My name is Zimbo. I teach yoga and lead our yoga community. Yoga is essential to me. It continues to heal me, resists the ravages of time, and helps me hold my hard-won health and wellness gains. I get asked why I only teach twice a week; the answer is balance. I try not to commit too much time to one thing. I need decompression time and time to engage other interests that do not have an obligation to show up.
I think my classes are different enough to differentiate my style and I went with Zimboga as the name. Zimboga tumbles off the tongue well, is kinda cute and fits into ‘my branding’ (my unique breed of cattle are Zimbos (because they look just like me), my creek is called the Zimbezi (humorously, because it’s tiny), and the entertainment center on the farm is called the Zimbezi Lodge, (humorously, because Lodge it’s not)).
Zimbo is not the name on my birth certificate, if you’re interested ask me for that story. I do prefer people to use it over the name my parents came up with. In part this is because I am not the same person I was as a young man. I have grown and changed and I think I’m a better person now.
It’s difficult to say a person is just one thing. While my experiences certainly color how I teach yoga, like others, I am many things.
Zambia & Rhodesia
I was born in the high, tropical mountains of Rhodesia near Mozambique. Rhodesians were known for their love of playing sports (vs watching sports), being outdoors, being at war, their fiercely united and close knit community, being adventuresome, and being conservative (compared to Europeans). I’m also a Frontiersman. My father, his father and back another 2 generations all lived in a very primitive, undeveloped, part of Africa. Away from any civilized conveniences a person learns self-reliance and creativity.
When I was not in boarding school, I was living in Zambia, in a mud hut, in the middle of nowhere. My father built roads on government contracts, into remote parts of wild Africa and we lived in semi-permanent camps that moved with the road progress. There is so much more to this, if you’re interested ask me sometime.
High School was all boys, Catholic and Jesuit. I devoted my time to all the sports, Boy Scouts, chasing girls and being a DJ. My best friend and I had a mobile disco. We did weddings and parties and once a month we filled a school hall with kids. I also played at a local night club and on the radio. The DJ thing provided us with lots of spending cash and those two things really helped with chasing girls. I really got into Scouts, so many adventures, international trips, friends and skills. This is where I developed a love for backpacking, a love that helped me in my time as a Green Beret and continues today in the Cherokee National Forest. There is more, Ask me if you are interested.
USA
My family waited until I completed High School to emigrate to the USA. New Orleans is where we hung our hats. Lucky for me, it was the last place in the USA to move the drinking age from 18 to 21! I had a couple of jobs but my life really kicked off when I found true love in Uncle Sam. I liked the Army and the Army liked me. They taught me fun stuff (like how to blow things up, jump out of aircraft and unconventional warfare), gave me the chance to lead other soldiers, sent me all over the world, and let me play with expensive big boy toys (like machine guns, UAVs, rotary wings and tanks). I quickly found a home with the Green Beenies and really enjoyed the responsibility and latitude that came with that hat.
Uncle Sam & I stayed together 20 years, but like my 1st marriage, it ended with pain. The marital damage came in court and the military damage happened on the battlefield.
Long before getting a TBI & breaking half the bones in my body in Iraq I took time to become a Chemical Engineer. I worked in the oil industry all over the world. Of the offers I got in college, I chose that job because they said I could travel full time on their dime. Between personal travel, military travel and engineering travel I racked up almost 80 countries. Now that I’ve healed enough, I intend to add a few more. Somehow 2 kids came along and all that traveling seemed selfish and complicated so we settled in Tennessee. I bought some businesses and started some others for a total of 7 and thought I’d try being a businessman. Leading soldiers was an amazing experience, leading an S F-ODA Team, as their commander, was one of the best experiences of my life. Managing employees sucked.
Most of my SF time was in support of Bush senior’s war on drugs in Central and South America. Fun times (not). Yes, ask me if you want more stories.
9-11 happened just in time to save me from chocking a few workers. I answered the call to arms and went to play in the big sandbox. It was a full blown insurgency when I got there and it turns out that I am well suited for such stuff. Quickly, I became a player on the national stage which meant lots of helicopter & road travel. Each trip outside the wire was a dice roll. Eventually, even this lucky SOB had a bad day. Twice! The healing continues today, but I defeated the TBI, back injuries, mangled body and chronic pain in about 15 years. I still need to go to the VA and there I see my peers. Veterans my age who received far less grievous wounds, yet they have deteriorated so fast! My secret is yoga. Yoga helped me heal: mind, body & spirit. My teaching and practice are essential to keeping me, all of me, healthy. Thank you for allowing me the privileged of leading your practice, I need it.
What do I do now?
Since I’ve not had a job since 2006, I’ve had the opportunity to get into other things. I have a farm, called Vintage Quest Acres, with cattle, hogs, orchard, some woods and a spring-fed creek. Over the years I’ve done all kinds of things on the farm: aquaponics, CSA vegetable boxes, bees, mushrooms, forest gardening, greenhouses, tropical fruit, goats, dairy products, ducks, turkeys, chickens, guinea, catfish, and much more. I started my own breed of cattle, Zimbos (naturally), and they’re still here (well, some are in my freezers).
Tongue in cheek, I call the creek the ‘Zimbezi’, which is a nod to the Zambezi of my homeland. My Zimbezi is nothing like that huge river. Instead, it is where I entertain friends and family. I built a lodge, some accommodations, axe throwing, put up a slack line, and a big ‘ol bonfire pit with grill & rotisserie. Friends gather to eat, drink and play drums.
After yoga my next strongest passions are whitewater kayaking and snow sports (I teach skiing). Others include: backpacking, leather work, woodwork, rock climbing, dance, acro-yoga, arts & crafts, and mountain biking. I have also been known to take a run every now and then, maybe visit the weights and pool at the gym and even go surfing. I used to SCUBA often when I traveled and plan to get back into that at some point. I also am involved in several disabled veteran communities. I can sing in public but there is no way anyone would willingly come into a room if they knew, ahead of time, I would be singing there.
Family
I have an ex-wife. Pity, after 30 years together. I have two wonderful, adult off-spring. My daughter had 1 boyfriend in high school and is still married to him. As of 2025, she has given me 4 fabulous grandchildren who call me Zimpa. My son always seems to have a really cute girlfriend but there are no plans for marriage or kids as of 2025.
As of Sept 2025 I’ve been dating the same amazing woman for about 3 years. As long as she doesn’t realize how much of a better deal I’m getting, I’ll keep her as close as I can for as long as I can.
Veteran Activity
Since leaving the service, I have been involved with the disabled veteran community in one way or another. Sometimes giving my time and talents and sometimes receiving. I have run disabled veteran yoga and rock climbing programs for years, volunteered for D.V. snow sports, water sports and biking . I’ve also done peer mentoring, someone really has to be messed up to think I make sense!
