EARLY LIFE
A determined girl with a quiet inner fire.
Sonia Sumar was born in Brazil into a humble family. From an early age, she carried big dreams and understood that education would be one of the few real bridges toward them. She began working as a babysitter when she was only nine years old and learned very young how to persevere without much parental support.
Even as a child, her longing was not only for security or success. She was drawn to books, to reflection, and to spiritual questions that helped her make sense of life. While living with the pain of her father’s alcoholism, Sonia developed one of the traits that would define her later life: the ability to respond with compassion rather than bitterness.
Although life shifted her path away from her dream of becoming a surgeon, she became a primary school teacher and continued following the spiritual current she felt inside herself. That inner search eventually led her to yoga, not as a trend or profession, but as a way of living.
That same spirit still defines her presence today: disciplined, devotional, observant, and deeply human.
A MOTHER'S JOURNEY
Motherhood changed the course of her life.
When her first daughter, Renata, was born in 1970, Sonia was overjoyed. She wanted to create for her child a life that held more love, opportunity, and support than she herself had known. Two years later, in 1972, she welcomed her second daughter, Roberta, who was born with Down syndrome.
When Roberta was born in Brazil in 1972, there was no established early-intervention system in the country for children with disabilities. Guided by love, deep observation, and daily practice, Sonia began supporting her daughter's development from the very beginning, long before this kind of work was formally recognized in Brazil. In that sense, she was an early pioneer of early intervention in Brazil. Her work also became pioneering worldwide in showing how Yoga could be used as a form of early intervention for children with disabilities.
Through gentle postures, breathing practices, and deep connection, Roberta began to thrive. Sonia knew she could not change her daughter’s genetic condition, but the changes in Roberta’s quality of life were real and profound.
Inspired by her daughter’s growth, Sonia became a Certified Yoga Teacher in 1975. Her home became a place of observation, adaptation, and discovery. What she was really doing was listening carefully to her child and allowing that relationship to teach her.
Later, those discoveries would become a method. But first, they were the expressions of a mother’s devotion.
At a time when families were often told simply to wait, Sonia felt an urgent need to respond immediately, with love, intuition, and action.
ROBERTA'S LEGACY
The daughter who remained at the center of her heart.
Roberta’s journey transformed Sonia’s life. Through her daughter, Sonia saw that children with additional needs deserved to be met with dignity, patience, intelligence, and possibility. Roberta became both daughter and teacher.
As other families began seeking Sonia’s guidance, the observations and breakthroughs that began at home eventually formed the basis of her book Yoga for the Special Child, now used around the world by parents, educators, and therapists.
Roberta’s legacy lives on not only through the children and families helped by Sonia’s work, but through the tenderness and courage that continued to shape Sonia long after Roberta’s passing.
A PATH OF DEVOTION
Her spiritual search carried her through grief and purpose.
During her years as a young mother, Sonia dreamed of traveling to India to deepen her sadhana and study with a living guru. Financial limitations made the journey impossible at first, yet the teachings of Sri Swami Sivananda became a steady spiritual foundation in her daily life.
1976
The yoga center where Sonia taught hosted Swami Nadabrahmananda, a disciple of Swami Sivananda. His mantra teachings deepened her connection to the Rishikesh lineage and affirmed the spiritual path she was already walking.
1986
On October 9, 1986, Roberta passed away. Sonia was devastated and felt unable to continue. Yet she also knew she needed to find a way to keep living, to keep loving, and to keep supporting Renata while carrying the mission Roberta had awakened in her.
FIRST INDIA PILGRIMAGE
On October 9, 1986, Roberta passed away. Sonia was devastated and felt unable to continue. Yet she also knew she needed to find a way to keep living, to keep loving, and to keep supporting Renata while carrying the mission Roberta had awakened in her.
1990
At the International Yoga Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sonia met Sri Swami Satchidananda. That meeting marked the beginning of a lifelong spiritual relationship that strengthened her path and helped her carry her work forward with renewed clarity and support.
EXPANDING THE MISSION
Her life widened from one home to many countries.
Sonia’s dream has always been to help children with additional needs reach their fullest potential and become active, joyful participants in society. As people witnessed the changes in children and families, her work spread outward through workshops, trainings, and speaking invitations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and India.
Milestones
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1980: Founded the Sivananda Yoga Center in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
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1991: Opened the first Integral Yoga Center in Brazil, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
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2001: Established the U.S. headquarters of Yoga for All Abilities® at the Satchidananda Yoga Center in Evanston, Illinois.
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Present day: Lives in Sarasota, Florida, and continues traveling and teaching specialized training worldwide.
Continuity of the work
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Her daughter, Renata Sumar Gaertner, director and since 2025, owner of Yoga for All Abilities® in the United States, has helped carry the work forward since 2016, expanding it further from Seattle since 2024.
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Yoga for the Special Child has been published in English, Portuguese, Chinese, and Spanish, and is also available as an English eBook.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
A life of service, teaching, and recognition.
Sonia’s teaching is recognized through decades of lived experience as well as formal credentials in yoga teaching and yoga therapy. Yet her real authority has always come from the life she lived and the people she served.
Credentials
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Yoga Alliance (USA & UK): E-RYT 500, E-RCYT, YACEP
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International Association of Yoga Therapists: C-IAYT
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Yoga Alliance Professionals UK: Senior Yoga Teacher
What her work represents
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For Sonia, professional recognition has never been the center of the story. The deeper measure has always been the lived changes in children, the relief felt by families, and the confidence passed to teachers who carry the work forward with integrity.