55: Erwin B. Valencia - NBA Wellness Expert, the "Godfather of Gratitude," Non-Profit & Web3 Founder on the Power of Gratitude and Much More

The term “polymath” gets thrown around quite a bit these days, with many people positioning themselves as experts in X, Y, or Z. However, a lot of times it's, as they say, "all hat, no cattle." And then there's Erwin B. Valencia who despite wearing many hats - both literally and figuratively, truly embodies the term. 

Erwin – (aka “E,” or the “Godfather of Gratitude”) is a professional polymath: Wellness Expert/High-Performance Sports Clinician/ Life Coach / Community Nurturer / Non-Profit Founder / Mentor / Dance Ninja. 

He is the Team Physical Therapist & Wellness Lead for the New York Knicks, the first Filipino to be hired on medical staff of any major US sports team (both the NBA and MLB), founder of Grasshopper Project and Gratitude Gang, and has emerged as a Web3 thought leader on a mission to inspire 1 million Filipinos in the next 5 years. He was recently named one of the 75 Most Influential Filipino Americans, alongside celebrities such as comedian Jo Koy and singer Olivia Rodrigo

Join Untether Your Life host Nikhil Torsekar as he sits down with Erwin to discuss numerous topics, including:

• How martial arts can teach us to strike a balance between aggressiveness and stillness and, as Bruce Lee once stated, “flow like water.” 
• How Erwin has brought the practice of breathwork and meditation to bring mindfulness to the NBA, which is typically a very adrenaline and fight-or-flight driven environment
• How can starting each day with gratitude, intentionality, and meditation enables Erwin to maximize The 4 P’s – positivity, peace, passion, and purpose – and helped him to manage his mental health even during unforeseen setbacks in initiatives he’d launched
• Erwin's pride in being Filipino, and serving as a mentor, role model, and kuya (Tagalog for "elder brother") to countless future leaders from this region 
• The Filipino concept of atat, or extreme urgency, and how it can often lead to the exact opposite outcome of what we’d hoped for
• Erwin’s experience with Mindvalley, the world’s leading personal growth platform, along with The Silva Method, which he’d learned about in the Philippines as a 14-year old

To connect with E and learn more about Grasshopper Project, Gratitude Gang, his work with the Knicks, and his thoughts on gratitude (and much more), follow him on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. 

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about Untether Your Life and other projects:

Instagram

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

GIOSTAR Chicago