Social wellness
for live events
Immersive experiences that blend mindfulness, play & community for brands, conferences & teams. Science backed, performance crafted & designed to spark radical belonging. No trust falls. Zero cringe. (We promise.)
We design the moments
where belonging happens.
From Drunk Yoga® to Building Belonging through P.L.A.Y.
The Uplift Center emerged from Eli's internationally acclaimed Drunk Yoga® - the world's first "yoga drinking game" that proved making wellness fun creates profound connection. What started as a social experiment became a global phenomenon, teaching us that the gateway to belonging is play.
We’ve built belonging for
Our Services
Research shows that when people feel belonging, they’re more engaged, collaborative + they stick around.
Which is why we strategically (+ playfully) design live social wellness experiences that spark radical belonging for corporate retreats, off-sites, brand activations and wellness activities for conferences. We have a long history of working with NY and NYC based teams in the Hudson Valley, but Eli and her team are also happy to travel for your event. We offer virtual wellness activities that build belonging, as well. Pick a single activity, or let us sequence several into one seamless journey.
Team-Building
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We design interactive games and wellness experiences that turn coworkers into collaborators. (No trust falls required.)
Brand Activations
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Luxury brands, event producers and organizations hire us to curate unique, immersive pop-up experiences for their communities.
Conference Activities
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We bring both [uplifting] energy and [centering] relaxation through interactive wellness experiences to conferences and festivals so your attendees leave feeling belonging and rejuvenation.
Company Retreats
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Our programs actually shift how people show up for each other, including icebreakers for community-building and intelligent yoga sequences for rejuvenation. *Also available: Professional development talks & workshops on community engagement.
The Experiences Menu
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The Experiences Menu /
01:
[Social] Yoga & Mindfulness
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The viral sensation that started it all. Our yoga drinking game with a beverage in hand, coffee, wine, juice, coconut water or whatever makes you feel like your cup is full.
These bespoke, beginner friendly interactive yoga drinking games turn a solo practice into a social one, with games and laughter built in, so wellness and community building become a one-stop solution. It is the fastest way to get a room laughing, moving and talking to people they have never met.Good for: brand activations, conferences, off-sites, celebrations, instant energy.
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All the fun of Drunk Yoga® with none of the drinking. Gentle stretching and partner games loosen the body and the room at the same time, building camaraderie and reigniting a passion for the collective. It is the easy yes for groups that want movement and connection without the wellness intimidation factor or the beverage. People leave looser, warmer and noticeably more comfortable with each other.
Good for: team-building, off-sites, all-levels groups, sober-friendly events.
02:
[Non-cheesy] Play
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This uplifting yoga session is paired with story and themed music playlists to unlock a deeper sense of belonging to yourself, your body and the present moment. It is intelligent and all levels, so a room of total beginners and seasoned practitioners can move through it together and feel equally welcome. Think less performance and more permission. A grounding, restorative way to open or close a day before the bigger group moments begin.
Good for: conferences, off-sites, retreats, opening and closing a day.
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Guided meditation made ever so slightly social through light interactive moments, so stillness becomes something a group does together rather than alone in the same room. Beginner friendly and connection forward, it builds the quiet, the safety and the centeredness that real connection needs before it can happen. A calm reset that works as its own moment or as the settling beat before play and conversation.
Good for: conferences, retreats, high-stress teams, a reset inside a packed agenda.
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The classic game night, redesigned to build belonging. Think charades but better, plus a rotating lineup of fast, interactive, lightly competitive games that get a whole room shouting, laughing and accidentally (but like, totally on-purpose) bonding.
Teams form on the fly, the usual hierarchy goes out the window and people who would never chat at a mixer end up high-fiving over a ridiculous round. It is structured enough to never stall and loose enough to feel like recess for grown-ups. The kind of night people bring up for months.Good for: off-sites, parties, team-building, conference evenings, anyone who wants the energy turned up.
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The cringe free icebreaker. Playful, interactive and non cheesy 30 to 45 minute sessions for facilitated networking at live events, designed to uplift, engage and spark radical belonging. No name tags read aloud and no forced fun that makes people quietly check their phones. Just designed prompts and games that get a room laughing and actually talking, fast. The perfect on-ramp before a keynote, a meal or a longer program.
Good for: conferences, networking events, kickoffs, the first hour of anything.
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The intern and the executive spell the same impossible words. Competitive, hilarious, and surprisingly humbling. A team spelling bee that brings out everyone's inner overachiever.
The intern and the executive spell the same impossible words, and the whole room is rooting for both. Competitive, hilarious and surprisingly humbling, this team spelling bee brings out everyone's inner overachiever and flattens the hierarchy in the most joyful way possible. Equal parts game show and bonding exercise, it is the kind of thing people are still quoting back at each other weeks later.
Good for: off-sites, parties, team-building, anyone who likes friendly chaos.
03:
[Chill] Connection
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Networking with soul. A facilitated gathering of storytelling, intentional small groups and structured conversation that gets you past "let's connect on LinkedIn" and into the architecture of belonging.
A host led story opens the room, breakout questions invite people in gently and a closing moment lets everyone offer one line back to the group. It is the antidote to the awkward mixer, designed so the introverts and the extroverts both leave having actually connected.Good for: conferences, founder and member communities, networking events.
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A short storytelling workshop followed by a Moth-style open mic sharing sesh for folks to share personal, comedic stories. Bring your people together through shared laughter.
A short storytelling workshop followed by a Moth style open mic sharing session for people to tell personal, comedic stories. Bring your people together through shared laughter and the kind of honesty that only comes out when someone has a mic and permission. The workshop piece means nobody is thrown in cold, so even the quiet ones often surprise themselves. A roomful of coworkers becomes an audience that has actually met each other.
Good for: retreats, off-sites, culture moments, teams ready to go a layer deeper.
“I wholeheartedly recommend Eli and her team to anyone looking to elevate their event experience to new heights.”
- Jake Pereira
Experience Manager, Porsche
Our Secret (+ Why It Works)
All of our experiences run on the same simple, science-backed belonging design principles, drawn from the P.L.A.Y. Method.
01: The arc of a story
Every experience is built like a narrative. A beginning that centers intention, a middle that broadens perspective and connection and an ending that grounds attendees in shared transformation.
02: Play dissolves hierarchy
Shared play is the great equalizer. When it’s facilitated well (which we do), play is the fastest route past titles, departments and outdated social norms that create barriers to connection.
03: Connection without the cringe
Our curated prompts spark meaningful conversation sans forced vulnerability (you’re welcome), like laughter-inducing icebreakers sans the “cringe” factor.
04: Just enough introspection
A measured dose of stillness and introspection that offers a moment of personal safety before plugging into the collective.
05: The space between me & we
Through 30-90 minute experiences, we recharge the self while recharging through community and team support, so people leave restored on both counts.
How it works
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Tell us about your people, your event, and what you're hoping to create. We'll listen.
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We'll send you a custom proposal with experience options, pricing, and recommendations tailored to your goals.
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Together, we'll design the perfect mix of yoga or other movement, meditation, storytelling, games, icebreakers, throwback playlists and optional beverages. Whatever fits your vision.
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Show up with your team, your attendees, your community. We'll handle the rest.
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Your people leave feeling connected, engaged, and wondering why every event isn't like this.
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People who feel like they belong.
You get a team that's more engaged, a culture that's more cohesive, and an event people won't stop talking about.How? Because our P.L.A.Y. Book is inspired by Eli's original Drunk Yoga® phenomenon and proven method for designing out-of-the-box social wellness activities that optimize your gatherings for belonging, engagement, and retention (while having so much fun in the process.)
“We knew this experience for our team would be fun, but we were thrilled to discover that it far exceeded our expectations for community-building. From the organizer side, everything was easy, and I could tell Eli’s team really cared about making our event a success. I absolutely recommend it!”
- Elina Striznak
Director of People, Ceros
“Eli Walker’s curated wellness experiences have been key to our corporate event activities and brand activations – one of the first we opted to work with and now, our go-to for community-building and yoga.”
- Amy Ramskill
Sales & Marketing Director, Hotel Erwin
FAQ
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Wherever you (our awesome clients) send Eli! While we don’t have a physical studio space, Eli is based in New York and travels all over the world to host immersive yoga activities for corporate events.
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While beverages and yoga mats are not included in our pricing, we offer discount codes to our favorite partnering beverage brands and co-branded yoga mats alto order via drop-shipping.
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Nope! Her signature experience includes a beverage of some kind in-hand (wine, coffee, juice, etc.), as the experience plays much like a drinking game. However, she can also curate a fun beverage-less class that still offers icebreakers and partner games for camaraderie-building.
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Yes! Eli is frequently hired by organizations, festivals and brands to curate large-scale, long-term programming. Eli handles the creative design of your social wellness experiences, scheduling and facilitator/contractor coordination.
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Eli and most of her senior teachers are in NYC and the Hudson Valley area. We also have teachers in LA and Dallas. However, for corporate events, we send our teachers wherever your experience takes place!
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While customizable upon request, our signature experience is 90-minutes in length, allowing 15 minutes for participants to mingle before class begins. Once settled, Eli or one of our certified instructors explains the rules for safety and yoga drinking games for fun. (Think, “If you lose your balance, take a sip. If you’re mix up your left and right, say something you’re grateful for.) The interactive yoga experience culminates in a group game, followed by a relaxing “sip n’ stretch” for optimum joy and belonging.
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Research shows that when people feel a sense of belonging, they engage more deeply, collaborate with curiosity, and develop loyalty to your brand and community.
Which is why we harness the art of live experience design and the power of play to foster that sense of belonging in memorable, meaningful ways at your live events.
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Yoga is where this all started. Yoga is belonging embodied, where we learn to orient ourselves in time and space, calm our nervous systems and develop a better relationship with presence and what's around us. It's belonging with self, which is where all belonging begins.
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Because hi, it's awesome. Through Drunk Yoga®, we learned that adding structure and games to yoga turned a solo practice into a social experience, and suddenly people who'd never connected in our classes before were laughing, moving, and actually talking to one another.
Mindfulness, movement, play, and storytelling are all ingredients to the same belonging recipe.