My name is Wendy Alighieri, aka Bendy Wendy. I believe that fitness should be fun and full of variety. Fitness is a way to care for yourself, not just work out. (Although you will see me working out quite a bit because I really do enjoy it!)  I believe in taking breaks (even during workouts!) and really listening to how your body feels.  I am a certified Yoga, Barre, Group Fitness, TRX Instructor.  I am also a Black Belt and taught Karate for just over a year.  I have been teaching for a little over 5 years. Since I believe you can never stop growing and learning, I am constantly adding certifications and things to teach!  Most importantly, I am a mother to 6 kids who mean the world to me.

Hello and Welcome to Twisted Grit Yoga

It is a privilege for me to practice yoga in such a beautiful, inviting, playful space.

I became a true yoga (to yoke or unite) believer when I found out my younger daughter was a footling breach baby a week before her due date. I was scheduled for a version (where doctors outwardly manipulate the mother’s belly hoping to flip the baby headfirst into the birth canal).  This sounded…ROUGH. So I did yoga!  I researched the poses that can help a baby prepare for a healthy, headfirst natural childbirth and….it was just what we needed. YES, Yoga is transformative!  As a former Kindergarten teacher . Girls on the Run and Track and Field coach, who integrated yoga into weekly routines and workouts, I have personally seen its benefits as students learn to manage stress and overcome challenges by “yoking”  or uniting their body and mind while releasing tension and stress.

From there, I have taught Hatha or Flow Yoga, Yoga Sprouts for Families and Paddleboard Yoga in the Madison area.   

I’m thrilled to be at Twisted Grit Yoga helping Amy and Scott fulfill their dreams.  I know you will feel the love here!

Sanne (Suh-neu) of Alchemy of Dance, teaches Hatha, Vinyasa, Restorative yoga and Fusion bellydance and conditioning. As a teacher, she aims to meet the collective need for holistic healing. Each class is a supportive container that empowers each individual and aims to meet their personal goals of self-discovery, growth, wellness and healing starting from where they are through the alchemy of different techniques from Yoga, active flexibility, strength training, Fusion Bellydance, Temple dance arts, self-regulation, energy healing and more. She teaches in a way that allows the benefits of these movement and healing arts to be accessible to all. She has done many years of self-study or Svadyaya over 10 years based in India. Her spiritual journey took her from Patanjali’s place of enlightenment and some of the highest and most sacred Hindu temples in the Himalayas to the city of San Francisco, and many places in between. Having struggled with severe depression for many years, this divine journey led her to the most transformational teachings that allowed her to find healing. She is also a performer and has performed hundreds of shows all over India, U.S., in Kuwait, Switzerland, and Thailand. She holds 200 hr Sivananda yoga teacher (2010), Reiki levels one and two, Access Consciousness, Dancecraft Diamonds, Spades, and 8 Elements initiation certificates. Other trainings include Holistic Temple dance, Buddhist meditation, Access Consciousness, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kalbelia and traditional bellydance (Raqs Sharki). She is also currently finishing her BSN and has an Associates’ in Science degree. Her and her son Bodhi live in Baraboo with their kitty in her jungle home!

I am blessed to be a teacher bringing healing to individuals and the community through the practice of yoga.

I first started teaching yoga to at-risk adjudicated youth in a wilderness setting in the mountains of Utah. I camped under tarps 365 days a year. I supported kids as they were taken away from their reality and drugs were removed from their lifestyles. I motivated them to start taking accountability for their own story and expressing their real feelings. Implementing a weekly yoga practice became a highlight for the students. Time for themselves, space to let their mind unwind, and set the stage for personal growth. It was a way to help them connect with their breath, move their body and challenge their perception of themselves and their world through a different lens. 

It was at this time in my life, while living out of my truck; mountain biking, rock climbing, running, and working with the adjudicated youth program that I started a formal practice of yoga under the framework of Jonathan friend’s Anusara Yoga. I developed a newfound connection with my own body, mind, and spirit. I built my life around healthy nutrition, water, and my breath. I embodied pranayama, truly finding my unique life force and how I could harness it thru a daily disciple. 

I love teaching about pranayama, a life-giving force, that you can take control of  – breath, nourishment, and water, the core of nutrition and health is based on what you eat and drink, but more importantly how you breathe! Use breathwork to add energy to your day, use the breath to assist the flow of your yoga practice. Most importantly, use breathwork to help calm the mind, and reduce stress and anxiety to bring mindfulness to your body at any time. These are simple principles that can be taught and practiced. 

Now, as a woman’s health nurse for more than a decade, I have an amazing platform to support women and men through the wisdom of yoga traditions. My goal – Through a fusion of my yoga background, nursing knowledge, and understanding of the human body, is to help people strengthen their core, unlock tension and find restoration. I have carved out a niche for anyone living with daily pain. I can help unlock the pelvic floor, figuring out where to strengthen, where to soften, open and release tension. I aspire to set students up for success by building the structure to a healthy lifestyle of their own making, living their best life at any age.

My ideal yoga class is one that stimulates the mind and body. It focuses part on breathwork and mindfulness part on posture and asana. A gentle practice that would help people connect with their bodies. Identify areas of tension and start to unlock them. Demonstrate adaptations and adjustments making it accessible for all. A gentle and calm practice with enough variety that the elite student will find a challenge and the least experienced, will also find success. A perfect, harmonious balance. 

