Wendy Zoog, BS ’95, Zoog teaches yoga at multiple studios in Kansas City.
Wendy Zoog isn’t trying to be funny when she says she has “a leg up” on other Kansas City-area yoga teachers.
After suffering through arthritic hips in her 30s, she underwent her first replacement surgery at the age of 41. She had her second 14 weeks later. The experience could have been catastrophic for someone as active as Zoog, BSN ’95.
“I knew what to expect because of my nursing experience around post-operative patients with hip replacements,” says Zoog, a nurse in several fields before founding Wendy Zoog Yoga. “I understood the foundation, the anatomy and the physiology. But once I had my hips replaced, I thought, yoga could be a gift I could share.”
Zoog has always been naturally athletic. During her days as a Delta Delta Delta member living in a Broadway loft with seven sorority sisters, she rode her bike to campus and to the Columbia Athletic Club, where she taught aerobics classes.
She comes by it honestly. Her dad, Jim Whittaker, BA ’67, MA ’71, was a standout defensive back for Dan Devine’s 1966 Sugar Bowl team.
“The first time I tried yoga, it forced me to slow down,” says Zoog, who describes her yoga style as “deliciously well balanced” between invigorating and meditative. “When we exercise, sometimes we get to moving so quickly we don’t think, ‘Gosh, this feels funny in my shoulder,’ or ‘This feels good and I’m going to stay like this longer.’ ”
Zoog teaches at multiple studios in and around Kansas City. Her calendar is available at wendyzoog.com.
“We have a tendency to grab the racket or grab the club and just go,” Zoog says. “You only get one shot with your body. You’ve got to take good care of it.”
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