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More Than a Yoga Class: What Makes Balanced Planet Yoga Different
There are many places where you can take a yoga class. You can follow a video at home. Join a gym. Download an app. Walk into a studio, take your place in the back corner and leave without speaking to anyone. Those options can all be useful. But Balanced Planet Yoga was created to offer something more than an hour of exercise. Our purpose is contained in three simple words: Breathe. Move. Belong. A Yoga Studio Built Around Real People Balanced Planet Yoga opened in Marlton, New Jersey, in 2015 with a simple mission: to love and serve the people who walk through our doors. Over the years, teachers, owners,…
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How to Choose the Right Yoga Studio: 9 Things Beginners Should Look For
Typing “yoga studio near me” into a search engine can produce plenty of results—but it does not tell you where you will feel comfortable, supported and motivated to return. Some yoga studios focus primarily on athletic movement. Others emphasize meditation, traditional philosophy, heated practices, rehabilitation, community or rest. Some offer a broad mix. None of those approaches is automatically right or wrong. The goal is to find a studio whose teaching, schedule and atmosphere match what you need. Here are nine things to consider when choosing a yoga studio in Marlton, South Jersey or anywhere else. 1. Look Beyond the Distance Convenience matters. A studio that is close to home…
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What to Expect at Your First Yoga Class: A No-Stress Guide for Beginners
Walking into a yoga studio for the first time can feel surprisingly vulnerable. You may wonder where to put your shoes, whether you brought the right mat, what the teacher will expect or whether everyone else somehow received a yoga instruction manual that you missed. They did not. Most people had questions before their first class. The good news is that you do not need to know the poses, understand Sanskrit or be able to touch your toes before you arrive. Here is what you can expect from your first yoga class at Balanced Planet Yoga—and how to make the experience feel more comfortable. Before Your First Class Choose a…
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A Beginner’s Guide to Yoga: How to Start Without Being Flexible, Experienced or “Good at It”
Maybe you have been thinking about trying yoga for months—or years. You might want to feel stronger, move with less stiffness, manage stress or simply find one hour in your week that does not belong to everyone else. But then the doubts begin: I’m not flexible enough. I don’t know the poses. What if everyone else is better than me? Here is the most important thing to know before beginning yoga: You do not have to prepare yourself for yoga. Yoga is one of the ways you begin taking care of the body and life you already have. Let’s dive in to this beginner’s guide to yoga: What Is Yoga?…
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Barre vs. Yoga Sculpt vs. Pilates: What’s the Difference? (And Why They’re All Trying to Steal Your Favorite Leg Muscles)
One of the questions we get all the time at the studio is: “What’s the difference between barre, yoga sculpt, and Pilates?” It’s a fair question. From the outside, they all involve small movements, strange-looking equipment, people shaking at unexpected times, and an instructor who keeps smiling while everyone else is questioning their life choices. So…are they basically the same? Yes.And absolutely not. What Barre, Yoga Sculpt, and Pilates All Have in Common At their core, all three practices are interested in one thing: helping you move better. Not just harder. Better. They all ask you to become aware of your body instead of simply surviving the workout. They build…
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Heated vs. Non-Heated Yoga: What’s the Difference? | Balanced Planet Yoga
At Balanced Planet Yoga, we offer both non-heated and infrared heated yoga classes — and one of the most common questions we hear is: “What’s the difference – Heated vs Non-Heated Yoga..… and how do I prepare?” The short answer? Both styles offer incredible benefits. The longer answer? Let’s break it down. Non-Heated Yoga: The Room Temperature Experience Our non-heated classes are practiced in a comfortable environment, typically around 72–76°F. This allows your body to warm up naturally through movement, rather than relying on external heat. Why People Love Non-Heated Classes From a physiological standpoint, your body is doing the warming itself — increasing blood flow to muscles and gradually…
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The Merge: Where Enlightenment Goes to Die
A holiday-season reminder: we’re all a little maxed out—so let’s stop making a merge into traffic a competitive sport. Today I had one of those tiny moments that doesn’t feel tiny when you’re inside it. I needed to merge, and there was genuinely nowhere else for me to go—lane ending, cars boxed in, the whole “this is happening now” situation. I signaled, matched speed, did the polite little I’m-not-trying-to-cut-you drift, and the driver next to me held the line like their lane was a moral position. No space, no softening—just no—and I felt that quick flash in my chest: disbelief, irritation, and the deeper “wait—are we doing this?” that lingered longer than it…
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Yoga School for Real Life
Becoming the Helper You Needed There is a particular kind of exhaustion that seems to define our time — not just physical fatigue, but a deeper weariness that comes from trying to hold ourselves together while the world keeps shifting beneath us. It’s the fatigue of endless responsibility, constant information, and the quiet ache of disconnection. Many people find their way to yoga through this exhaustion. They unroll a mat hoping for rest, but what they often discover is something far more profound: a way back to themselves. When we talk about yoga teacher training at Balanced Planet Yoga, we’re not talking about learning to perform advanced postures or memorize…
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Breathwork for Stress and Energy
Stress and fatigue often arrive together. Long workdays, constant screen time, or even the emotional drain of daily life can leave us both wired and tired — mentally stressed yet physically sluggish. Breathwork — intentional, regulated breathing practices — can help us downshift from stress and upshift from lethargy. In this article, I’ll cover how breathwork works in both directions, the most evidence-based practices, and highlight the systematic review by Tanya G. K. Bentley and colleagues that gives us a practical framework for doing breathwork well. When stressed, our breathing becomes shallow and fast. When sluggish or lethargic, it becomes flat and under-energized. Both disrupt balance in the autonomic nervous system. Breathwork helps by: Think of…
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Self-Regulation Snacks: Quick Bites to Calm Your Nervous System
And the BPY Teachers Who Use Them At Balanced Planet Yoga, the vibe is more than just a serene room and a good playlist—it’s a living, breathing community of real people navigating real life. Founded by mother-daughter duo Cheryl Van Sciver and Jenna Kelly, BPY has been holding space in Marlton, NJ, for over a decade. Now firmly past the ten-year milestone, the studio remains grounded in its original mission: meeting people exactly where they are, offering practices that feel both timeless and accessible, and building a community where healing happens—sometimes quietly, and sometimes through a really good laugh. Cheryl and Jenna have both lived through their fair share of chaos—raising families, growing…
