Barb Totzke
Movement, sports, competition and sweat have always been a huge part of my life. Growing up the 5th of 6 kids, I was fortunately strongly supported in my many forays of physical activity. Basketball, track, drill team, cheerleading, softball, flag football, weightlifting, triathlons…you name it! If you could trash talk about it – I was up for it!
I’m not sure what led me to my first yoga class in 1996. I do know that I was sooo cold and sooo tight, I sprinted back to the turbo-trainer as fast as I could. Five years later, with a much kinder, gentler mindset, I made my way back to the mat. A dear friend, to whom I will always be grateful, recommended a class at Studio E – a killer studio in an old boxing gym on Swiss Avenue. I showed up for class 30 minutes early… nervous and unsure. Chinook Wusdhu was preparing the space. He graciously welcomed me to ‘E’ and then knocked me out with a challenging and creative yoga flow. I was hooked! I am grateful to both Chinook’s and Bruce Boyd’s teachings at Studio E – they cemented my love for this practice and opened the door to major change in my life.
I continued my personal practice with Chinook and, in turn, he planted the seed that I would be teaching yoga before this thing was all over. I started hosting informal weekly yoga gatherings with friends and family soon after and the pure joy and sense of connection that grew from these sessions formed the beginnings of Tsada Yoga.
Thanks to the amazing efforts of Kendall Inman and Living Yoga Dallas, I have had the opportunity to study with many talented yogis and yoginis – Shiva Rea, Rod Stryker, Seane Corn, Judith Lassiter, Beryl Bender Birch, Eric Schiffman, Rodney Yee, Baron Baptiste and more. I have also enjoyed learning from and sharing the teachings of Dharma Mittra and Desiree Rumbaugh. And I have absorbed much from the rising yoga stars that we host regularly at Tsada – Kelly Haas, Eagle, Pradeep, Michelle Bouvier, Karl Straub, Blair Lewis, Cassandra deLarios, Liz Tucker and Kendall Inman.
Love and thanks go to Ro Chapa and Sheri Cherokee for guiding me through the Alpha-Omega ashtanga-based 200-HR RYT program all while allowing individual style and creative spirit to stay at the forefront. I think of my current teaching style as a complimentary mix of yin & yang – reinforcing a balance of strength & softness, of power & surrender, of challenge & acceptance. Always acknowledging that the physical practice is only one small part of the wisdom that is yoga. The mat is a beautiful microcosmic school of life and everybody’s experience is going to be different. It’s a blessing to be part of the journey.
