vaishalee is a registered yoga teacher (RYT) 500, completed the 1500-hour yoga and meditation teacher trainings in beginning, intermediate and advanced levels at the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition (St. Paul, MN) and is registered with Yoga Alliance. She has a passion for teaching all levels and abilities of students and seeks to understand each individual on a personal and spiritual level. 

"She is full of cheerful energy which she shares with her students, combining humor with instruction.  Vaishalee has a deep background in the yogic tradition, having practiced and taught yoga for many years.  Students can be confident they are learning the best way to enter into and hold a posture. Vaishalee makes a point of knowing each student individually as far as his or her body’s capabilities and limitations.  This enables her to suggest adjustments to poses to help a student deepen his or her experience of the posture."

-Mary Alice Ford, Senior Paralegal, Office of the General Counsel, University of Minnesota

Apart from her yoga journey, Vaishalee is a technology and business executive focused on driving strategic change with a special focus on people and culture. She has worked in many industries including health care, medical device, financial services, and education. Her 20+ years of corporate experience has given her insight into how people commonly view and treat their bodies, observing that the understanding of the causal connection between body and mind is often neglected. Over the years, Vaishalee has delivered numerous workshops in the workplace to help her teams bring focus to this connection, enabling them to increase productivity, creativity and retention.

Vaishalee founded TruBalance in 2012 to continue to help individuals find balance in their own lives and deepen the mind-body connection. In 2023, she rebranded TruBalance and relaunched as Sōm Yoga.

Vaishalee holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, Human Resources and Management and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her personal life, Vaishalee enjoys cooking, gardening and dancing, but most of her time is spent raising her three darling daughters.