Welcome to
The Uplift Center
Where event planners, organizations and community builders hire Eli Walker to help them experience, learn and practice the art of belonging.
Here's how
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Here's how /
Talks & Trainings
Learn belonging-building tools to enhance organizational engagement through Eli’s talks, trainings & courses.
Uplift Experiences
Bring your people together with bespoke social yoga & facilitated icebreaker activities.
UplifTV
Embody personal belonging through yoga, meditation & writing practices.
The Uplift Center
Story
A note from Eli:
Ever since the pandemic, I’ve been mildly…(okay majorly) obsessed with the structure of belonging. See, when quarantine began, I was full-time CEO-ing Drunk Yoga®, and needed to quickly pivot all of our corporate events to virtual. Of course, because the nature of our interactive yoga party game is just that…a game, in order for us to play, it was vital for participants to turn on their Zoom cameras. This was a problem. Doing yoga—especially in front of coworkers virtually from their living room—can feel vulnerable. Unfortunately, at the time, my livelihood depended on it.
So, I got to researching.
What are the essential components of community engagement? What makes humans want to participate within a collective experience (i.e. turn on their Zoom cameras)? On the flip side, what makes us feel the need to disengage and simply observe? After months of trialing a variety of strategies, as well as developing a new *virtual* teacher training program for my instructors, I unlocked these three fundamental truths that remain consistent across all industries and demographics:
1) A feeling of belonging can only be sparked within live moments of human connection.
2) Belonging opens the doorway to community engagement. (In other words, community engagement occurs when belonging is felt.)
3) Breaking “the rules” sparks belonging; structured play deepens it.
After I discovered the above, I started developing my P.L.A.Y. Method as a recipe to help all facilitators (not just yoga teachers), lead more engaging gatherings. And, with a newfound appreciation for the incredible power facilitators hold in shaping a greater sense of belonging in our modern, isolated world, I created The Uplift Center for forward-thinking leaders and event producers like you. I look forward to P.L.A.Y.-ing with you soon!
FAQ
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Drunk Yoga is a great name, let’s be honest. While I made the decision to change the name of the interactive yoga class itself to The Uplift Experience—(as it’s more reflective of what we aim to do)—I wanted to keep my trademarked DY brand in the mix. So now, Drunk Yoga has evolved into the Drunk Yoga® Method—an online masterclass training program for multi-passionate yoga teachers who want to learn how to build and launch their own immersive yoga brand, integrating two or more activities into one, mostly to make yoga more accessible to newbies. In other words, I created an online course that lays out how to teach my signature Drunk Yoga class, as well as how to leverage these foundational structures to help yoga teachers bring their own wild wellness brand to life.
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Since I first created Drunk Yoga® in 2017 as a way to make yoga more fun, social and accessible for beginners and teams by turning a conventional yoga class into a party with "drinking games," icebreakers and uplifting music, my team and I have enjoyed countless incredible experiences "lifting spirit(s)" for individuals, organizations and brands across the globe.
In the process, I've discovered something pretty cool: the magic of Drunk Yoga® is in the art of play--namely the way my curated yoga class sparks joy through...
1) Games (i.e. if you lose your balance, take a sip; if you mix up your left n' right, say something you're grateful for; if you spill your drink, give your neighbor a compliment)
2) Cheeky icebreaker questions (first celebrity crush? last job in the world you'd ever want? most boring thing about you?)
3) And our uplifting music playlists, full of throwback tunes that evoke just the right amount of nostalgia with that chefs kiss feeling of "OMG I LOVED this song when I was a teenager!" (We customize these playlists for every event.)
And, while my class originally sparked international acclaim for adding wine to yoga, we've always offered non-alcoholic beverage alternatives for non-drinkers, because (thanks to all of the above!), we fill your cup(s) regardless of what's in 'em. My mission in all of my work is to challenge social norms to help people get over themselves and spark radical belonging.
Still, more and more in our modern #sobercurious culture (which I'm totally here for!), I've come to realize that the brand name "Drunk Yoga" has now become a barrier to entry, making my once super accessible yoga experience feel exclusive.
Enter: Uplift Experiences™ - the same fun, immersive social wellness sessions you know and love inspired by Drunk Yoga®, but now with even more opportunities to customize your beverages, music themes, and yoga levels to make it even easier for us to uplift your people for corporate team-building events, brand activations and conferences. -
It’s no secret that we’re experiencing a loneliness crisis in our modern world, and while buzz words like “community” and “inclusivity” hover in almost every future-of-work conversation, few have tangible solutions for integrating these concepts into our individualistic societal structures. In fact, according to Deloitte, 79% of companies acknowledge they have a belonging problem, but only 13% feel prepared to address it. That’s where we come in. Consider The Uplift Center your #1 belonging buddy, here to support you with practical tools to foster belonging at your events to create lasting connections long after.