Denise Wendler's passion for yoga has taken her all over the world. She began studying yoga in 1984, taking various styles with teachers in California and Japan. In 1992, she took her first Iyengar class and connected with it so strongly that it changed the course of her life. In 1995, she began the teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, and in 1996 she started holding small classes in her home. After graduating from the Institute, Denise set her sights on becoming a certified Iyengar instuctor. Comprehensive training came to successful fruition after rigorous certification examinations in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Denise returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2004 after teaching in Florida for a year. In 2005, she was fortunate to study with the Iyengar family in Pune at the Ramamani Memorial Iyengar Yoga Institute. In 2007, she passed her third certification exam in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, becoming an Intermediate Junior I/Level 2 instructor. In 2018, she completed a 3 year Therapeutic Teacher Training program through Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics. In 2019, she completed the 4 Module course on the Yoga Sutras in Study and Practice through the Vidya Institute. Denise continues the study of all 8 limbs of Yoga with Lois Steinberg, through the Vidya Institute with Gloria Goldberg and Gitte Beechsgaard, and with her mentor, Elise Miller. She recently returned from a spiritual pilgrimage to the Bellur Iyengar Yoga Center and Shiva & Devi temples around Tamil Nadu.

 

Denise's classes draw faithful students who appreciate her encouraging spirit and patient instruction. She teaches classes, workshops and retreats on-line, all over Northern California and beyond and enjoys working with students of all abilities.. Her goal is to not only coach people to greater physical strength and flexibility, but also to guide them toward a focused center of self-awareness, for that is where all great journeys begin. 

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She is a CIYT (Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher), a C-IAYT (Certified Yoga Therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists) and an RYT 500 (Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance).