Eli Walker

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Eli Walker Belonging Expert, Keynote Speaker, Solo-Performance Artist, Founder/Author of Drunk Yoga® & Creator of The Uplift Center: School for Belonging

10/06/2026

2 ways to make strangers feel like they belong within 30 seconds of meeting you:

1. Give them a compliment.

But not about their appearance. Compliment something you notice about their energy or the gift they bring to the room just by being in it. “You have a really calming presence.” “The way you asked that question made the whole conversation better.” “Your energy makes me feel really safe.”

Appearance compliments say “I looked at you.” Presence compliments say “I see you and value you.” Big difference.

1. Skip the small talk. Forever and ever. Like, get rid of it. Instead, name the unsaid. If everyone at the networking event is exhausted and feeling awkward and pretending not to be, say that. If there’s tension because of hurt feelings in any kind of relationship, name it. The elephant runs a room until someone names it. By saying the thing everyone is already thinking, it bridges the space between your story and my story and creates a third, collective narrative, and thus, belonging.

Belonging is designed, not accidentally discovered, and it starts with what we choose to notice.

09/30/2026

‘Kill the Buddha’ opens tomorrow night!

So grateful to my tiny but mighty team Alex Kunz + Erin McGuff-Pennington + Norma's Hudson Valley who helped me bring this to life again!

Special mention to Marjorie Ruth + St. Rita’s Music Room + Drew Prochaska + Broadway In Beacon + Patrick Mike for the extra marketing and tech support🙏

See you Oct. 1st and 3rd from the stage🎭

Link in bio for 🎟️

09/27/2026

We are all Josh🫶

Two nights only at Norma's Hudson Valley 🎭

Link in bio for tix🎟️

09/27/2026

Someone asked me this after I gave a talk recently, and it reminded me of something I want every community builder and people leader to know.

I was explaining how I learned the power of rules and gamification in designing belonging while building my first company, Drunk Yoga®, which later grew into The Uplift Center, my belonging design studio. And the honest answer is: no. I built the rules as I went and as the experience grew, out of necessity.

Which is the big lesson. Belonging evolves within live experiences and communities through boundaries that arise out of necessity. You don’t have to have everything figured out on day one. If something feels out of control, build a rule for it.

Here’s what that looked like in class:

🍷 Lose your balance? Take a sip. (Makes mistakes feel low stakes and fun.)

🙏 Mix up your left and right? Say something you’re grateful for. (This turns a mistake into a positive.)

💛 Spill on your neighbor’s mat? Give them a compliment. (Designs positive connection in a sneaky fun way.)

🕺 Last person to put their cup on their head makes up a dance move. (Honestly? I created this one as a way of herding cats when students got a little rowdy towards the end.)

😘 Sip without being told? You owe ME a compliment. (This kept anyone from drinking too much, because Drunk Yoga® was never literal, just a cheeky name that caught attention. Also, I scored free compliments. .)

Every rule solved a real, specific disconnection problem. And because each one was a game, it designed belonging instead of discipline.

This is the big difference: play makes boundaries feel uplifting. Rules as punishment make people feel shame and exclusion. Which is not what we want.

If your community or experience feels chaotic, first know that this is normal, and you can design safety and belonging as you build…less for the sake of control and more for play.

09/25/2026

We keep saying people need more connection. I think we’re missing two things.

First, we’ve lost real alone time. Not scrolling-alone, alone alone. Time with yourself, no input from phones. And that matters because you can’t feel like you belong with other people if you’ve lost the thread of belonging to yourself. Loneliness isn’t just the absence of people. Sometimes it’s the absence of you at the center.

And second, we’ve lost spontaneity. Nothing in modern life is built for social friction anymore. No bumping into neighbors, or default third places, and infinite options for every night of netflix and delivery, which paradoxically means we close ourselves off to wonder and chance meetings, and we struggle commit to anything. The paradox of choice is a belonging killer. The opposite of belonging isn’t loneliness, it’s indecision.

So here’s my unsexy solution. If spontaneity doesn’t happen naturally anymore in your life, you have to plan for it. Build containers for it. Like a standing weekly potluck with friends. A monthly open mic. A social ritual you’re held accountable for that happens whether you feel like it or not. Scheduled spontaneity sounds like an oxymoron but I promise you, it’s how belonging survives in 2026.

09/23/2026

Introducing your ‘Hashtag You Belong’ host, Grace!

…(A loving, super appreciative reminder that my one-woman show “Kill the Buddha,” is running for two nights only at Norma’s Cafe in Wappingers Falls Oct. 1st and 3rd✌️)

It’s a darkly comic solo show about spiritual gurus, wellness culture and my own path from eager yoga student to viral yoga entrepreneur to self-proclaimed “belonging expert.” It all unravels during a podcast interview that goes very off script as I play a rotating cast of characters.

Tickets + more details via link in bio🎟️

09/21/2026

Okay here it is👆

Come see “Kill the Buddha” in October in the Hudson Valley, subscribe to my newsletter to be the first to know about 2027 tour dates✌️

09/18/2026

I was giving a talk recently and afterward someone from the audience asked me how to embrace their weirdness as a facilitator.

First of all, great question. Secondly, you’re not as weird as you think.

Truly. Everyone thinks they’re too weird. If you don’t…you’re weird. Your weirdness is not a liability, like a brokenness to hide. Structurally speaking, weirdness is a gift.

Because in belonging design: when you’re fully yourself, you give everyone around you permission to be fully themselves. Your weirdness is a public service. It lowers the cost of honesty for everyone in the room.

We’re all out here desperate for permission to just be ourselves. If you as the facilitator unapologetically lead by example by embracing the parts of you that you think are weird, you set up the conditions for belonging to arise naturally for your people (and inadvertently yourself).

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