Candlelight Yin is a favorite class of mine to teach at Twisted Grit. There is something magical about being a supportive guide, watching students let go of tension, embrace the warmth of the studio, and relax. Giving them space to sit with their thoughts and feel how their body will respond to the changing poses and breath work. Helping people to nurture and restore their whole being is such a privilege. 

I strive to make people feel at ease and welcome. Teaching them to cultivate a sense of restorative calm within themselves. I help individuals harness the ability to build peace within their own body, anywhere, anytime just by changing their posture, changing their breath, and therefore changing their state of being. I sincerely hope they find a community of support and positive healing energy each time they practice with me. I am a guide here to offer suggestions and knowledge on how we can move, learn and grow together.

Being a yoga instructor is the only job I have ever had where every time I leave work I am more full than when I arrived. I feel better about myself. I have cleaner energy, and my mind finds a positive outlook with gratitude. I hope that every student can find this harmony on their yoga mat whether it’s at Twisted Grit, at home, or somewhere else. A space of refuge and safety for them to become the best version of themself.

– Namaste

I first started practicing yoga when I moved to Madison back in 2016. Not only did it calm my mind, but it allowed me to become more appreciative of my body’s abilities. After an accident that left me with chronic back pain, I realized just how special it is to be able to move our bodies in ways that can make us stronger.

I fully believe in honoring your body for where it’s at. While I teach HIIT-type classes here at Twisted Grit, I want students to feel like they’re in control and can find joy in movement!

Hello Yogis!

This is my journey…so far…

 My yoga story started later in life.

First I was a Wife, then Mother, then Educator, then Grandmother, and now Yoga Instructor. Of course there were side adventures along the way.

Always being motivated by sports and feeling happy with the accomplishment, still there was something missing.

What was that something? How do I find it? Where do I look?

 I first stepped onto a yoga mat ten years ago for pure curiosity of what the practice is about. After the first class, I was hooked. Didn’t understand why, but kept coming back, returning, knowing I was going to find something. Shedding layers of old behaviors, thinking, and emotional baggage the thing I was finding was myself. I found my breath. Inhaling the good, exhaling what I  didn’t need anymore.

Relief. I discovered how to let go.

Moving energy, not always being perfect,  but challenging my mind body spirit to find myself.

 In 2018 I took my new-found love and was motivated to share what I found. I wanted to help others find their something. I wanted to help others find the magnificence of the practice.

Became certified (200RYT) that year. Also Kids and Yin certified and have been teaching people 8 to 88 years of age. Kids, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Seniors, Chair. 

All styles have helped me grow and help others grow.

Yin is my favorite. Learning the benefits of breath and how anatomy works in the poses. Love holding the poses and letting things evolve. Heart openers are one of the best feelings ever.

The virtual energy and passion are very strong and present for our yoga community. ❤ So glad for the opportunity to be with you and practice with you. Thank you.

I lead an energetic and challenging vinyasa flow class, creating an environment that challenges students to go to their edge while still caring for themselves. Students get the chance to have fun, play around with poses, and are encouraged to find patience with where they are in their practice. I seek to remind students of the mind and body connection that can be found in yoga, on and off the mat. I hope to pass on to my students the joy, peace, and contentment that I have found through my yoga practice.

The motivations to practice yoga vary as greatly as the variety of people who choose to roll out their mat.

For me, yoga is the practice of being fully human. I see my role as a yoga teacher to facilitate you achieving your best yoga, whatever your practice goals may be. My goal as a yoga teacher is to provide you with an opportunity to explore into what you need from your yoga practice – not just while on your mat but also in your life off the mat. On any given day our needs may shift among the physical (moving), emotional (feeling) or spiritual (thinking). But sometimes what we think we should focus on is out of sync with what our inner selves need. In my classes I strive to provide you with the guidance to explore your needs from deep within your consciousness so that maybe you can awaken the awareness of who you are on the inside and strengthen the acceptance of who you are.

For me yoga is embodied in the control of breath. Breath yokes together mind and body. Controlling breath to cement the mind/body connection, we can more effectively stay centered and focused on the moment. I believe our best yoga manifests as enlightened consciousness deep within our inner selves, not as the outward physical appearance of the shapes we make on the mat.

I have a favorite quote that captures my philosophy about life (and my yoga practice):

“A boat is always safest anchored in the harbor. But that is not the purpose of a boat.”

I invite you to go deeper into your yoga practice with me. Raise your anchor and sail together with me on our yoga voyage.

After years of waxing and waning yoga practice, in my mid-50s I committed to a regular yoga practice. In 2019 I completed my CYT-200 yoga teacher training in 2019. I am a retired physician assistant, former fitness instructor for 20+ years, and a sailor.

Savannah supports Twisted Grit Yoga through intentionally written newsletters and other marketing content that shows up in your inbox on occasion. She founded her business – Copy Compass – to help adventurous brands (like us) communicate clearly with their target audiences (like you). As a nature-obsessed entrepreneur and expert copywriter, Savannah leverages carefully crafted copy to promote inclusivity and accessibility in the great outdoors.