Eli scaled Drunk Yoga® to LA and developed her first 15-hour teacher training program, certifying 30+ yoga teachers slash actors via the art of letting go of their “yoga teacher voice.” Using her unique rule-breaking techniques, her program taught them to dissolve the 4th wall between students and embrace the role of host of these provocative, immersive wellness experiences.

In early 2020, Eli scored a major exclusive contract with Virgin Hotels Dallas, which meant Drunk Yoga® was now in 3 markets, selling out regular events and gaining even more media attention from local news outlets and teacher applicants.

Until, of course, lockdown started. Eli and her team quickly pivoted all of their classes to Zoom, wasting no time in figuring out how to “break the 4th wall” virtually in order to get their students to want to turn on their Zoom cameras…vital to success. Soon, Drunk Yoga® evolved almost entirely to corporate and private events online. This was significant, because it opened the door for Eli to unlock the key ingredients for community engagement (at least within a 60 minute container of a yoga class), and begin to create the recipes for belonging that would later become her famous P.L.A.Y. Method.

Eli took this opportunity to further refine the teacher training program to include entrepreneurship professional development curriculum, which would later evolve into her Uplift Mastermind.

She also took advantage of the ongoing pause on IRL events (hashtag thanks Delta and Omicron Covid variants) to join a volunteer program in West Ghana, Africa, leading sexual health and community based theater workshops for girls aged 8-16.

Her facilitation learnings found their way into her P.L.A.Y. Method and Art of Getting Over Yourself talks and trainings, as her experience in the small village of Kokrobite further enforced her suspicion that playfulness is the key to cultivate belonging—the precursor to engagement and social wellness.

…returning in full swing, this is when Eli leaned into the art of the pop-up—or brand activation—and boosted this offering with strategic partnerships with Millennium Hall in Chicago, Moxy Times Square in NYC and Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, curating cheeky, customized class themes and exclusive marketing opportunities with Bucketlisters.

This is also when a widespread #sobercurious movement took hold alongside surging appreciation for mental health post-quarantine (yay!). In response, Eli secured partnerships with some of the best non-alcoholic beverage companies like Curious Elixirs, Olipop, Flyers, and Wandering Bear coffee for our beloved Espresso-Yo-Self yoga class.

…spirit-lifting essence and leveraging fan fav aspects to design this 2.0 iteration: more customized icebreakers, games and social ritual (ahem, beverages) to tailor the experience specifically to clients’ community-building goals, as well as more yoga class themes to accommodate a wider variety of movement capabilities and music preferences.

In addition to The Uplift corporate team-building and brand collab events, the newest Drunk Yoga® certification program for teachers is now called The Uplift Mastermind.