Here's what's going on...

If you're here, you probably know... 

My name is Eric Walrabenstein and, for over 30 years now (gulp), I’ve been helping people use the ancient wisdom of yoga to sculpt empowered lives of meaning and joy (or at the very least, a reasonable facsimile thereof).

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Much of this work is done at my Phoenix-based yoga center, Yoga Pura, and even more with my students online inside the BrightLife Yoga Collective.

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Even so, for awhile now, I've had this niggling feeling that, given the topsy-turvy, confused, and at times, downright maddening state of the world we live in today, I needed to find a way to bring even more peace onto this planet of ours. This is my humble attempt.

I carved out this little corner of the Internet as a way to deliver the timeless insights, wisdom, and practices from yoga and other perennial wisdom traditions to help you live your very best and happiest life.

Why a Yoga “Newsletter”

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Ok, I’ll admit. I’m not particularly fond of the term “newsletter” as it calls forth images of my old suit-wearing days in the San Francisco Financial District back somewhere in the late, last century.

That said, try as I might, I haven’t been able to squeeze out a better moniker. So, here we are.

Even so, while I might not be confident on what to call this little experiment in applied philosophy, I am 100% clear on why it’s needed. And here it is in three parts…

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1. Yoga can change your life...

As one of the most powerful and comprehensive technologies for creating lasting change in the mind-body complex, yoga can radically improve our lives by helping us resolve the widest range of issues and conditions.

From healing from past traumas to releasing limiting beliefs, from stimulating healing to igniting creativity and confidence, and from rejuvenating our relationships to, of course, awakening a lived spiritual connection, yoga is the Swiss Army knife for the human experience.

In short, yoga, real yoga, a yoga that lives out beyond the mere performance of postures, has the capacity to help you become the best and most empowered version of yourself.

I’ve seen miracles happen for my students, and I hope to share some of their stories with you here too.
 

2. If you want yoga to change your life, you're going to have to bring yoga with you into your life...

Duh. A blinding flash of the obvious, I know. Even so, most people, many seasoned yoga practitioners among them, focus their yoga practices almost exclusively on what happens on that little rubber yoga mat.

And, while it might go without saying: If your yoga is limited to what happens on your yoga mat, that’s where most of its benefits will stay. On your mat.

That’s why, there really is a need for practices and techniques to help us invite yoga’s wisdom into our everyday world where they can transform our entire lives.

I’m talking about actionable practices beyond the vacuous platitudes like “happiness is within” or “let go, let God” or any of the other spiritual effluence that leaks out of that gum-snapping yoga teacher down at your local gym.

Not that there’s anything wrong with it, mind you. It’s just here, we'll be remaining laser-focused on the hyper-practical, effective, and dare I say, scientific techniques that are proven to move the needle on our health and happiness.

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3. Lasting change happens from the inside out...

If you’re like most people, you’ve been sold a load of malarkey—and that malarkey smells a little something like this:

Get the outside right, they say, get the right education, live in the right town, have the right career, earn enough money, buy the right house, find the right partner, eat the right food, and take One-a-Day with Iron, they say…

Then, yes then, you’ll be happy, satisfied, and fulfilled.

Get the outside right and the inside (how you feel) will take care of itself, they say.

And yes, it sounds reasonable enough, at least from the perspective of someone whose been fed a steady diet of malarkey, but, the fact is this: it just ain’t so.

But don’t believe me, just look around. There are heaps and gobs of people on this planet who have checked all those boxes, and so many more, who are, right now, wallowing in misery.

Maybe Mark Twain said it best: “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”

And what most of us have been taught about creating profound meaning, connection, and lasting happiness in our lives—just ain’t so.

Here’s the hypothesis: What really matters is not the “outside” (as we've been taught), it’s the “inside”. It’s how you feel that’s truly important.

I mean think about it…

If you feel happy and healthy and optimistic and confident and loved and safe and warm and fuzzy, you’re good.

On the other hand…

If you feel sad and depressed and worthless and worried, you could a have fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, you could have perfect health, you could have a perfect spouse, and perfect kids, and be living in a home that would make Malibu Barbie apoplectic with jealousy, and like, so what? You’re miserable, so none of it matters.

But here’s the open secret…

There is a way to get all of that warm and fuzziness on the inside, no matter what’s going on in your outside. That’s actually what yoga is all about.
 

My hope is that what is shared here will help you live your days overflowing with love and connection and joy and abundance—even when life throws you a curve-ball.

Let’s get to it!