Zimboga is my style of yoga. It’s unusual but I believe it’s impactful. It can be just a fitness class to you or it can be your ‘ashram-like’ community of personal growth.
Zimboga is all-levels, unique, varied, advanced focused, incorporates all 8 limbs & 6 paths emphasizing Asanas. National Fitness Center – Signature, Mondays & Thursdays 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm.
Zimboga-Lite is all-levels, unique, varied, beginner focused, mostly focused on teaching the Asanas, while building strength, flexibility and balance. These are also at National Fitness Center – Signature, Thursdays 10:35 (Zimboga-Lite) and Fridays – 8:30 at NFC Sevierville (Zimboga-Lite)
I only have you for 1 to 3 hours a week so it’s difficult to get you into amazing shape with so little time. You’ll need to do more on your own. I do cover a wide range of health, wellness and fitness techniques but I don’t have time to work everything. Additionally, because I have so much variety in the classes it’s tough to peak in any one area. For example, if you wanted to be able to do a ‘press handstand’ you’d have to work that for hours every week. I can’t devote my classes to just one benefit. I suggest you use Zimboga as your ‘base’. Zimboga is a great, overall strength, fitness and well-being practice. Build your custom fitness and activity lifestyle on the Zimboga base. Also, do things we learn in class on your own so you don’t lose the benefits before the next time we do something similar.
What to Expect
Unless I post something on the Facebook Group or Facebook Page, students will not know what to expect in class. They are fabulous because they come in without knowing what I’ll do in class but trust it’ll be worth their time & I’ll act in their best interest. I pay careful attention to what we have done recently e.g. arms, core, legs, balance, flexibility, cardio, technical postures or combinations, etc. I plan the next classes based on what I think the class needs, what we haven’t done in a while or student requests. So a class could be a ‘kick-ass power flow’, a ‘yin restorative’ class, a ‘slow flow’ with lots of arm balances and inversions, a fusion of Pilates, Barre and yoga, a fun ‘yogic dance’, a ‘meditative flow’, a flow with weights, a prop class (think yoga wheel, blocks, straps, bands & balls), a ‘pranayama flow’ to live drum beat or include practically anything else connected to fitness, health, wellness and yoga.
The classes take place in the Mind/Body room at National Fitness Center – Signature. For less than $60/month you’ll get my yoga and access to all the features of the best gym in the region. 130 000ft2 of health club: saunas, hot tubs, racquetball, other fitness classes, weights, cardio, movie theater, rock climbing, child care, pools, running track, dojo, MMA room, and much more. The room is climate controlled, fully mirrored with a beautiful cork floor and has a good sound system.
We set up our mats in a circular fashion with the Instructor’s mat in the center. Think spokes on a bicycle wheel. This way there is no front or back row, everyone can see my demonstrations and all students can see each other. When newer students can see more experienced Zimbogis I can get away with less cueing, using that time for other things (like form corrections and personalized attention). As an instructor I do give demonstrations but I am a ‘walk & talk’ type instructor. I believe that if I am doing all the poses up front I cannot properly see what the students are doing and therefore cannot be available to: change the flow to suit the situation, spot them in a handstand, offer modifications & amplifications or correct a misplaced foot.
What do you need?
There are mats, blocks, straps, weights, bands, balls and gliders available. You’ll need your own yoga wheel. You can wait to spend money until you know you’ll come regularly. Also, the gym mats are thin, cheap and move on the floor so if you plan to continue your yoga practice, get a really good ‘grippy-sticky’ mat. A water bottle is a good idea. Once you’ve been a few times I’ll give you a Zimboga sticker for your stainless steel water bottle. You can get an idea of what we’ll do in class by checking the Facebook page and Facebook group regularly.
