My name is Eric Walrabenstein.
Some people know me as a teacher of meditation and yoga, others as a best-selling author, and still others as an entrepreneur in the mind-body wellness field.
But really, the truth is much simpler than any of that. It’s this:
I help people use the wisdom and practices from yoga and the great spiritual traditions to create the lives of their heart's desire.
Here’s the thing: I have a very clear vision for each and every one of us:
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It’s one in which we all live in an unshakeable certainty of why we are here and what we want to create in our lives;
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It’s one in which we stand confident and assured in our abilities and contribution;
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It’s one in which the the feeling of abundance, meaning and joy pervades each moment of our every endeavor.
And everything I do, whether it’s writing, speaking, teaching, or coaching, is in support of that vision.
My yoga story started in an unlikely place—on the floor of a public restroom.
This was back 1992 and I was in the handicap stall of Michael Mina’s Aqua restaurant in San Francisco. And instead of enjoying a delicious dinner and pleasant conversation with a business client, I was huddled on the floor in the bathroom hyperventilating, soaked with sweat, and convinced I was having a heart attack.
But, I wasn’t having a heart attack, I was having a panic attack, one that was brought on by a raging case of PTSD I’d be wrestling with for 12 years.
Back when I was a skinny 17-year-old kid, I was mugged at knife-point in a dark parking garage in Sacramento, California. The attack left me beat up pretty good, but, little did I know, that wasn’t the half of it…
The truth was the attack left me with what would become a well-developed case of post-traumatic stress.
From that day forward—enclosed spaces, even nice ones like this upscale restaurant, would send me into a low-grade panic, when I was around people who even looked like my attackers, I would well up with feelings of anxiety and fear, and even the smell of gas, oil, and rubber that reminded me of the parking garage, would set me off.
And it was this episode on the floor of the bathroom that made me realize it was going to take a lot more than seeing my therapist a couple times a week and throwing back some Xanax to get my life back.
This is how I came to yoga.
Like millions before me, I first started going to yoga classes. The postures calmed my nerves, the breathing steadied my mind, and the meditation left me clear and focuses.
But it wasn't until several years after I started practicing yoga, and after two yoga teacher training programs, that I began to realize there was so much more to this ancient science of transformation than was being taught in yoga classes.
It was these deeper, long-forgotten wisdom that connected me with something at once sacred and profound about myself—and all of creation. I found myself experiencing a buoyant sense of joy and meaning that seemed to come from nowhere and felt as if a void had been filled within me.
Since that time, I've been privileged to be able to help literally thousands of people all around the globe using those very practices and wisdom to awaken their own lives of joy and connection and love.
My goal has never been to make people meditators or yoga practitioners. Instead, it has been to help people sculpt the lives they want—with the help of these ancient and proven technologies of mind and body.
Which, as I’ve learned in my own life, are powerful antidotes to the harried pace and demands of modern life.
To that end, I’ve been singularly focused on extracting the essence from these practices and making them practical and relevant for creating everything from productivity to happiness, and from wellness to a lived connection to the Divine.
I’ve worked with tens of thousands of people in my Phoenix-based wellness center, Yoga Pura. I’ve helped thousands of military service members and veterans all around the world, and now my mission is to help as many people as I possibly can to put these powerful tools to work and create the happy, healthy, and productive lives they deserve.
Let me know how I might help you. It’s why I’m here.
