Beyond Balance with Brandt Butze, Part Two

When we first shared Brandt’s story last year, he was still in the beginning of his yoga journey. Showing up on his mat at Soul Yoga Ohio City on Saturdays was his practice, climbing the stairs to the studio felt like Everest. He was battling chronic pain, deep grief, and years of disconnection from his own body. We knew that then that what met him at the top of the stairs wasn’t just a yoga studio. It was a new beginning.

Since then, a lot has changed. He’s stronger now. Not just physically, but emotionally.

Spiritually. Socially.

The kind of strong that comes from deep presence and intentional living. The kind of strong that knows it takes real courage to show up, and even more to keep showing up.

Brandt describes the moment he found Soul Yoga as the moment he found yoga. Not just the postures, but the practice.

The life. The breath. The possibility.

He’s moved to Hingetown to be closer to the studio. He practices four times a week. And he’ll be the first to tell you that his entire life is yoga now.

This past year, Brandt underwent two knee surgeries. A milestone that would’ve felt impossible when he first walked through Soul’s doors at nearly 400 lbs and couldn’t take a step without pain. But with each Saturday class, each conscious breath, each small but steady act of self-care, he was finding his way.

He started expanding his practice by trying new teachers, new class styles, new ways of listening to his body. In conversation with a high school acquaintance who re-entered his life, and began teaching him more about ahimsa. It struck a chord. His now BFF, Cori, encouraged him to try a vegan lifestyle, and what started as an experiment in reducing meat turned into a full shift into a vegan lifestyle in just a few days. In his words, “I’m living my yoga in a new way. And it brought me to a new milestone with health, fitness, and living life.”

Yoga gave him the foundation. Soul gave him the space. His breath gave him the courage to take the first step, and the next, and the next, etc.

One of the most beautiful pieces of Brandt’s journey is the unexpected community he’s helped create. What started as casual post-class coffee runs with a few classmates has grown into a full-on Saturday ritual: the Yoga Social Club.

It’s not exclusive. There are no rules. Just an open invitation to connect.

“I’ve had my world cracked open by people I would’ve never met otherwise,” he says. “That’s what this place does. It opens your mind. It frees you from judgment.”

Brandt shows up on his mat, but he also shows up for others. And that kind of energy is contagious.

When Brandt lost his son, Jacob, in 2020, he wasn’t sure he’d ever come out of the cloud of grief that ran so deep.

It was numbing. Disorienting.

In Jacob’s goodbye letter, he asked his dad, his best friend, for one thing: “Be healthy.” Words that didn’t resonate until one day, so far into the grief haze, and it hit him so clearly. And it stayed with him and so did the feeling he had when he finally stepped into Soul Yoga after meeting instructor Sarah Ezzie-Haines at a doggy daycare. Those two events are not coincidence.

Sarah saw something in him. She believed he belonged. Her invitation, and the community waiting upstairs, was the spark that helped him begin again.

“Sarah and Soul Yoga saved my life,” he says now.

Yes, Brandt lost over 130 lbs, but that’s not the story he wants to tell. It’s not about shrinking. It’s about becoming. It’s about finally feeling strong enough — mentally, physically, spiritually — to live in his body and listen to what it needs. To say “yes” to life again.

Yoga, he says, taught him how to listen. Listen to his breath. To his thoughts. To others. To his own inner knowing. It taught him that worthiness isn’t something you earn. It’s something you uncover. And if you keep showing up, if you keep climbing the steps, even when it feels impossible, you’ll remember who you are.

Consider this your invitation. You are always welcome here at Soul Yoga.